VIRGIN x STAC live Brief

STAC architects were commissioned by Virgin Atlantic to design the new Clubhouse Lounge in Manchester Airport.

They wanted a textile wall to be produced and came to MMU for those designs with the over arching theme being Manchester.

Daisy, Chloe and I decided to work collaboratively on this project as we work in similar ways and enjoy working with similar materials and colours.

We began our research by walking through Manchester paying attention to things that create the blueprints of the city. We were amazed by the amount of viaducts that still exist in the city, especially in the castle fields area. We started photographing the arches and drawing from those images.

I began by thinking about the arches as a repeat pattern, using hand drawn images and photoshopping a pattern.

I began drawing more freely from the photographs, enabling me to discover shapes present in the photos. The designers wanted a a fairly muted design so i gradually simplified my drawings and colour scheme until it suited the desired scheme. (Can be found in sketchbook)

As a group we decided to use the shapes formed under the viaducts as our shape inspiration. We started sampling and coming up with ideas.

We took a trip to SCRAP refuse in Leeds, a company that saves fabric and other materials that would otherwise be thrown away such as off cuts.

We chose lots of playful materials that fit within our colour scheme and began playing around with the fabrics. One piece that we found very interesting was the foam with curved ridges, it was a really good base for applying other fabrics and the shape reminded me of the lines on the Ordsall chord. This was when our vision for our final design started to come from, the idea of filling the grooves of this foam.

Knowing that STAC were looking for a fairly muted design was something I struggled with as I usually work with lots of colour, as well as having to think about manufacturing something to such a large scale. This was a good challenge but i felt like i stuck too much to my usual way of working, which for this brief wasn't going to be successful. This is something I need to think about the next time I work to a clients brief, to stay true to myself but also ensure the work i produce fulfils all the requirements the client has.

We came up with our final design which visually I liked the look of but practically it would not have worked in the proposed place. But again this was really good experience to gain and going forward I will ensure any piece I pitch for a client will be fully functioning, I will have a finished sample and have a clearer idea of the final vision for the piece. 

When pitching to STAC it became clear to us that our piece was not going to suit their space, it was too colourful, too tedious to manufacture, and would have looked too busy when scaled up. This did feel slightly disheartening but on reflection I don't think we fulfilled the brief as much as we could have. They encouraged using parts of the virgin jet which we didn't do in the end but this brief pushed me to work differently and I made something very different to what i usually would through working collaboratively.

I plan on taking part in the Beachcroft live brief and will take a lot from the experience of doing this brief and focus more on the clients brief and aim to produce something I know will work in the space, will attach to the wall easily and also reflects my style of working.