Showcase 2024 Student Spotlight: Harrison Bradley
Student Spotlight featuring BArch (Hons) Architecture, Harrison Bradley, and his project, 'A Laboratory of Planetary and Social Balance'.
By Antonio Cuyas | Published on 10 May 2024
Categories: Student Showcase; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The Project
The facility will become a ‘Laboratory of Planetary and Social Balance’ in which exploration and experimentation will lead to design outputs that respond carefully to the planet itself through the use of materials and resource usage as well as those who inhabit the planet, being humans, their communities and nature. The school will become an integral part of the community both through the opportunity of involvement it offers to students and the neighbourhood as well as the openness of the site to the public and reintroducing the Drury Hill route through the Broadmarsh to the city, creating a ‘Learning Neighbourhood’ and acting as a catalyst for ‘Knitting the City’.
The main focus will be the community and how through the use of architectural installations the students as designers can create beneficial outcomes, deal with boundaries and create communities that are knitted together. ‘The Laboratory of Change’ will encourage students to research and collaborate with communities to create solutions through the use of design. The school will be a space in which collaboration and integration between teachers, students and the community is key in providing creative and responsive solutions to social problems.
The design of the school and programme itself will be the first step in creating a ‘Planetary and Social Balance’. The layout of the facility and involvement of the neighbourhood will create a space where experimentation and creative outputs thrive through the lack of restriction and the openness to the public where collaboration is promoted. Students will be supported but encouraged to learn through experimentation, helping to create a generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers who, through architectural design, can help in solving social issues.
The school will deal with material and resource usage by relying solely on a materials store which will be an ever-growing collection of waste and recycled construction materials promoting the use of ‘Circular Economy’ within the design industry. The student’s design outputs will be achieved through the use of these materials and the experimentation and research carried out in order to reform, re-purpose and re-imagine these materials in creative ways to provide solutions to the issues their projects are aiming to solve.
Through the design of the site and structure, the facilities it offers, collaboration and integration between students and the neighbourhood and free access to resources and workspaces for the public the school will become a ‘Laboratory for Change’ in which ‘Planetary and Social Balance is Achieved’.
Inspiration Behind The Project
The main inspiration for this project came from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark where the facility is designed around collaboration and experimentation and students are encouraged to design and make through the unrestrictive spaces both internally and externally. Another key inspiration was Kingston University’s Townhouse building which was part of my research for my dissertation, this facility takes a modern approach to a higher educational facility where the boundaries between the public and students are blurred and is a space that can be used by all.
Being part of NTU
Being part of NTU has been a great experience, in the 3 years Harrison has been here he have learnt so much and gained skills and experience through studying architecture. The staff and tutors are great and play a key part in the course as it is very hands on. Everyone has access to a wide range of software, materials and facilities to help support our work and have been on a range of trips throughout the course with the standout one being a week trip to Venice in 3rd year to aid the final project. Harrison has also met some amazing people and made great friends while being at NTU.
Closing Remarks
Studying architecture has been very challenging but it's so rewarding to see your ideas start as sketches and turn into fully resolved designs. The course always continues to be exciting and you are constantly learning through close collaboration with tutors and other students.
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