STAGE EIGHT

I decided that I wanted to have a signboard at some place on the facade of the building and studied the traffic flows of the roads to find that the most traffic viewed the south-west corner/part f the building due to the meeting of Beach Road and Mahuhu Crescent. 

More specifically, I decided to place the signboard on the bottom facade as the photographer would need to curtain off the walls most of the time anyway in order to control the light in photographs etc.

I then sketched the final building design in context of its surroundings - the surrounding buildings, carpark and roads etc. I decided that I liked the way it has turned out:-D

STAGE SEVEN

This was my modified 3D drawing of the exterior of the building. I decided to make the empty outdoor surface above the ground level into another outdoor area to make the most of the space and to provide another place for relaxation, especially for the accountant and visiting clients. 

I added a staircase near the back (carpark) entrance of the building which could be used in case of a fire in the building. The above photo also shows the detail in the elevator and its 3 parts - the person transporter, the material transporter and the glass ground with holes for informal communication.

This photo shows the basic ideas in terms of structure in my buildings and the collumns on the corners so that they do not disturb the design too much as well as the beams in the ceilings/floors and collumns in the walls.

This photo shows a close up sketch of the balcony railings (for both balconies). It is made of a tetal structure and glass barriers.

STAGE SIX

After moving the Engineer upstairs with the Architect, my original shape changed slightly so that the 2nd level was smaller in size than the 3rd level and the Accountant did not need as much space as the Architect and Engineer combined did. 

This was a rough drawing of the new shape of the building in isometric.

I started to draw each floor in axonometric to show how the interior would be like, corresponding to the floor plans made earlier with small modifications. I started with the 3rd floor (the drawing on the top of this photo was the final one).

This was the ground and 2nd level showed in axonometric too. It shows the link (elevator-like) between the kitchen (chef) and the accountant's office. 

STAGE FIVE

When meeting with my tutors on Monday, they reminded me that my building should be more open plan with more chance of collaboration and more connection between the partners for this reason. Therefore, I went home and started to rethink my ideas and connections.

I figured out that there were 3 mutual relationships between my partners:

>Engineer & Architect (A can design the building,and during the process ask E for structural and technical advice whereas E can clarify any part of the design with A at any time).

>Accountant & Chef (C provide meals for A and A prepare financial statements for C)

> Photographer & Chef (C provide food for P and P take photos of food forC to promote cafe)

^I also tried to outline how muchspace was needed by each partner in relation to the others. P and C wuld eed the most space, followed by the Arch and then the E and Acc.

^This was another attempt of mine to design the floor plan in more detail and to suit these new requirements too.

STAGE FOUR

I decided to draw more detailed foor plans for each level and started to consider the resources and equipment each person would require in their space. I also started to think about connections between the 3 levels in form of a staircase.

As it was one of our requirements, I decided to figure out what resources were mostly needed by the partners and where it was provided in terms of distance to the building. I decided that the Architect needed access to Gordon Harris for stationary which was 10 minutes away, the Chef needed a supermarket and Countdown (previously Foodtown) was just 3 minutes away. And also, the photographer may need camera supplies and framing services quite regularly which could be satisfied by Camera & Camera on Queen St (8 minutes away)

STAGE THREE

The next step was to figure out the 3D aspect of the building's shape. 

My step-by-step process of changing different shapes. Please note that I decided to make the building 3 storeys instead of 2 as I wanted the architect to be able to have their own floor which is higher up, allowing them to view more of their surroundings for inspiration.

I finally decided on this 3-step, layered elevation which was somewhat inspired by the building I was given by Le Corbusier - Carpenter Centre as the elevation of this building also has many irregular layers.

STAGE TWO

I felt that it was now time to start planning the floor plan of the building - including factors such as the overall shape and the arrangement of the 5 partners on different levels where necessary.

I decided that since the chef will be running a cafe and the photographer a studio, therefore they will need the most public access than the other partners. This is why I decided to put them on the ground floor. Secondly, they will need more space than the Engineer, Architect and Accountant, who will be able to fit in a smaller space. 

Floor Plan shapes:

I thought of a pentagon shape as it has 5 sides/edges, and there are 5 partners in theis business, therefore the building will be able to reflect the partners well. 

This shape was conceived when I tried to put the 2 most convenient shapes of the space needed by the photographer and chef, who will be situated on the bottom floor.

This concept was thought of when I sketched the basic shape of the site and found that this quarter-circle shape best utilises the shape on site. It is also the point closest to the road, able to attract customers to the business.