Blog:
Monday 7th November:
On the first day of our 3 day trip to Brighton university for architectural design week, we were given a brief and a help pack regarding the week. Then we were introduced to the foundations of bridges by a lecture in which we were shown different types of bridges and the different parts of them and their functions. We then were grouped up with 3 of us sixth formers and 2 uni students. When we got together in our groups we went back over the brief we were given at the start of the day. After we realised what we have to achieve by the end of the week, we went out onto the site for where the bridge is going to have to go to connect the areas together to get a idea and inspiration for our design ideas for our teams bridge. These images show where we have to place the bridge to gain access between the sites.




After thinking of some brief designs in our group, we were assigned tasks to complete in the time between our next visit which is Tuesday as we are not here on Tuesday. I was asked to look at different footbridges and produce a precedent idea PowerPoint on a footbridge of my choice which I completed and sent to our group via email. My footbridge of choice was Webb bridge of Melbourne Australia which is a very complex structure. From our first day of the trip I was able to gain a fair understanding of what is needed in bridges and why as well as the way that university works as it is completely different to school and it was a valuable experience.
Wednesday 9th November:
On our second day back at Brighton university we were aiming to complete different tasks to the previous visit. This time we are going to build the model of our bridge (not to scale) out of materials such as timber, foam board, glue, electrical wire in casing and a few other materials. As we weren’t at the university on Tuesday, the two uni students who are part of our group designed the concept and design idea for our bridge. The bridge they designed was very well produced and you can tell a lot of thought and time went into it. When we went over the plans for the day, we made our way over to the workshop/lab and started working on the model bridge. We were each assigned jobs to do, I was asked to cut out the various shapes for our model which were drawn out by Damien who was one of the two uni students. I used a Stanley knife to cut these shapes out as well as a safety blade which allows a smoother cut to the materials. Then when I was cutting out these rectangles to stick together to form a t shape for supporting the bridge, I used material glue to hold them together. I also cut out these shapes to support the bridge cables and supports. Also using the Stanley knife and safety ruler.

Friday 11th November:
on our final day of our design week at Brighton university, we made our way to the uni and when we arrived we met up with our group again and went over finishing touches for our model. For example, adding the cable to the bridge for support and also placing the main pathway of the bridge between the two platforms. In addition to this, the poster was also being completed by computer. As a result of completing this I was able to understand what it is like to finish off projects at a university level.
