Daniel Smith (He/Him)
Through my work I try to explore the relations between spaces and how these interact with people. This year’s work, focused around a musical retreat in Balloch, has been aimed at understanding children’s capacity for play and how this can interact with designed spatial arrangements and architectural ideas.
More technical interests have looked at trying to design a carbon neutral building through the use of reusable components and sustainable materials, within the backdrop of Balloch and Loch Lomond.
Big Noise Balloch
Third year was oriented around designing a musical retreat for the charity Sistema Scotland which aims to provide opportunities to learn musical instruments to disadvantaged communities. The following shows the final results of the year’s work which addressed ideas and research explored throughout the year.
The main concept behind the project was to explore the hierarchies between spaces and how children’s imagination can be utilised to create more dynamic hierarchies and arrangements.
Technical Study
Technical studies during the year focused on understanding how the building operates in reality, beginning to explore the use of materials, placement, construction, and structure. The technical study established principles for taking the building forward which was built upon in further developments.
Principles established were: the utilisation of sustainable materials (such as engineered timber, cellulose insulation, and reclaimed bricks/slate), reusable components, and structural clarity.
InterACT 2021
InterACT saw the developments of the project at Balloch in conjunction with structural engineering and quantity surveying students from varying institutions. The intention of the collaboration was to encourage interdisciplinary design, with projects starting to explore thinking from other aspects of the design world.
InterACT saw the project start to expand and consider factors that were not so prevalent in prior thinking, exploring how to simplify the structure, reduce the footprint and keep the building on budget. The outcome was a much more streamlined and efficient building which worked better environmentally and spatially.
A Year’s Worth of Work
This project details the development of my work throughout the year building up to the final project Big Noise Balloch. These are a few select images which show key developments throughout the year.
