Sophie Davies
The Kelp Health Pebbles
Seaweed is a natural product with incredible properties that is starting to be utilised increasingly in today’s climate; with local offshore farms beginning to sprout up in Cornwall, the Par Horticultural Seaweed Centre is both a processing plant for horticultural seaweed products and a community space for locals and tourists alike. While distributing these amazing products across the country it was also important to ensure that the project also gave back to the community, with spaces for events, a beautiful garden to enjoy and tourist attractions to experience; bringing people together in Cornwall and providing a new route for income in one of the most impoverished counties in England. Each “wing” of the dock represents the two areas of both ‘production’ and ‘community,’ combining in their use and processing of seaweed.
The Kelp Health Pebbles is a cosmetic manufacturing facility which uses the locally harvested sugar kelp as the main ingredient, which grows in the shallow waters near the coast of the site in Par, Cornwall. The design aims to provide both an atmospheric and interactive healing experience by leading visitors through the process of creation and offering freshly made products and treatments. Influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans using seaweed as a detoxifying and cleansing agent in their thermal baths, the design concentrates on the concept of healing by creating heavy, and warm spaces to comfortably lose yourself within, and lighter, airy spaces to engage the mind.
Rammed earth is used to create the heavy areas moulded into curved walls both horizontally and vertically, dropping like soft pebbles into the landscape. While the lighter spaces are made from timber and glass that follow a linear grid which stretches across the site and in plan and section. As suggested, the surrounding site continues to follow the form of organic pebbles and a linear grid, and is home to milking cattle, honeybees, lavender fields, and a mint greenhouse, providing additional ingredients for the cosmetics. Hence visitors can use the internal and external spaces of the retreat to calm their mind and bodies.
Key Words: Pebbles, Rammed Earth, Warmth, Healing, Timber, Light
Website: https://sophiedavies2.myportfolio.com
Instagram: @sophiedavies.archi
The Freight Caves
Introduced in the heart of Reading Town, Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of New Years, brings a large infusion of culture and festivity to the local area. Cock-a-Leekie soup, being an integral cuisine of the Scottish, accompanies the festivities. The influx of Hogmanay culture, introduced by the arrival of the Soup Facility, will indulge Reading in a host of traditions that seek to bring people together to celebrate the New Year and the fresh start that follows midnight. On New Year’s Eve in Reading, the public are invited to join in the activities, including; farming the ingredients for the soup, trying the soup, setting Juniper branches alight at midnight, Ceilidh dancing, drinking homemade Gin, and the chance to watch as the chefs produce the soup from raw ingredients on site.
Cock a Leekie , Scotland, Timber, Homemade, Feathers, New years
Tenby Harbour is a small village on the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, attracting tourists with its rich history and popular seafood quinines. The project “Cargoes” was split into two phases, resulting in two separate designs. The proposal for phase one aims to store four different cargoes in their optimum environment using specifically design and sized “caves”. Optimising the sustainability of the project, the caves are design with timber and demountable components which are insulated accordingly to withhold their temperature and ventilate effectively.
This design was further emphasised in phase two as more caves were implemented as the cargo of Bream fish was introduced, while also launching a social element to the structure. Circulation through the building via ramps going to all three floors allows for east access for all abilities, in addition to a journey through the building, with half heigh platforms and walkways directly through the caves.
Key Words: Caves, Harbour, Circulation, Climate, Timber
