Rebecca Chick

Circular Economy
Throughout second year I have faced some challenges but have also learnt a lot about being an Interior Designer. To start the year I was given the project Circular Economy, which I found the most challenging as I found it hard to figure out what materials which were recycled or reused that I could use on the furniture I designed as it all had to be about the circular economy and be locally bought as it was also about low cost spend. Throughout the project the main areas that went well which helped me was my bubble diagrams as I was able to find the correct layout for my design to then develop it even more for the final outcome. I also feel that my group pod that I designed was very effective for a work/learn zone as it became an interactive space but was also a private space due to a piece of glass closing the space off which can be used to close off being disturbed or distracted with whats happening around you.

However the areas that didn’t go too well was when I found it difficult to understand the concept of the project, which then delayed me on producing development designs. I also struggled when it came to the use of materials that I would use this of which led me to create many mood-boards and do lots of research where I finally reached the conclusion that I was going to use hemp fabric and old charity furniture that was reuse to create a new pieces of furniture, with recycled steel and glass.

If I was to do it differently next time I would definitely make sure that it doesn’t take me too long to understand the concept as the time I lost on trying to understand I could use to make my design look more effective but I would also create more abstract walls to make the space more eye-catching.

Interior Styling
During the year I then had two field modules, before Christmas I started the module Interior Styling where I had strongly enjoyed and found very interesting. From this module I had learnt a lot about the use of colour and the proportion of colour and how important it is to incorporate them into a space. Due to listening to a professional photographer and interior stylist it became very useful and actually made me see that making small changes in our set on areas that I never thought about made the outcome look even more powerful.

When working in a group there were areas that worked very well this consisted of the use of bright colours and the props used that were all recycled but how we stuck to our trend EMPOWER UP! and the theme Miami Blocking and the overall outcome was very powerful and up-lifting. I also feel that our set we designed worked very well due to sticking to a strict routine that we set out for ourselves and making lists so that we had enough time to get a completed outcome that as a team we were all very happy with due to how much we thought about how we wanted to design the set.

However, what didn’t go to well and what i’d change next time would be the lack of communication we had with some students in my group. As this caused some tension between us due to them standing around just looking at what other students in my group were doing, so to prevent this for next time I would encourage them to help for example a task that I’m doing so they feel part of a team.

Psychogeography
My second field module was Psychogeography, this of which I also found a bit challenging as at the start I was struggling on what I was meant to create for the project. However this quickly turned around when I decided to focus my design on my childhood home of memories due to having discussions with my tutors. This made me think that by having a strong personal connection with my project that I was able to get a better outcome for my final design due to knowing exactly how I would want it to look like.

Throughout the project the areas that went well for me were using my Photoshop skills to create the different sections of my design which allowed me to get an accurate representation when marking areas out. Also when I had to teach myself on how to bend wire into words writing out my memories, which was a challenge but made my outcome look very effective once I knew how the material worked and the limits before it would snap when bending. Where I can now use this skill for other projects if needed.

The areas that didn’t go as well and that I would do differently next time would be how to understand the concept of the project better as it did take me a few times to know what I was doing exactly, even though I was happy with my outcome on how it was structured I would use thicker materials next time to that it is more sturdy when being handled and fix the memories written in wire so they don’t move around.

City Fit
With City Fit being my last project of the year it was the biggest projects that I had to redesign. Throughout the project there were challenges that I faced such as my problems with getting V-Ray to work or that my cooling fan completely broke on my laptop causing a major issue. However I decided that I was going to redesign Limerick House in Cardiff as a Support and Healthcare centre, due to having a strong and personal connection with the cause I felt that this would be a great push on myself to develop as an Interior Designer.

When looking at my final project I was extremely happy with the outcome due to how much I had pushed myself out of my comfort zone. However, I feel the areas that worked well was the use of vibrant and pastel colours I used whilst also using white materials to break up the spaces. I also feel that by creating the third floor plan into an open space garden area to a more relaxed approach and have therapy activities take place on the floor it had become very effective and become my favourite floor that I redesigned.

Although the areas that I feel didn’t go too well and would do differently is possibly just having one floor a cafe/kitchen space instead of all the floors but to have more feature walls instead of just plain pastel colours on the walls to give it a more interesting approach to match the positive energy that I created throughout the building design.

Constellation & Proposal Dissertation
Throughout first term learning about representing the dis-ordered body, I did find it interesting and was very happy with my essay I had written on the disabilities and mental health issues portrayed in sports. As although at the start I was struggling on what I could focus my writing on I was very pleased with my overall feedback, and felt it was a massive change from my first year essay which gave me lots of confidence ready to start my proposal dissertation.

However for my proposal dissertation, I struggled at the start of it on what I wanted to write my future dissertation on but by attending my tutorials and getting the support needed weekly I was then able to find a route I wanted to go down. Due to having so much positive feedback from my cover supervisor as my original supervisor was on sick leave. I decided to write my dissertation proposal on ‘The future of interior design: exploring the tensions between clients and designers’, this of which led me to request to have her as my actual supervisor which was approved. I was very pleased when I had finished writing my proposal where I was given the go ahead for it to be submitted. As it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off me, as I always stress and panic when it comes to written work  if it’s good enough as since coming to university I never knew how to write an essay or even set one out. However, when receiving my mark I was very disappointed and disheartened as my original supervisor had marked it instead of my new supervisor and I couldn’t work out how his mark was given due to how much positive feedback I was given every week when attending my tutorials for feedback.

Throughout the whole of second year I have attended and engaged very strongly due to committing to every tutorial and lecture that has been set up throughout the year for either constellation or projects, I feel that this has helped me develop as an Interior Designer reach my full potential on all the work I have produced. Where along the way if there was any barriers for improvement on my work I can learn and improve from ready for next year.

I do feel that I have found my own voice as a unique individual interior designer throughout the year as I have been able to over come barriers and take risks with my work to find out what style of designer I want to become. From doing this it has made me become more confident with myself and come out of my shell. I feel that one major aspect that had changed for me is that I’m no longer afraid to ask for advice if I don’t understand something in the project, where I’m more open to get tutors or students opinions about my design on what changes need to be made in my designs to reach its potential and improve me as an Interior Designer. And that I have achieved the interior elements of object, space and experience throughout the whole year due to redesigning my projects making sure that they are functional for any person to use but how I have developed each design to its best outcome possible so that it does work as an overall design.

Overall due to the challenges I have faced and the difficult circumstances due to Covid-19, I have strongly enjoyed the year as I feel that I have developed massively as an Interior Designer. I feel that with everything I have learnt I can take with me for next year where I will also be focusing on the areas that need improving ready to use on my future projects to come.

07/06/2020

Rebecca Chick – City Fit Healthcare – Final Presentation Compressed

Throughout this project, I have strongly enjoyed redesigning Limerick House into a Support and Healthcare Centre for terminally ill patients and their families. From doing this I definitely feel that I have pushed my boundaries as an Interior Designer as I would normally want to play it safe due to shying away from taking risks. I have also included Visuals and Renders which I didn’t include in my final presentation.

SKETCHUP VISUALS

Accessible Toilet

Office Room

Staff Room Kitchen Space

Second Floor Lift Looking Towards Kitchen & Waiting Area

Hallway Looking At Kitchen and Waiting Area On First Floor

However throughout this project their were aspects that went well. Such as my overall layout that I redesigned making it functional as the original layout was not suitable for my client or customers needs. As each development process I was able to think of a layout that would work for each space by doing this in a step by step process. Another aspect was creating my detailed furniture in the process of Micro-tectonics and how simple it is to create due to taking note on the lecture but how effect it really makes the furniture.

Throughout the project I have learnt a few new aspects that has developed me as an Interior designer such as, how to produce a Micro-tectonics when looking at a piece of furniture in my design. Whilst also how to produce a digital drawing on Photoshop of my model, overall I have found these two aspects very useful for future projects as the Micro-tectonics can show a broken down version on how I would create the furniture in real life but how it can change the perspective of the space for the better as its like it solves the missing solution for the outcome to be complete. I also feel that due to having a physical and emotional connection for designing a support centre and the cause I decided to focus it on I was able to bring those aspects into my design to reach my potential as an Interior Designer.

Throughout this project I was inspired to design my building to be very colourful by a previous module I had taken ‘Interior Styling’ and how important using colour in an interior space can change the atmosphere, this led me to want to focus my whole design on using bright colours which I have used certain colours due the meanings they have behind them. I was also inspired by looking at other support centres such as Maggie’s Centres and my own clients, and how they use bright colours to decorate their buildings.

Throughout my design there were areas that didn’t go as I expected this consists of getting the thickness to my floors as every time I would try and pull the floor it would then make all my furniture float and break in to a-lot of sections. However, due to speaking to Mike the problem was quickly solved which then led to my next problem where I’d start trying to do renders of my model but wasn’t able to get the V-Ray Asset Editor to work so that I could edit the lighting or my materials this had led me to try and sort this problem out for a week where I would be constantly emailing Charlie to try and solve the issue. Following with my issue with V-Ray it then turned into a major problem with my laptop, where my cooling fan had completely stopped working to the point I could only use my laptop for short intervals. This was then suggested by Charlie to try use Enscape to get my renders as it would be a quicker process for me to get my final outcome but also for me to send my laptop off to be repaired.

ENSCAPE RENDERS

Adult Recreational Room Second Floor

Main Entrance Looking At Reception

Staircase Leading To First Floor

Second Floor Art Therapy Space

Second Floor Craft Making Therapy Space

First Floor Conference Space

If I had a second chance to design this project again there would be some areas that I would do differently this of which I would like to make the third floor garden space ceiling to be made from glass where I would have wooden beams going across with plants hanging from them to create a more biophilic feel. Another thing that I would do differently would be to see how the stairs would look if I moved the position on them to be in the centre of the building plans and place all the rooms around to allow more light to shine through from the windows one side of the building where the stairs use to be.

During the start of this project I can strongly agree that I was strongly engage due to attending my weekly tutorials and lectures throughout the weeks in university. However, due to Covid-19 affecting the learning environment changing where we then had to work from home. I had found it extremely difficult as I understand better what I should be doing to improve my design in a face to face situation. This led me to become even more determined to attend every Teams meeting possible and by doing this I feel that my design reached the potential due to listening at all the feedback given in the meetings.

Overall I feel that this project has allowed me to expand my knowledge on how important it is to master and compose the interior elements of Object, Space and Experience as I have given a clear representation on how functional my layout is but how it’s suitable for wheelchair users but how I have decorated the building to be an uplifting place due to the circumstances that occur in the building to try and make it a positive environment and not alway dwell and the negative aspects.

However, I do feel that I reached my potential as an Interior Designer due to pushing myself out of my comfort zone to create very colourful interior spaces. I also feel that from pushing myself in this project, it has now changed how I think when I designing for future interior design projects as I shouldn’t shy away as it could actually prevent me for  reaching my potential.

Week 11 Review with Mike 21/05/2020

MIKES MEETING 2

Since last week I have made some progress to my design where I have started to add the vibrant colours to create feature walls to the rest of my floor plans. Although my model doesn’t have massive changes I had decided to focus on my Micro-tectonics furniture and get that finished so that I could then completely focus on my model. I was also able to get V-Ray install on my laptop by using the uni licence that Charlie set up, so that I am then able to render my model from home when I am ready to use it.

Due to having another meeting with Mike and showing him my first attempt of a post digital drawing it had helped me massively think about the range of materials that I would like to use. To create the post digital drawing I took a visual from my model and started to experiment, at first I did find it a challenge but I has shown me how effective they can be and was happy with my outcome. As with more practise on producing these drawings they will soon be at the standard of how my final outcomes look at the ends of my projects.

However, I decided to discuss with mike my thought about using bright colours to create a feature aspect to my design where I would then use pastel colours to calm the tone in the building, by then braking it up with white brick so the building is not over powered by loads of colour. However, when talking to Mike about my third floor garden space his main question was what type of flooring will I be using to represent grass. At first I decided to use artificial grass however Mike suggested that I could use moss instead due to it having a more soft feel but that it was a hardwearing material and wouldn’t need much maintenance. Due to the discussion and altering parts in my model on the third floor I did decide that using the moss made the space have a more effect biophilic view. And that overall his feedback and thought of my design was very well thought and would create an interesting outcome.

Week 12 Review with Fausto 26/05/2020

Fausto meeting

Following my last meeting with Fausto before the end of my project, the progress of my design has changed massively within a week due to the fact that all my floors now had been decorated with a range of pastel colours to allow all the rooms to be connected throughout my design but to create a positive environment. When listening to my feedback from Fausto the main focus was talking about what I needed to do for the final review, which had been very useful for when I do make my final edits to my presentation.

This had consisted of making sure that my final plans were on separate pages to show a clearer view on how I have redesign each floor, whilst also making sure that I would only have two images as a maximum on a page as originally I would have four and it was hard to see the detail that I have produced due to the images being too small. The final part of feedback that I would need to consider was to make sure every image/drawing that I have included in my final presentation has a reference plan indicating where on the plan I have taken my visuals, renders or sections but that there is a caption saying the scale but what room/space the image/drawing is representing.

When listening to the feedback I decided to make all these changes straight away where I also included a table of contents page to show a clear representation on what I have included throughout my final presentation, whilst also making sure each page has a heading and a page number corresponding to the table of content.

Throughout attending all of Fausto’s meetings and online submissions to get as much feedback as possible, I strongly feel that it has developed me as an Interior designer where each change that I needed to make to my model I can take along with me and include to my third year projects and  all the important information for my presentations that I will need to consider when producing them.

Review with Craig on Micro-tectonics 29/05/2020

Due to my last Micro-tectonics tutorial it was a matter of making final changes to my pages but also going more into detail on the types of materials. When showing the update on my Micro-tectonics pages I decided to use the ‘Fausto meeting’ presentation where I then scrolled to the end of the presentation to show the latest that I had done due to having major complications with my laptop. From this I was able to show a cut through of how I would connect the seat to the planter which I created through Photoshop, however when speaking to Craig I would need to make it to scale to show an accurate representation on how it would look. To achieve this I would need to go back onto sketch-up and redraw out the diagram, I had also decided to show a couple of renders of the final outcome of the furniture to see how it looks on its own but to get a better vision of the furniture I would need to place it into my model on the third floor waiting area.

Following the tutorial we then went further into detail on the size of the materials that I would need such as the screws, bolts etc. this of which I thought was very useful as I had learnt a lot. Due to the fact that when attaching my seating to the planter I would want to have a flush screw such as a countersunk screw bolt to that when customers sit on the seat it would be smooth and comfortable for them instead of it being a bumpy surface where they could catch themselves on it causing a hazard. As an overview on how I represented my Micro-tectonics Craig suggested that it would be best if I had my 2D drawings on separate pages from my 3D visuals to get a clearer view on the different aspects. When it came to making this change on my presentation I was a little unsure as I couldn’t visualise how it would look. However looking back at the pages it did actually make sense, as having it all on one page made it very crowded on what I was trying to focus on.

When learning about Micro-tectonics as whole I had learnt a massive amount on this technique as before I didn’t know what it was or how to produce one as I originally found it confusing. However, this process will definitely develop me as an interior designer to create more and not just using it on one space in my model but multiple spaces which can help improve my designs for the future. Overall I have then attached the final outcome of how my Micro-tectonics pages turned out showing the different to the ‘Fausto meeting’ presentation.

Micro-tectonics final outcome

Week 8 Review Online Submission 28/04/2020

Online submission Week 8_compressed

Following on from my Scheme review presentation, I had another online submission which would need to be submitted after the Easter break to show what progress I had made since my last review.

From this my designed had changed a lot since the last review, as I only had rough shapes to represent how the furniture would look like in my design. However, from making the changes from my last feedback this time I have focused on all the furniture in my plans to show a more accurate view of my layout. Although my next step after getting my feedback is to start adding my materials onto my furniture to show a clearer image of the style that I am going to decorate the building. From this I will also include plants into my design once I have added all the materials to my design, as if I placed the plants onto my floor plans it will start to slow down my software making it harder for me to work with due to it constantly not responding.

When receiving my feedback from Fausto about my design process so far, I had only minor changes to make on my Sketch-up model whilst also to make areas clearer on my design to stop confusion. As when looking at one of my rooms it wasn’t clear if I had put a door to make it accessible to access the storage space, by making this edit in my model where I indicated on the plan where the access point was it was then more noticeable how the room was accessible. However, when looking at the ground floor plan I also needed to add a corridor to enclose the staircase like I have done on the other floors for a fire safety hazard.

The other part of feedback was that I needed to double check that on my third floor there was an accessible toilet suitable for wheelchair users, as it was unclear if the size of the room was big enough. This was where I then decided to remove the wall of the toilets to create one big toilet space so that the space was suitable for wheelchair users but even if an adult needs to take their child there is enough space for them to move about in. Once these changes had been done it was clear to me that I reached my final design layout where I could then move onto decorating the spaces and adding my materials.

Week 9 Review with Mike 07/05/2020

Online submission Week 9

During my Teams meeting with Mike the main changes to my design had been the third floor, as I started to add materials in my model on the furniture to experiment what theme I wanted to have.

Following the meeting I had with Mike there had been a massive change since he last seen my design as before I didn’t have my model of Sketch-up complete as I was still hand drawing design layouts. However, by presenting my design progress there were very minors changes that I would need to make when listening to his feedback. This consisted of adding some people into my model just to get an actual feel of the spaces to get an idea on how much room people would have in each of the floor spaces. One other aspect was when looking at my plans was to make the building structure and walls pink to give a clearer understanding what is the main structure of my design. I decided to use the colour pink to fit in with my clients brand so that I had a theme throughout the model.

However, when it came to the thickness of the floors in my design I was having problems making it work although Mike had told me an alternative way which I had forgotten about but had solved my problem with the furniture floating.

Throughout the meeting I had learnt how to create a post digital drawing and developed my understanding by watching videos of the process after the tutorial. This became a very useful and quick outcome to create when experimenting with materials but how my design would roughly look like as a final outcome, before actually adding the materials onto my model. Learning this process has changed me as an Interior Designer by how I process my design as if I start to struggle with how to decorate a space but have an idea I can just use photoshop to get a quick outcome, to see if it will before adding any materials to my actual model.

Week 10 Micro-tectonics with Craig 14/05/2020

Craig meeting

When attending the first meeting with Craig about Micro-tectonics where we would look more into detail with furniture, I decided that I would try to do a rough page on exploring possible areas where I could develop and focus on what materials I would use. This of which I drew a quick sketch of my third floor waiting area where I pulled out pointers of the space that I could go into detail for this session.

Throughout the tutorial it was then discussed that I would be focusing my Micro-tectonics on my third floor waiting area seating, this was where myself and Craig started to brake the furniture down into sections where I would need to show a section and an exploded axonometric of the furniture showing the range of materials I would then use to produce it.

By having a clear understanding on what I needed to produce, this led me to go straight onto Sketch-up to make these changes ready for our next tutorial. From this I decided to copy over my furniture from my model into a new file to start making the changes incase it didn’t go to plan I would still have the original version. When adding the detail I did find it a challenge, mainly for the planter and adding the cut outs for the bars to slot in due to the surface not being flat. However I did manage to overcome this challenge and get the outcome complete for the next tutorial where I would just be making small details and going further into detail with the type of materials I would be using and the type of finishes I would like to have on them. But if the furniture needed changes they would only be minor.

However when learning about Micro-tectonics it has developed me as an Interior Designer as I can use this process in future projects due to the fact that it can play a key role when showing clearly stage by stage how a piece of furniture can be made. But how it is a useful technique to use to allow myself to have a better understanding on how different components can be connected to create a furniture piece.

Second Review 26/03/2020

City Fit- Scheme review_compressed

Following on with my ‘City Fit’ project and having a few weeks to improve and develop my design from the first review it was time for another presentation to show Craig, Fausto and Charlie what I have done. However, due to university being closed for  safety from the COVID-19 virus we would be presenting in a very different way. This had consisted by using a software called Microsoft Teams.

Due to submitting everything all digitally I have found it a bit of a struggling to understand the feedback changes over email. However, when it came to doing a video chat call with just three teachers and two other students. I had found it very helpful as it was easy to understand exactly what they were wanting from me, ready for my next tutorial  but that I also felt a lot more confident in presenting as it was if I was having a one on one session.

Once I had finished presenting it was then time for my feedback mainly on making changes on my floor plans ever so slightly. This was said as some of my walls on the first and second floor were slightly cutting through the windows, which I wasn’t allowed to have due to safety regulations. Another changed that would improve my design was to have my walls on the inside of the support pillars as Charlie had mentioned that if I had to hover the room getting behind them would be a great struggle. Whilst moving my walls slighting Fausto had suggested that the seatings areas were not needed as I had waiting rooms on each floor and so I should take them away from my plans whilst relocating the reading area on the second floor so that the floors had more circulation flow.

Overall once these changes have been made it would be time to start one floor at a time and add my furniture and materials into the plans whilst also thinking about the use of lighting I will need. Following from the feedback I have been given I was very pleased and understood what is needed to improve my design to the next level, and listening to the other two students present also improved ways for how I should design my areas.

Week 5 Review 18/03/2020

Rebecca Chick – Online Tutorial_compressed

Following on with my City Fit project where I have been developing my Support Centre so that it is functional for its needs. I have had an online submission where I will be showing my progress I have made so far, by submitting the document that I have produced (shown above) online it was a matter of time where I would get my next feedback on what changes are needed to my floor plans before I start adding furniture and materials into the spaces.

Throughout my feedback there were only slight changes that I needed to focus on. When looking at the Ground-floor plan I needed to change the layout slightly where the toilets and storage space are as it was seen as being a very irregular shape for an interior space so I needed to recreate it so that it was less fragmented. I also needed to make the boiler space bigger so I moved the staff room so that the boiler space could also have that area but also that the boiler room shouldn’t be accessed through the staffroom meaning it needs its own corridor. The last part of the feedback for the Ground-floor is that I needed to show a visual aspect of how the info/event space will look like.

Moving on to the first and second floor plan they both had the same feedback as I wanted the floors to look very similar as to how the layout will look like. From this I needed to add a walls around the staircase to have a completely enclosed area which includes fire doors as a fire safety hazard. I was also told that the corridor that I have produced around the recreational rooms to make them a more private area could be avoided if I rearrange the recreational rooms whilst also making sure the walls in the recreational room are not too geometric or irregular as when looking at my plans they were. Finally I also needed to make sure that on each of the floor plans that there is at least one accessible toilet which is functional for its needs whilst also at least one standard toilet on each of my floor plans.

Finally my feedback for my Third-floor plan I just needed to show a visual aspect on how my floor plan will look like and how it’ll work whilst also showing how I will make the plan feel like a garden. Overall, when looking at my feedback it has given me a better understanding of getting closer to my final design layout where I can then start to add and think about what materials and furniture I will use throughout my design and how I will lay the furniture out.

First Review 05/03/2020

Rebecca Chick – City Fits concept review_compressed

During the start of our new project ‘City Fit’ we had been given four scenarios such as Leisure, Healthcare, Retail and Educational. This of which I had chosen to do Healthcare and base my design on a Support Centre for terminally ill patients and their families, whilst I have chosen my client to be St David’s Hospice Care due to it hitting so close to home with a personal connection. By having this connection it was one of the reasons why I chose to redesign the building as I would be able to put my own twist on the design thinking back to when I use to go to a Support Centre and the feelings it once gave me.

Today we had our first review also known as the concept review on our new project ‘City Fit’ this allows us to get feedback from our lecturers and students based on the work we have produced to make sure we are on the right path but also to see what we need to do to improve our design ready for the next review. Before we start the review we had been asked to create a presentation. However, when it comes to presenting in front of people it has always been a strong weakness of mine as I panic and get nervous losing all confidence in myself where I then have a barrier block where I can’t even remember want I am suppose to be saying. Although I do believe that I have improved since first year when presenting in front of people.

In terms of my feedback that I received when showing any of my plans whether they are bubble diagram or my actual plans on my presentation slide I need to make them clearer as to which floor was which, so instead of putting them beside each other in a four I would need to have my ground-floor plan at the bottom of the page and work my way up so that my third floor plan would be at the top of my page. The next stage that they would like to see is to work floor by floor and get a finalised layout showing the changes to my design such as the development stages throughout the project, whilst also getting sections of my building to show how my circulation will work throughout the plans to see if the design layout will be suitable for a Support centre but that they are suitable for the type of building.

Overall, I feel that the quality of my presentation was very basic and expected considering it was our first review although for a final review presentation I would make changes so it is at the best standard possible. I felt that I also had the right amount of content on my slides as I didn’t go over the 5 minute mark when presenting but I did notice that I was speaking a lot to the computer screen or to Craig as I was trying not to panic too much. Finally even though I didn’t speak very confidently it was probably one my best presentation that I have presented when comparing to previous presentations.