Beginning both my first year of university and my architectural journey in the middle of a pandemic has been an experience I would never have imagined.
With various restrictions and sudden announcements from the government, it was never going to be the year we had envisaged. Nevertheless, we were fully supported as architecture students and given variety of projects to complete throughout the academic year.
Our final first-year project was titled "A place for dwelling and working", and we were challenged to design a Caretaker's house for Fairwater Park in Cardiff.
The brief asked for a single-storey building and a private garden to accommodate at least four people. In addition to this, we had to design ancillary spaces for activities related to park maintenance. This aspect of the project allowed us to explore the interesting relationship of the work and home life that the caretaker might experience – until recently, it was unusual for someone's workspace to be so close to their home.
The specific themes behind the project included timber construction, person-centred design, material efficiency, building performance, sustainability and biophilic design.
With guest lecturers and suggested reading, I was able to expand my knowledge on a variety of topics and apply the learning to my designs. I was particularly inspired by person-centred design, as I was keen to design a building that is both functional and enjoyable to live in.
We also learned that Architecture can create physiological responses in people and promote long term health and well-being, and this is something I strive for when designing a family home. Exposure to nature and greenery can also enhance health, so incorporating this into my design was important too. Meanwhile, considering the caretaker's role within the park allowed me to design more practical spaces. I looked at a variety of precedents that inspired my design, and applied the theory we had been taught.
Throughout the project we've been able to develop many different skills, from computer aided design to writing and reasoning. The programs we have learned to use this year include SketchUp, AutoCAD, Photoshop and InDesign. The online tutorials and drop-in sessions offered by the lecturers have enabled us to develop our skills and represent our designs digitally.
In this module we were examined on architectural design, architectural representation, architectural technology and contextual studies. The foundations of everything we have learnt this year will be developed in the years to come. Not only have we developed our practical abilities, but also our collaborative skills when participating in group work. Although still online, interacting with a smaller cohort and discussing our ideas allowed us to build friendships, respect for one another and a sense of belonging.
I believe projects like this are preparing us for a career in architecture as they teach us how to rationalise our decisions, and how to design a building for an existing site that we have visited and experienced. They also remind us to consider not only the building we are designing, but the urban tissue surrounding it, the user and wider society.
As well as gaining experience in using a variety of computer programs, learning about the culture and history of architecture allows us to engage fully with the subject and discover exactly what interests us as architecture students.