Beach Retreat

This is a project I completed last semester that turned out very well in my opinion. The purpose was to design a room for a client utilizing fabric samples, a piece of furniture, and a prized possession that they selected. My client chose light fabrics, and furniture with a beach inspired theme, with her prized possession being a collection and love of seashells. To incorporate her love of the beach and shells, I decided to design a beach inspired living room, in a little studio along the beach. I incorporated her large overstuffed couch, with a large overstuffed armchair in the opposite corner with a blue and white nautical themed pattern, complete with white rope trim. Keeping in mind the amount of sand/water that accompanies a house along the beach, I used a concrete floor with a sand motif in order to help keep the house cool as well as clean, as well as to create a more seamless distinction between outdoors and indoors. To help bring the outdoors in, I decided to use large windows with a teak wood trim that allow plenty of light into the room as well as magnificent views of the water. To incorporate her seashells, I designed a sand wall, that helps to separate the entrance from the living room. The wall is made of glass, with teak wood case, that is filled with sand and shells. The case is also lit from the top with recessed ceiling lights that helps to highlight it as a point of interest and intrigue. When I presented the room to my client, she was ecstatic. She loved the furniture, the windows, the lighting, and especially the sand wall. I am very pleased with the outcome of the design, and it is actually of my favorites Ive done.

Process

These are samples of the many process pieces of work I did for the depot design. I did them all on trace, because trace paper is easy to maneuver and makes a great overlay. Included in my design process I experimented with numerous floor plans to decide on the best option for the hotel. Along with drawing and redrawing plans, I sketched what the room would look like along side the plan to get a better 2-d representation of the room. I think sketching up what the spaces would look like was extremely helpful in visualizing the space more clearly and in a different way. Looking at plan views is always good, but being able to bring that space up into a different view helped me make a lot of decisions and I was able to better see how things would/would not work. Along with sketching and plan views, I created numerous blocking diagrams and bubble diagrams to help myself in space planning and adjacencies. These are helpful because they help me to see the relationship between rooms and how spaces should fit together in order to make a more realistic and functional design. All of these elements combined helped me to make a design and floor plan I was very pleased with, and I enjoyed doing it.

Final concept model

This is the final concept model I designed to represent the concept of the depot. It originated from the Southern Cross Train Depot in Melbourne, Australia. The ceiling in the Southern Cross Train depot is a series of squares tied together to form a curving pattern/motion, so I tried to mirror that idea with my model in an abstract way. My model features square panels that link together that flow into a curving pattern, similar to Southern cross. I wanted to incorporate my ideas for the hotel into the model as well, so I had the squares curve off into the distance, symbolizing guests' stay at the hotel, as well as representing my artists work. I want the stay in the hotel to be a surreal experience, where guests could get lost in the design of the hotel. My artist, Aaron Reed's photography has the same feeling. The way his pictures develop is almost unreal, which is what I wanted to incorporate into the design of the model. It curves in an unrealistic and playful manner, which is exactly the idea intended for my depot design.

Depot Boards

These are the final boards I made to showcase the final depot design. I am actually not very pleased with the outcome of them. One thing I realized now that I see the boards complete is that I need a lot of improvement on putting my designs together. I have a good idea for designs, but putting them all together is something I definitely struggle with. Some things I am noticing that will help to make the boards better is to put the materials that correspond with certain rooms on the actual board, it will help people viewing the boards to better understand and visualize the way the rooms will look, as well as create a more visually appealing presentation. Another problem I see is with the orientation of the boards. I originally thought that switching them different ways would be interesting, but it turned out that it just looked messy and slightly disorganized. It did not help in the actual presentation either. So, next time I create boards, I will be sure to keep all of these things in mind so that I will create a better presentation next time.

As far as the hotel design goes, I love the way it turned out. I feel I incorporated the artists concept and work very well and consistently throughout the hotel, with lighting and materials that reflect the glowing nature of his photographs, and that help to create a surreal experience. I tried to incorporate his work in more than just pictures, so to do that I took elements from his work such as the glowing effect and stark contrast 0f colors in materials and lights, as well as giant fiber optic moving/glowing photos in each room. To bring his work to a 3-d level, I took elements from certain photos and made them structural aspects of the hotel, such as cables from photos of bridges used to anchor the curved headboard structures to the ceiling, and LED lights hanging from the ceiling covered in a thin curtain to create a a life like representation of another one of his photos. To incorporate my textile design into the hotel, I created light panels in different sections of the hotel and residence, to further mirror my design as well as artists concept/work. To incorporate my concept model and the Southern Cross inspiration ceiling, I created custom designed headboards that curve and wave to create a more interesting approach to a bed. In conclusion, I feel that the art hotel turned out very well, and I am very pleased with what I designed. The things that I need to work on will improve over time, I will make sure of it. Mistakes help greatly in learning and moving forward in the design process, and i am excited for my next project!