The Rural Lab continues within the Studio Works 3 course of Stage Three, with a focus on developing projects within the Lochaber region of the Scottish Highlands. Responding with a holistic approach to architectural design by integrating the subjects of Architectural Technology 3 (AT3), within semester one for a combined output. Within semester two the collaborative practice component and knowledge gained from other disciplines through the completion of Professional Studio 3 (PS3), helped make infomed desicions within project two.
Stage Three has provided opportunities for personal success and significant growth in my work and design process in preparation of my year out as a Part 1. This growth has been recognised through receiving commentation for the GIA (Glasgow Institute of Architects) Student Awards for Stage Three at GSA, recognising the work produced and displayed at the end of year degree show. Furthermore, I was honoured to recieve the MSA Stage Three Sustainability Award for my project (In)Visible Boundaries.
Final Outputs
Reflective Journal
- Project 1 : Life-Long Learning
- Retreat.
The Life-Long Learning Retreat, located in the town centre of Fort William offers a hub of creativity for visitors and residents of the town. Providing a connection to the Scottish Highlands historical industries as the workshop spaces of this multi-use building allows an interactive experience with the traditional and contemporary processes relating to wool production.
The material choices both internal and external create a connection with context of the site as it can be sourced from local existing industries. The material choice also reflects the atmospheric qualities of wool as the selected workshop material.
The proposal communicates a series of elegant and delicate design descisions which engage and connect with the immediate context, the existing site, level changes, orientation, urban structure and natural light, all resolved within the compact site and building.
- Long- Life Learning Retreat, Architectural Technology 3
The combined submission of Principles of Building 3, Structural Design 3 and Environmental Design 3 with the studio project enriched the learning experience and enhanced the overal project output.
Final Outputs
Field Guide & Reflective Journal
Recognised and awarded the MSA Stage Three Sustainability Award.
Approximately 85% of Lochaber is owned by private entities. As a result of lenient policies regarding land ownership, owners have exploited the land for its natural resources, engaging in activities which disrupt the area’s biodiversity (sporting and felling trees). The project allows visitors to engage and observe the ecological degradation.
The project uses the unowned and uninhabited areas of Lochaber. The excavation of land and the re-use of the soil creates a trench-like intervention, highlighting the political nature of land ownership and the idea of conflict. Whilst the form displays a physical representation of boundaries and the absurdities of boundary-making.
In an act to reclaim agency of the land, visitors are transformed from passive observers to proactive stewards of the land as they engage with planting and regrowth to help contribute to the recovery of the biodiversity of the area. The intervention in the land provides an experience both restorative and reflective of the landscape. Engaging with the inherent beauty of the Scottish Highlands, and to better understand the fragility of the landscape and nature within the current climate emergency.