Day 1.
Day one started by being put into groups to work on a group project throughout the week. My group included me, Alex, Jennie, and the three students from hazelwick school. We was briefed on the project and what we needed to produce by Friday. This was an architectural technology project where we had to come up with a bridge design to provide a footpath for people to cross the road located at Mithras house, a scale model of the bridge, a detail as well as a poster which we would have to present on Friday. This would require a good deal of thinking with a mix of trial and error as we had such a short time and limited amount of recourses. Many things were needed to be considered during the design process:
Who was going to use the bridge? This was important because this would govern our orientation of the bridge. We all decided that it would mainly be university students that would use the bridge but we also wanted to incorporate a cycle path for cyclist as well.
Buildability? How easy would it be to build a bridge in this location? This was another key factor of the design process as the topography of the site has many different levels and we wanted to design a bridge which would be easy to build using the existing ground without having to make too many amendments. In terms of the modelling we also wanted to make a design which wouldn’t be too hard to make as we were very limited in terms of materials and tools.
We began our research into precedent studies and we all come up with some interesting examples and concept designs. Upon discussion we all decided that the helix bridge would be the best design to incorporate in our own design. I then did a concept sketch to show the orientation of the bridge and essentially what it might look like. I put forward the idea of using colour in the bridge design to draw away from the cagey look which I felt would be the outcome due to the lack of materials that we could get hold of.
For the rest of the day we experimented with materials. We first tried to shape straws in the design we have in mind. The properties of the straws meant that we couldn’t create nice round curves without the material itself folding or impairing. This lead to the quick conclusion that straw wouldn’t be a strong enough material to use for our model. We then played around with other materials such as wood and cardboard however didn’t manage create the shapes we needed of our structural elements. We then decided to think of metal materials which could be used for a scaled model. I suggested we get chicken wire and some form of metal ties. Taking this into consideration I was then able to sketch up with a step by step construction methods for our scale model of the bridge. The day was over and we all had a good understanding as to where we were heading with the project and all decided that we would commit to the helix style design.
Day 2.
The second day came and we took a trip to B&Q to pick up the materials which we needed for the project. We brought chicken wire, galvanized wire and some form of metal mesh. We then picked up some foam board and card from Mithras house. Other materials and tools where at hand already such as a PVC soil pipe, glue gun, plyers, fairy lights and so on. Once back at university, me and jenny quickly made progress on the model. As I had already come up with the methods of construction it was easy to really push forward and get the main parts of the bridge built. Using my experience on site, I knew the best way to form the chicken wire around the pipe would be to snip off the ends so that there is loads of little bars which can be hooked and tied so hold the shape which we are forming. This worked really well although it took time and effort.
Picture 1 shows a sketch diagram to show how we hooked the chicken wire back on its self.
Picture 2 shows what it looked like once finished. As you can see each join looks really neat and tidy which me and jenny was really pleased with. The day was nearly up so we set out our plan of action for the next day and we were happy with the progress we were making.
Day 3
With only two days to go we was hoping to really pull everything together on day 3. Yet again me and jenny went straight to the modelling studio and continued to make progress with the model, accompanied by the hazelwick students. We made quick progress by completing the helix pattern using the galvanized wire. We then cut the pipe 2/3rds of the way down. This give us the bottom base of the bridge. Myself and the hazelwick students continued to make the bridge. First we installed little battery powered lights into the frame work. I decided on adding colour to the bride during the design process. We decided to cut lots of triangle shapes out of a clear plastic bottle and coloured them using sharpie pens. These would then act as glass sections that portray the internal light in a different colour. We also added mesh into the remaining over top space to represent the remaining covering of which would be needed in the design. Using the glue gun we secured everything. We then got the hazelwick students to start adding a pattern on the bottom side of the pipe so that is could be sprayed later on. The day soon come to an end and by now we had the whole caged frame ready with the lights and coloured panels. All that was left to do was the deck and supporting system. Jenny took the section of the pipe home with her that day and drilled and sprayed it. 
Day 4
As soon as we got in we focused on the model and getting it finished. By using bolts we were able to create the supporting legs of the model. We ties two legs together for each one as this was included in our design which Alex looked into furthers details on. Now the pipe had been sprayed everything was really starting to look good and the lights really brang the model to life. We glued the deck onto the model and it was pretty much done. me and Alex then moved onto the topography. By creating layers of cardboard we was able to create the desired levels that we needed. We used foamboard and card to face the surfaces. Jenny added little details like the labelling of the road and Mithras house. We then build little blocks out of wood to represent the foundation blocks. This now meant that the model and topography was finished. Jenny then took all our research and findings and put them all onto a poster of which she printed out in a1 form for the presentation.
