Our project so far

It occurs to me that we, group 8, are being a bit lax with the blog for our ‘Outdoor Classroom’ project, and whilst other groups have flowing blogs, ours looks derelict and untouched, which wouldn’t be far from the truth. It’s a bit of an injustice really, especially considering the potential that this project has.

The first 2 weeks have been very up and down. It has been almost impossible to get a hold of our client to question the brief, which has delayed many aspects, particularly the conceptual design and development, as we have had nothing to inform the direction from which we tackle the design, and the information which we had been given was partially incorrect – the bit about the purpose of the structure!

It took us until the middle of the 2nd week to be able to clarify from the client, Sarah Blackwell exactly what she wanted, and to say that her aims were ambitious would be an understatement. Sarah pretty much wants a lockable building with heating, water, solar powered electricity, toilets, preparation areas, but doesn’t really expect us to be able to do much. There’s nothing like have the confidence of the client!

We had a meeting at the end of week 2 with Ted Talbot, who refers to himself as the client’s agent and works for Sheffield City Council. This meeting kind of threw our plans into disarray, with news that we would have to fell trees and create wood sections to predetermined sizes before we have even come up with a design. It’s not ideal in anyway, but at this moment in time, I remain optimistic that we can create a beautiful and lasting structure on site which meets Ted’s vision for the Sawmill and at least some of Sarah’s requirements.

Check back for a steady flow of information, with pictures to be posted soon!