Rebecca Chick

Throughout my time at university it has been a very strange atmosphere due to Covid-19 happening where teaching all of a sudden became online. For myself who learns better in a face to face situation, where I can get a physical rough drawings to understand what my tutors are saying and discussing my work to fellow students and looking at their designs to not have any at all was a massive challenge for myself. It was also incredibly hard to keep motivation due to living at home where family members we in work and the only people I would see would be my tutors and two other students in the tutorial meetings.

Perform & Exposure
Looking back at the perform module where I redesigned the bone yard in Cardiff into a 1950’s themed musical theatre, and the exposure module where I transformed an unused barn into a wedding venue/ceremony with accommodation. I have throughly enjoyed the whole process of the two projects and looking back at the visuals how much I have developed throughout my time at university. If I was to do third year all over again I would tell myself to become more confident in my work and when I present it and not worry about what people think about my designs to believe in myself.

Throughout the projects I was fully committed as I want to achieve the best that I can but also because of covid-19 I knew I needed to attend every tutorial possible to keep my motivation going so that I wouldn’t fall behind on work. By doing this I feel that it has made a huge impact on myself as it has really shown how motivated and hard working I am. When looking back at the projects that I have completed throughout third year they have helped me understand who I am as an interior designer and what are my key focus points are which I consider in my designs, where I want to expand my knowledge further during my career. It has also shown me that with all the hard work that I put in I can produce fascinating designs by focusing on sustainable, the use of colour and how it can impact interior spaces and the health and wellbeing of people.

Dissertation
When it came to submitting my dissertation I could not believe that it was over and done with as I could remember saying to myself before I attended university and throughout that I would never be able to complete a thesis let along write one, and well I proved myself wrong when I submitted it. Although writing my dissertation was very stressful as I had to restart it from the beginning with only two weeks less before the deadline my new topic that I chose to write about was ‘The future of Interior Design: The role of colour in sustainable space.’ which I focused on how these two key elements of design are used in tiny homes across three countries, which led me to have a passionate connection to writing. When I finished writing my dissertation it became something that I was strongly proud about and became a big part of who I am as a designer as it showed me what key styles I would like I focus on throughout my career due to all the research that I had done.

Professional Practice
When producing my presentation for professional practice I was a challenge as I wasn’t really sure what I needed to include as I felt that the deliverables list was vague. However by attending the meetings for this module I did find it slightly helpful as it did give me insight in what to expect when I start my career as an interior designer after university. It allowed me to gain the confidence to apply for jobs and create social media accounts to showcase my work that I have created throughout my time at university whilst also creating my first CV which was a massive learning curve, and showed me what an interior designer needs to do to be noticed by design firms.

Overall looking back at my final year at university and facing the challenges of learning online due to Covid-19 and losing the opportunity to see my fellow students, I have strongly enjoyed the year and can’t believe how quick the year has gone. I feel that this year I have developed massively as an Interior Designer where I can take everything I have learned and use it throughout my career.

Throughout my final interior design project I have throughly enjoyed creating my own brief where I transformed this unused barn into a wedding venue/ceremony with accommodation. I feel that my overall design turned out really well and I was really pleased at how my renders brought it to life, it really showed how much hard work I put into the design and overcome new challenges that I can take on further throughout my career after university. Looking back on the building that I chose to redesign and seeing how much inspiration it gave me was a huge factor of completing this design and I feel that the love that I have for the building was strongly connected to the barns and cottages over in Ireland which really touch home and brought up so many memories.

Overall, I was very proud at how my AutoCAD plans turned out due to learning how to use the software at the start of this project, I was very surprise how easy it was to get the grips on how it worked and how similar it was to SketchUp whilst also asking for guidance when needed from Charlie and watching her tutorials. Throughout my design process there were some challenges that I faced such as my colour schemes where I restarted my mood boards again, this was an area I thought I wouldn’t have an issue with and was very shocked that my initial mood board ideas didn’t fit with my brief or suit the building style. However, looking back at my overall design I feel that the range of materials and colours that I used with my new mood board ideas worked really well especially using the dark colours in the honeymoon suites as it created a romantic and cosy mood whilst fitting in with the barns features. The other challenge I faced was where I didn’t think my work was good enough or that it was coming together however by taking a few days off working on my design and focusing on myself I started to see how much I had done on my design and that my dream to become an interior designer was getting closer. To improve further as an interior designer I now need to believe in myself more and built on my confidence as when presenting my designs I am the only one who knows it better. This being said I will definitely be working on this aspect of myself as I know my projects can can achieve a high level which are clear for people to understand what I am doing.

If I was to redesign this barn again I would first get my floor plans to there final stage on AutoCAD rather than constantly updated my SketchUp model as I feel it did take some time to made these changes. I would also show a range of dining table layouts indicating different formations that could also occur in the barn. I also feel that if I was to change the exterior of my design that I would put up some marquees and create some extra seating areas on the gravel section of the building site giving the option for sheltered spaces.

However with the unusual circumstances working from home due to Covid-19 I strongly feel that I was fully engaged to my project due to attending each tutorial to get as much feedback possible to improve my design, as I have always been the person that wants to achieved the best work that I can if it means by changing areas of my design to learn something new so that in future projects I can incorporate everything I know into the designs. Compared to the perform project where I didn’t really struggle with motivation, I feel that I did struggle in the last few months of university on this projects just because of Covid-19 putting us into another lockdown and not being able to see my fellow students work designs where we could discuss our designs and come up with new ideas. As at one point I did think I would need to apply for the extension towards the end of the project as I felt that I had so much work left to complete, however I didn’t need to in the end. I strongly feel that I did master the Object Space and Experience elements throughout my design due to making each space functional for wheelchair users where they can be comfortable moving around throughout the building whilst also carefully picking furniture that was suitable for the building style to fit in with my design brief rustic with a modern twist. Looking back at my final visuals I am extremely happy with the outcomes and how my design scheme really fits well with the building itself, from this I feel like I have reach my potential and have found my own voice as an interior designer where I am extremely excited for where my future will take me as my time at university comes to an end.

Below I had attached a PDF file of my additional imagery to support ‘The Granary’ poster.

Looking back at the scheme review and listening to the feedback I was given I feel that my design has made a massive improvement. Due to focusing on one space at a time and not moving on from that space until it is complete my design started to come together very quickly which I was shocked by.

However, since my scheme review I have had some casual meetings in between about my design, where I as originally adding in another mezzanine floor which would showcase the entertainment area. But during my meeting the feedback concerned that there was no real purpose for the floor level and that it would be a challenge for musical instruments or a DJ to carry up their equipment. This led to removing the mezzanine floor where the entertainment area would be on the ground floor as there would be direct access to the stage by the side door for equipment to be brought on stage. By creating a small one step stage it gives the opportunity to be multi purpose as it could also showcase the indoor ceremony space and the dining area.

I had also made massive changes to the honeymoon suite where I created the floor to be tiered whilst also containing enough space around the hot tub for the couple to light the fire in their bedroom without having the hazard of falling in the water, as this was another aspect of my feedback. I also added an extension onto the accessible honeymoon suite creating room for a hot tub space and an accessible bathroom so that the newlywed would have the same luxurious stay that they would get in the honeymoon suite in the main barn.

However, I did face some challenges along the way where the original colour scheme that I wanted to use throughout the building, just didn’t look right or give off the rustic, romantic and modern twist style that I was hoping for. With this happening I became very stressed where I ask for advice with my tutor during my meeting. Following the advice I had to think about if I wanted to use dark or light colours for the honeymoon suite this of which Mike had suggested that dark colours could make the room feel more cosy and romantic which made my decision very easy, but that I should restart my mood board scheme from the beginning again using websites such as Farrow and Ball for their paints and Cole and Sons for the wallpaper designs to get a fresh colour scheme. By asking for advice it was really helpful and was exactly what I needed to over come the challenge I was facing.

By creating my new colour scheme I then went onto applying them to my SketchUp model and was surprised at how quickly it made my design come to life, where I was then able to take visuals of my design. My next step will be to add scenery and people into the visuals to see how the building would look if it was in use but also so that they reach their final design state. By reaching this stage of my design process it showed me how much potential I have as a designer and how much closer I am for my dream to come true as a qualified interior designer.

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Following on from the concept review I was able to get my floor plans transferred onto SketchUp and start getting the basic floor levels and walls into the design in the correct position. This enabled me to start thinking of furniture layouts, to find a functional solution so that my design is wheelchair friendly throughout. This of which I started to gather my precedent study inspiration looking at what materials and light fixtures were used whilst also picking suitable images that linked back to my design style of being rustic with a modern twist. Once I had a clear understanding with the range of materials that I would need to focus on, I started to create mood boards thinking of a range of colour schemes that would best fit with the cobblestone and wooden beams of the building these worked out really well as I was about to see how my design was slowly coming together.

However, when attending my scheme review meeting I did start to face some challenges along the way as to working out how many people would be able to sleep at the building site as well as what would happen in the winter when wedding season is slow which was really important feedback. As I hadn’t really thought about that throughout my design as well as where would the kids sleep in the family room as when looking at my design on the family/double bedroom as it was clear that by putting a ladder to the wall it wasn’t going to be suitable for young children due to health and safety reasons.

By attending the scheme review meeting it really was an eye opener as a designer indicating the certain areas that needed to be solved before my design could advance further. From this I decided that I would change the honeymoon suite mezzanine floor where I had a balcony going all the way across to have a small Juliet balcony where the newlyweds could make a grand exit to the party from their bedroom. Whilst also showing how the wedding ceremony would look inside the barn but as well as giving the option for the couple to have outside depending on if the weather was nice.

However one of my main challenges that I faced from this review was thinking of a different approach in the family/double bedroom and how young children would be able to get to bed. This led me to start moving furniture around in the spaces and which led to a staircase being built, by doing this it would allow the children to safety walk up the stair without the hazard of falling off a ladder as well as adults carrying their children to bed as a result of the falling asleep. By adding the staircase it created a small mezzanine floor surrounded with railings looking over onto the ground floor of the bedroom.

For the final review I and hoping that my design will have a drastic change of develop where I have a final floor plan sorted over on SketchUp where I can finish off adding furniture into each of the spaces. However since adding furniture into my design I had discovered a learning curve where if I was to do it differently next time I would of finished one space at a time and add all the lighting components in and move onto the next interior space. So that I have a clearer understanding on what needs improving to reach the standard that I know I can design. Instead of designing multiple spaces at the same time where I don’t have one room complete.

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After christmas break it was time to start my final project that I would be designing as a third year student. As designers the brief this time was of our choice where we could have full control as to what final design we created.

For my design I chose this unused barn that I go past everyday as it is within walking distance from my home. The very first time seeing the barn I had always loved the look of it due to use of original features of cobblestone and wood. By choosing this building I wanted to focus on redesigning it into a wedding venue/ceremony that has accommodation to make use of the beautiful scenic views surrounding the building site but because the interior of the barn could have so much potential with it’s original feature if it was being used. However, when I redesign the interior of the barn I have chosen the style to be rustic but with a modern twist to give the barn an interesting new lease of life.

To start the project off I was lucky enough to visit the building site and ask the owners if I could use their building for my final university project as they said yes, I was then allowed to go into the building itself to take photographs as well as them giving me the original floor plans to make a copy of. By having this opportunity to get a first hand experience in the building was extremely helpful as I could fully examine the pros and cons to the building and get a better visualisation on how it looks. From this I discovered that there was no accessible entrance as well as floor levels as I was surprised to see the interior of the barn to have nothing in there at all except for a painted indoor tennis court for their grandchildren. The inspiration for the style of my design had come from personal experiences of traveling to Ireland to meet family where all the buildings in the area exterior and interior have features made out of cobblestone and exposed wooden beams. This of which I have always been drawn to, it was also another reason to why I chose the barn as it reminded of their barns and cottages over.

After researching and going more into detail with my design ideas it was clear that the site had lots of good opportunities that I could transform the building site. This of which before going into floor plan layouts, I decided to start make quick notes ready to discuss in my first meeting with my tutor Mike.

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When speaking to Mike about the building I had chosen it was a matter of checking if my design would be suitable. Due to Mike approving of my design and my chosen building we then started to discuss about the room sizes, as I wanted to create the honeymoon suites to be romantic but have a spacious feeling. It was also mentioned that I should focus more on the design layouts for the honeymoon suites and the ceremony space, as when talking in the meeting my main focus was of the other rooms such as the kids play area and where would be a suitable position for the kids to play by themselves but where the parents can view from a distance. By having this meeting and listening to all the feedback I started to create bubble and zoned plan diagrams which allowed me to experiment with a range of different layouts seeing what areas worked and what didn’t work well. Where I would then take all the good aspects throughout each of the diagrams created and put them into one diagram ready for my next tutorial to gain more feedback. Following on from the feedback that I was given it allowed me to think differently as a designer by thinking of new design ideas that would further develop my approaches as an interior designer.

Once I had created a final design layout there were only minor alterations on room positioning to be made. This led to moving the kids play area which was originally on the first floor and convert it into the honeymoon suite by extending the floor out to become a mezzanine floor which would overlook the main structure of the barn. By the time that I have my scheme review meeting I am hoping to have the floor plans of my design finalised and drawn up in AutoCAD to then transfer them over onto SketchUp where I can start making a 3D model of the building and get a visualisation of my design and see if there are possible changes to be made to the floor plans.

Throughout this project ‘Perform’ where we had to create a design that consisted of three key elements such as:

Performance
Refreshments
Promotion

where we were given a choice of three building sites. This of which I had chosen to use The Bone Yard in Cardiff as I wanted to push myself as an interior designer to the limits to see what I can design by just using a shipping container.

Due to the brief having to consist of three elements I had found the project to be very interesting and exciting making myself to really get into this project and start researching as to what I could design. I feel that because I has to have a performance space in my design it really helped inspire me to create my design as a musical theatre as growing up I had gone to so many performances I knew what I needed to incorporate to my design. However due to deciding I wanted to based it on the Grease musical, I felt this worked very well to my advantage due a Grease performance that I was in. Giving myself a strong connection to that performance. Another aspect that I thought went extremely well was the use of materials and the colours I had used in my design, as it really brought the site to life and gave an upbeat look. Throughout this project there were a few things that I learnt about such as the gantry crane due to it being a major role for my performance space to actually work. As I didn’t realise they specialise in moving shipping containers around but that I didn’t really know what they looked like until I was shown an image of them. But how it actually fitted into my design due to he train tracks and didn’t draw the attention away from the key elements in the brief.

If I had a second chance to change areas of my design, I would probably add a gazebo covering over the seating area to show how it would look if it was raining making sure that the audience would remain dry but also how it could be attached to the seating area so that if it is dry weather it can be easily removed.

Since the start of third year I knew that this project would be different and that I would face challenges along the way, due to having all the learning virtually online. However, I believe that I was fully engaged and committed throughout this project. Due to attending my weekly tutorials and Q&A meetings making the changes that were needed to my design to create the best outcome it could be, whilst also asking any questions about the module or if I needed help. Due to working from home I have found it quite hard as although I did have motivation to do my work, it wasn’t the normal motivation I would have to develop my design and manage my time throughout the project due to not seeing other students on my course and how they designs are coming along. As I have definitely felt the pressure to get parts of my design complete ready for my tutorials.

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When looking back at the final outcome of my design, I feel that I have had a clear understanding on the interior elements ‘object, space, and experience’ of which I have been able to master due to creating individual zones by using the shipping containers as I have been able to create separate interior spaces throughout the site based of a design style of the 1950’s and create a final outcome.

I do feel that I have found my own voice as an interior designer due to picking a challenging and fun era to base my design on as looking at my final outcome I feel that I have reached my potential during this project as an interior designer due to going back to a 1950’s era where in todays society you rarely see much of the design aspects anymore.

Since having my scheme review I started to work towards getting my final presentation sorted ready for my final tutorial before the submission date . This of which l decided to show a quick draft presentation as I was still focusing on getting my sketchup finished.

REFRESHMENT AND PROMOTION DEVELOPMENT

When looking back through my feedback from my scheme review each design element has been brought to life when I started to add materials and 1950s colour throughout the design to fit in with my design brief. Throughout my design I strongly feel that it has gone very well and has worked well due to the design style that I was going for. I can strongly agree that by watching the musical over and over again it definitely inspired me to achieve the 1950’s look and take aspects from the musical to my design. Another aspect that helped me along my way was constantly looking at my mood boards to make sure I was using the correct colours. Which when looking at the site as it comes the final touches it all comes together mading you want to explore the sight even more due to the use of bright and clashy colours.

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When looking back at my scheme review where I talked about how I was struggling on how I would get the scenes to change. I decided that I would use a gantry crane due to talking to Mike, as I had learnt that these types of cranes specifically move shipping containers around which in a way fit perfectly with my design but also the surrounding features around the site i.e train tracks. When talking to Mike about my design, another aspect that he had mentioned was adding a pathway to guide customers through the space. Which when adding it to my design made it draw you into the site wondering where each path will take you to as if it was a maze. Looking back at my design and how it has all come together I feel like it has definitely changed me as an interior designer has it has showed me that you can use a building you thought wouldn’t be possible and turn it into something massive that could actually work as a design.

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After all the changes to my design throughout all the reviews and linking my design to be suitable for COVID-19 regulations, I feel that my design has gone extremely well making sure that everyone would be safe when on the site. I feel I have achieved this by adding the box office to my design due to the fact customers have actually got to scan there tickets when entering and leaving the site but also because there will be the NHS track and trace barcode there for health and safety reasons so that everyone who enters the site can feel safe knowing that its all under control.

Overall, if I was to alter an aspect of my design for next time I feel like I should show how the scene change looks like by having one of the scenes attached to the crane. But also possibly having a gazebo type structure over the seating area incase it was to rain to prevent the audience from getting wet. Due to being strongly inspired by redesigning my site as the Grease musical it definitely got me motivated to keep developing my design when working from home and having virtual meetings online.

FINAL RENDERS WITHOUT SCENERY

Following my concept review and listening to the feedback I had been given, I went back through my design and firstly started to make the changes to my design layout. To achieve this I was mainly focusing on my zoned plans but looking at design 4 due to it giving a more approachable feel drawing you into the site but how I made use to using every area of the site.

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However, by moving the toilets near the entrance of the site and keeping the shape of the toilet area the same which consisted of two shipping container attached side by side. I felt as if it took the approachable feeling away from the site which wasn’t what I was expecting. To overcome this I decided the best way for me to envision the site better was to create a quick model of each of my design elements and positioning them as they were in my drawing. By doing this I managed to get the performance, promotion and refreshment area sorted fairly quickly, but I was still struggling with the toilet area. This led me to create three different design styles which led me to perfect building shape that made the site have that approachable feeling again allowing customers to be drawn into the site.

Due to creating many quick sketches of each zones, I decided it was time to go straight onto sketch up and start bringing my design to life. From this I decided to start off with the refreshments and promotion area due to them being in the same zone as I wanted the promotion area to sit directly on top of the refreshment zone to create height on the site but also again to get customers to explore the site even more. I then moved on to the performance area where I started thinking about the seating area for the audience, this then let me to think about using 1950 style cars as the seating to make the audience think they are part of the act. One area that I was massively struggling with was the scenes, which I wasn’t expecting due to the fact that I didn’t know how I would make functional for the scene changes. This of which I decided that if I started to draw my scenes and know exactly what I needed to create them it would be one step closer for the performance area to be complete allowing me to then work out how it would all work.

When listening to the feedback that I was given for my scheme review, the main thing that I needed to think about was whether I wanted the site to become a drive in theatre where customers would sit in there car and staff would bring their drinks or snacks to them. Which would mean I could keep the 1950’s cars for customers who walked or cycled in while incorporating bike stands for those cyclists. Another part of feedback was to think about having the cast dressing rooms as a separate zone but mimicking as a trailer design instead of it being attached to the stage. By having this feedback it had become very useful as they were areas that I was struggling with to make it functional for the cast members changing in between scenes but also for the audience to watch the performance.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Looking back at the feedback and where I was with my design I feel that I should of taken more time thinking about how the scene changes would happen, before making the promotion and refreshments area. This of which has changed me as an interior designer to not hold off on something that I am struggling with as it will never get resolved, as for myself I felt like this made me not believe in myself that I could find a way to make the scenes change. However, by having my tutorial I quickly discovered that there were many ways I could go about it so that my performance space would work.

Starting off third year we had been given our brief for our major project where we had to incorporate three design elements into our design. These of which were:

• Performance space
• Refreshments space
• Promotion space

When given this brief I knew that for the performance space I wanted to based it on musical theatres, as I wanted to create an upbeat atmosphere for families to enjoy due to this difficult year everyone as experienced throughout this pandemic. To achieve this outcome for the design I decided to base the musical on ‘Grease’ due to it being suitable for children to watch as well as adults. But also due to personal experiences of being a cast member for a Grease musical play, it inspired me to recreate that moment over again due to how much fun it was but especially seeing the audience faces of joy and joining in singing along to the songs. However, one key design element that I wanted to do within the site was to redesign it all in the 1950’s era allowing customers to experience what it was like and have a better understanding how it once was.

Throughout this project I started to get quick ideas of Grease set designs that other performances have used to create their scenes. Where I learnt that you don’t need to have loads of props on the stage to get your point across as to what scene you are on. That the fewer the props the more effective the outcome will be.

GREASE PERFORMANCE SET DESIGNS

Once I knew what I wanted to design for my performance space on it was a matter of choosing which building site due to being given a choice of three. From looking at each individual building over and over again and making notes of positive and negative aspects, I decided that the Bone Yard site which was an industrial site that now contains shipping containers of small businesses was the better option for what I wanted to redesign it for.

By picking the Bone Yard site I thought that it would challenge myself as an interior designer to redesign the site by just using shipping containers than using an actual building we are normally given. This led me to draw up quick sketches of design layouts and how many containers I would need to have to achieve my outcome. I found that by picking this site and imagining that it was just an empty site it would give me a clear understanding as to how big it is. Allowing me to envision my rough design layouts better to then achieve a final design plan.

THE BONE YARD LOCATION

THE BONE YARD SITE

Following my concept review feedback there were only minor parts that I needed to consider changing, this of which was the positioning of my toilets in the site as they were at the back of the site. Due to customers liking them near the entrance so that they know exactly where they are throughout the performance. But how I would be able to extend the life of my design if I was going to redesign the whole site to look like the 1950’s. This then led me to start thinking about my design and the layout I originally had to improve it ready for the scheme review to allow my design to function properly but if I wanted the performance to stay the same throughout the entire year or mix it up with other musical performances.