3. Esquisse session!

Using the plans we had made following our site visit, user research and reflecting upon the reading we had done on spatial planning strategies, we did a deep dive into some initial ideas using an esquisse session! It proved to be a valuable exercise in brainstorming. I had considered some elements of how I might approach this, however was trying to remain open-minded and flexible in my thinking as I was conscious that my ideas may not all fit the spaces we are working with.

It became immediately apparent that planning a natural flow of traffic through a long, narrow space would prove to be challenging. Striking a balance between the practicalities of a modern workspace (such as proximity to natural light sources, and networking as a fundamental part of our working lives) and the features that would make the design fit for the purposes of the brief I had written (namely, a workshop and photo studio) will require some reflection on the ideas generated in the esquisse session.

Working between digital and analogue is invaluable in terms of understanding the site and design process in a more pragmatic sense – and a continuation of this workflow should enable me to find feasible design solutions to drive this project forward. As our skills in CAD develop, I’ve found it useful to create hand drawn trace copies of my working ideas, with small moveable thumbnails of elements I hope to include – allowing me to play with and evolve the design, then translate my findings into the digital sphere.