What's the Point?!

Well the shelter has finally be finished, there have been laughs, stress, out of tune singing and free cheeseburgers. It has been hard work and some of us found it harder than others to keep ourselves awake......

Many inspirational songs and speeches later we made it through the review with our eyes open and Eimear and James managed to string some words together for the tutors.

shame shame shame

The sheet metal for the roof will be put up in the coming week to make sure its waterproofed as it got quite leaky in the rain today! The exhibition for the shelter project will be held at Fat Sams on Friday 12th. Thank you for following our progress through the past few weeks, we hope you were kept entertained.

Sleepy Sunday

Walking down to the Botanics along Perth road with 4 sheets of plywood was interesting at 7 in the morning. Luckily very few people were out and about to witness our struggle! Everyone was feeling slightly cheerier today, with some people feeling on top of the world....

The cold was getting to some of us, and there were a few grumpy faces on site .... 

Lets hope this afternoon is a bit warmer, and the shelter finished so we can celebrate!

Saturday Shivers

We were all feeling the cold yesterday at the Botanics with many of us losing the feeling in our toes. Spirits were lifted when the lunch list was taken and thanks to our friends at the golden arches we got free cheeseburgers! James was on top form with his rendition of "shame shame shame" receiving only minor abuse from the rest of the group.

The boys were feeling adventurous, braving severe heights to get the frame screwed together....

We got the majority of the cladding done and the roof was under construction, even if there were a few flaws......

The cold left us feeling numb, however after the realisation that the studios shut at 5pm on a Saturday there was a mad dash to the studios to take all the materials we were storing out. We were very lucky Mike had his car parked just off site, all the materials were then moved to my flat. By the end of the day we were all feeling a lot like this......

Setting our alarms for 6am was painful, but we are all excited to see the finished project!

Freaky Friday

It was a mad day today as everyone was running around trying to get everything finished. The elements of the roof were cut in the workshop and the bench was constructed. On site the battery's for the drill failed us once again and James showed us how he could use sheer brute force to drill holes into the timber.....

Thankfully the tools in the workshop weren't relying on batteries so lots more could be done and the sheet metal for the roof was cut. 

Its an 8am start at the Botanics and a 9am start in the studio tomorrow, however transport for the materials left in the studios overnight has not been sorted so the Point group will be wandering down Perth road on Saturday carrying a roof and large bits of timber. If anyone in the vicinity fancy's giving us a hand there is a bottle of wine in it for you! Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get a little more shelter and a little less frame on the ground .....

Mark showing us how its done

Doomsday

After an inspiring speech was sent round last night from James, everyone was feeling fired up and raring to go. with nearly  the whole team making it in for 9....

Let's hope there's more people running round the Botanics! Last day of the project has come quickly, and we are all feeling the pressure. Hopefully we can enjoy firework night and relax over the weekend.

A+E

Our first casualty was had today, Hannah took a turn for the worse and had a serious accident. The team were all very concerned and we all wish her a speedy recovery.....

With one member of our team injured the team pulled together this afternoon. We had four people on site putting the triangles together and all that's left is to put one side together and clad it. The roof is as ever lying under question marks, Nathan heads the team in the workshop making sure everyone knows what to do.

The girls dominate the workshop this afternoon showing the boys how its done.....

The presentation team worked on putting sheets together, making sketch up videos and building models. Tomorrow it will be work, work, work! All the cladding needs to be done and the roof needs to be put together, not to mention the bench! Mike's petrol has taken a hit and he's desperate to fill up, so everyone is spreading the word for Plain White Tees in Liquid next Wednesday. That drill looks pretty scary ......

Football Results

Apparently the final score was 7-1 to Dundee Uni, well done project manager. Glad to see the team is doing so well, your presence on the pitch was clearly vital. Here's a shot of what we got done whilst you were away.....

Working Wednesday

The morning was spent in the workshop sawing cladding and sitting in the studios buildings models for final presentations. One particular member of the team had a football match to go to in Aberdeen and we are waiting on conformation of the results, we shall keep you posted. (He's the one in the Arsenal gear).

The afternoon was spent traipsing down to the Botanic Gardens in the wellies, to get stuck in. The Crux group were being very civilized with their plastic plates, picnicking. We had a packet of Jaffa cakes and some McDonald's hot chocolate.... Not quite as civilized but it did perk everyone up.

It was all hands on deck and we were definitely feeling the cold by the end of the day. Note to anyone going down to the Botanics, wear two pairs of socks and layer up! We got lots of holes drilled into the frame and screwed the metal plates on the bottom of the posts. The day came to an end when the drills ran out of battery, we were very courteous and Mark ran masking tape around the site to prevent anyone hurting themselves on the foundations.

More madness and mayhem

This afternoon it was all hands on deck to try and get the frame built. Posts were being drilled so they could be fitted to the foundations and cladding was under way.

Lyle was being a busy bee with our group in the workshop, many thanks! Tomorrow there will be a big push on cladding and lots of us will be on site in the afternoon getting our hands dirty. Wellies and baby wipes will be on hand, cant have us walking round looking scruffy. Not with the amount of pink this one will be wearing .........

Morning Meeting

James played commander and chief this morning delegating different jobs, lots to be done in the workshop today and lots of work to be done on the presentation!

Eimear gets cracking on the never ending roof! Cladding is being looked at down in the workshop, and the girls are asserting their presence in the workshop, giving the boys a run for their money!

As the tins of wood stain pile up in the studios, Erin's hands grip tighter on the every depleting money box. Videos are on the go and hopefully we will have some footage to show you soon.

workshop fever

Lots of group members spent time in the workshop yesterday pestering Lyle, I'm sure he was happy to be rid of us come 5 o'clock. They had fun playing with drills and saws, causing havoc at the end of the workshop.

Thankfully they did get down to work eventually and knocked up a good few triangles for the frame, progress is finally happening and once we have the frame done work can commence on the roof. Let's hope Eimear and Nathan have made some decisions!

Lunch time

Erin was first to bat her eyelashes in the workshop and did us proud. Some of the triangles have already been cut but we still have many more to get done.

The group are busy keeping you updated and have been papped whilst writing this blog. Development is also under way and Amy has been hard at work colouring in.

Eimear and co have been stressing over the roof details after some sceptical remarks from the tutors, we shall break for lunch and have our thinking caps on for this afternoon.

Monday Morning blues

So much for the 9 o'clock start! All of two members made it in to the group meeting and there was five by 10, to meet with Alex. Suffice to say not impressed, the team need to get their act together and everyone needs to be pulling their own weight! No more party's on a Sunday night, Halloween came at the wrong time for our project. The tension in the studios this morning could be cut with a knife, the happy faces of Friday are no more....

Today is expected to be filled with caffeinated beverages and a lot of time in the workshop begging Lyle to help us. Our plan of attack is to send all the girls down to bat their eyelashes and smile sweetly. We will keep you posted on our day, hopefully the bad start wont last!

WEEKEND WARRIORS

FOUNDATIONS

This weekend the boys trekked down to the Botanic Gardens and messed around with concrete. They dug holes all over the place! ... Or "carefully planned" holes. In other words they had fun pretending their spades were swords. Once all the tomfoolery was out of their systems they got down and dirty, making sure all the foundations were carefully measured with spray paint. Whilst the digging was under way concrete was being mixed and it was soon realised that there had been a serious underestimate in the amount of concrete needed to fill the holes. So the fund-raising budget took a big hit and there is now £39 left in the bank! Lets hope there's no need for extra screws and bolts.

Mike is being bought a belt for Christmas!

Monday morning every one is due in at 9 lets see how that goes ......

Crisis Day!!

Lesson Learnt!
We have encountered some problems throughout this project and we have slowly learnt how to come together as a group to solve these issues. One of our major flaws within the group was the lack of communication. Erin thankfully had links to a company who could help support us in the form of sponsorship, however due to our poor communication skills our relationship with the company was put under strain and this became a  problem when it came to placing an order with them. When we were faced with problems in the design, for example the scale, detailing, sourcing and pricing, we were forced to change and edit our order which meant then going to the company with a new order. On our part this is very un-professional looking, and the company were understandably becoming very impatient with our constant order changing.

Fundraising
There was a raffle held in Art Bar with the Sine group - from which we earned £115. Chas and Ellie met with the manager of Liquid and organised a social event to be held in Liquid Envy. We are now faced with selling 200 tickets! We divided the tickets between us - ten each - and aim to sell them to a wider circle of people rather than within the architects. Hannah and Jemma made plans to make and sell chocolate and toffee apples and pumpkin soup in spirit of halloween.

Documentation
Amy and Charli worked on the presentation for our final review on the project. They made a wooden booklet with three books: one demonstrating drawings and design, the second showing the process and the third, the final thing.

Problems and Solutions
Working out sheet metal for the roof area - we ordered more than was perhaps needed to compensate for the crimping which would increase the surface area significantly.

Type of wood and treatment. Whitewood pine for the frame - already treated.

Measuring the lengths of cladding and working out the ratio of larch and cedar. Eimear decided on 2/3 larch and 1/3 cedar to make an attempt at keeping the price down.

5mm thick Metal plates - changed to washers.

Back to the drawing board...

The team today were working on another redesign! After a consultation with the tutors some issues were raised, the structure of the roof seemed to be the most difficult thing to work out. There was much debate between Nathan and Jerry, to everyone's amusement. Another serious issue was the scale of the design, with a maximum height of 4.5m and a roof spanning 6m - the whole project had to be scaled down. This meant redesigning, redrawing, remeasuring and holding off on finalising the order with the timber merchants, sorry Erin!

James designated people to work on the roof and wall construction alongside Alex Pearson to come to a conclusion about the foundations and roof structure. The design of the roof has changed due to the fact that the angles don't fit snugly to ensure a flat roof that sits flush against the supporting walls. Eimear, our saviour,  therefore suggested a butterfly roof to solve this problem which meant more structure to get our teeth into. Nathan worked like crazy on the sketchup model and Stuart made new models of the roof whilst Mark, Mike and Joe built a new mock-up of one triangular frame at scale 1:1 which we had lots of fun with testing the cladding strength by jumping on it.

Our saving grace

The roof takes the shape of a folding rhombus and will be structured using a bow-string truss along the spine with struts coming off to support the cladding. Its all getting very exciting, everyone is eager to get stuck in and started with the construction.

The roof at the moment.....

Construction

Today the construction team worked in the workshop building mock-ups of the jointing of each triangular component. We constructed several models showing different fittings to explore the best way to build the final piece. There was much debate and took a while to agree on all the fixings. We worked out that the triangular models will hold with screws and glue as they are not under as much pressure as the rectangular frame. To fit each of the triangular and rectangular frames together the group will use coach bolts for extra stability. The aesthetic of the fixings was a big decision and required a lot of trial runs with spare bits of wood. Mark made a dovetail joint whilst Joe and Mike worked on the triangular angles and took note of all the angle measurements. Lyle showed us a quick and effective way to cut the angles all at once, so we estimate that the frame could be cut in a single afternoon. We can then construct it in pieces and take to the site when ready. Thanks Lyle!

Designers


Nathan had been working closely with Eimear to redesign parts of the roof.  It was drawn up and Stuart discussed it with Lyle. There could be a few problems in putting this together due to the thickness of the timber posts. Therefore we have to try a few more mock-ups test the stability and perhaps re-order some timber with thicker dimensions to fit the new design.

Eimear and Steph visited the site to mark out exactly where the concrete is to be poured and the first structural posts to be placed. Nathan printed out drawings of the sketchup model and some elevations to allow the entire group access to such information.

Fundraisers
The group sold more cakes today and prepared for the open-mic night at the social in the evening. Fundraising team had been writing letters to bars, getting sponsorship and trying to organise a raffle night with the art bar to raise more money for the build. Nathan stole the show and helped get lots of donations, not to mention his lovely rendition of "foxy lady" dedicated to all the girls in the room .... awww shucks!

Documentation

Some of the group scanned in images and information to document in this blog and a scrapbook filled with information on the process. There are to be two completed articles - a full book of every part of the process and design stages and a finalised version for presentation. The design of this book is being managed by Charli and Amy and is to include some animation techniques to bring a different slant to our project from previous years work. Video documentation is another part of recording or process, we borrowed camcorders from Hugh and Keri has organised some tuition with Richy on video editing so that we can have all the resources to hand at creating a personalised piece of footage explainging our project.

INITIAL DESIGN CONCEPTS

CONSTRUCTION TEAM

The construction team have got stuck in today with lots of debate over the different methods of construction we can look at. After discussions over bolting the entire frame or tapping and gluing it together we visited the workshop guru, Lyle, in the workshop for advice. For some reason the suggestion that we "UHU the crap out of it" wasn't met with too many smiles....

Lyle picked out the spike foundation as the easiest solution to our foundation problems. We could build these for the prototype and then used concrete point foundation for the real thing. We worked out a list of all the things that had still to be figured out, it was a very long list.....

Lyle suggested that we consider the frame without intricate joints, assuring us that it would still be structurally sound. With Eimear breathing down our necks about the aesthetic of the shelter it was a welcome solution. Simple butt joints attached with coach screws seemed to be a cheap solution which achieves good stability whilst maintaining the flush finish.

A cordless drill to take to the site was enthusiastically requested by the boys of the group, this meant dipping into the kitty, Erin put up a fight. We decided that the best option would be to prefabricate elements of the frame, making it easier to construct on site. 

Back to Lyle and approved! So from here we researched the type of rods and found that M24 was the best to use. We would drill them into the timber posts and concrete slabs and fill with resin to secure tightly. The rods are also threaded with nylon sheeted bolts for extra stabilty. The rods will cost approximately £80 in total.

Tomorrow's tasks include ordering our timber and buying concrete. The concrete will need to be measured out and placed on site accurately to ensure that when the frame is fitted at a later stage it will fit snugly. The concrete will take a few days to completely set, however it is build able on after 24 hours. During this time we plan to cut and construct the frame and cladding - take this to site and piece it all together. All that's left to do is get a good night's sleep!

Fund-raising Team

The team had a cake sale today! We made a profit of £60 and intend to have another tomorrow. Amy Sleight who was selling the cakes said she was 'very satisfied with today's profits. However [she doesn't] think we should be selling fudging cakes everyday.'

Hannah and Jemma went around as many bars in the area as possible to look for sponsorship and got a great response from many places. All that remains to be done is send formal letters.