Finding the finish! (Day Three)

Aesthetics matter, especially when you’ve got a large group of architects and designers together in the same field… how do you complement and contrast?

We’re testing a new idea, charring timber! It’s an ancient Japanese art form, to burn timber to provide a beautiful long-lasting structural product. Some might say our thinking is inspired by Junichiro Tanizaki’s ‘In praise of shadows’, others would say it’s a refreshed environmental way of treating timber without the need for preservative, stain, solvent, or additive.

Of course that’s not all; we’ve tidied up our tower designs, started post-holes for a pavilion, continued rotten-rock padding for basic foundations, and started tower post connections.

Design! … and design some more (Day Two)

Ideas, doodles, sketchbooks, scribbles, and more! Today’s been all about getting creative, it can be summed up by ‘finding design and structural foundation’

Design is about making ideas tangible; taking abstract thoughts, inspirations, and precedents – and making something stick. So, in our usual high excitement and entertaining speed, we’ve been testing structural ideas, experimenting with shapes, and trialling a number of height and size options.

Also we’ve had our first timber delivery to site – which is a rather challenging endeavour in itself when you’re completely off-grid! Having set out some basic parameters and a structural grid to work from early in the day, it’s now all hands-on-deck to start getting the holes for the foundation posts ready. It’s the start of something good….

… and it begins … Skye Shelter 2014 (Day One)

Having pulled the whole team together last night for a wonderful barbecue at the Skye Shelter 2013 Bothy; today has been the first day on site. It has been amazing to witness eighteen enthusiastic individuals; discussing, analysing and evaluating the architectural implications and design ergonomics of going to the toilet. This year we start with ideas for a composting loo – with a view! Situated in a remote location on Skye (again) and adjacent to last years project.

More specific aims this year. What we want to achieve:
–  An element/component that is completely water-tight
–  An outdoor canopy (outdoor covered space)
–  A window detail
–  Wooden stilt structure
–  Outdoor furniture
–  Small interventions in the landscape

Sustainable aspects ; considered for SKYE SHELTER 2014:

• –  No electricity used onsite
• –  No concrete used
• –  Recycled materials from local building sites
• –  Responsibly sourced materials from within Scotland
• –  Use of timber as an economic and environmentally friendly building resource
• –  Design for a composting toilet
• –  Use of local pond/water source for water filtration
• –  In cases use traditional joints instead of contemporary fixings
• –  Off grid, remote location for design and build

Many hands make light work…

We’re looking for some friendly faces to join us this summer!

If your interested in joining the Skye Shelter 2014 team, to run a Live-Build project this July, please get in touch. We need some motivated design students, who are pro-active, and keen to discover first-hand what is really involved in full scale building!

Apply on-line today at: skyeshelter.wordpress/application

Thanks for the wood!

We need to say a huge thank you to Roderick and our friends at ‘Gilmour & Aitken’ for letting us scavenge through their skips last week! Every little bit of material make a difference…

We’re in the process of gathering together materials and resources for our forthcoming model-making workshops, team-build seminars, and 1:1 details. This year we’re preparing better than ever!! Watch this space…

We’re getting social…

facebook.com/SkyeShelter

Don’t miss one second of the action, as we prepare for ‘Skye Shelter 2014’…

This week has been an exciting one! With a new project in the pipeline, a new Facebook page launched, and newly established co-ordinating team. Watch out for some new faces, some interesting twists, and a whole lot of full scale fabrication…

facebook.com/SkyeShelter

We make our way onto the RIBA wall at the Mac….

The MSA Student Exhibition, to form part of the RIBA accreditation visit, showcases our work this summer. What a privilege to be held in such high regard by fellow peers, cheers guys!

“Skye Shelter” was a student initiated live build, for six days,  on remote crofting land on the Isle of Skye.

We sought, and received funding from MSA and the SRC, giving us a total budget of £1300. The ambition was to design, onsite, and build a timber, stone and partially metal clad “bothy” which was site specific, ambitious and contextual. We took inspiration from Brian Mackay-Lyons “ghost projects” in Nova Scotia, on very similar terrain. Unlike “ghost” we had decided not to predetermine the positions of foundations prior to a group site appraisal.

The design was developed, democratically, by a group of 11 students from stage 1 to stage 5, the joiner brother of one student and 1 tutor and a dog. By the end of day 1 we had a strategy and we started digging the foundations on day 2. We used no concrete and worked without power on an elevated site with a spectacular view southwards towards the Red and Black Cullin Mountain Ranges. We were significantly finished by the Saturday evening, and several of us slept overnight in our shelter.

The “bothy” comprises a 7.5 m sq interior with an elevated porch facing southwards and the view; decks which step down to an raised “fire cairn”.

An Evening of Celebration

After a week of hard work and extensive live-building, it’s time to relax and enjoy the structure we’ve created. A great opportunity to reflect on what has been an amazing week, share a big thank you, and test the shelter we’ve created.

The Finishing Touch (Day Six)

The end is near. It’s all cylinders go, to get everything ready for tonight. Sarking has been applied to the deck, the cladding has been finished off, the door is hinged and side panel built-up, along with bitumen paint application in full swing. We’re looking forward to the end result.