Learning Exchange Carport Week 3
Feb 3rd, 2012 by broderick
Week three of the UBC Learning Exchange Carport Project is winding up, and the project is taking shape and developing flavour. The team gathered twice this week to discuss tasks and made a trip down to the Learning Exchange to consult the patrons. In the background, the design team has perfected the Google Sketchup model of the current layout of the carport.
Carport 3D Model
Shown below is the most up-to-date Sketchup model of the Learning Exchange Carport. It includes the features of the model posted earlier in this blog, with further detail and functionality. With this completed model, the design team will start moving to initial conceptual designs of the space. Stay tuned!
Patron Consultation – Thursday, February 2
This was the main event of the week for the Carport Project. Games, Kevin, Drew, and I (Brody) made a trip down to the Learning Exchange to make a brief presentation to the patrons (the end users of the space), to be followed by a consultation of the possible uses and features of the renovated space. We also intended to determine the level of interest for the Google Sketchup workshops we plan to run. As mentioned in last week’s blog post, these workshops form one of the two major goals of the project.
Although the afternoon didn’t strictly follow the neat and tidy schedule we had laid out, we achieved all of the objectives we had set out. Over the course of the two hours the team spent at the learning exchange, we discussed design ideas with around 15 patrons, distributed and collected surveys from those present, and determined that there was indeed enough interest among those at the Learning Exchange to run two introductory Google Sketchup workshops. During a short debriefing with the client, we mused that the experience was much more “organic” than regimented, and that flexibility and adaptability are crucial components of any design project.
Next Steps
After some data crunching this weekend (i.e. looking over dozen or so surveys we’ve collected), the team will start discussing design concepts for the space. As well, a sign up sheet will be posted Monday morning at the Learning Exchange for patrons interested in taking the the first of the two Google Sketchup workshops we will hold. This first workshop is scheduled for Thursday, February 9th, and will be an introduction to the user interface and basic features of Sketchup. Because of facility constraints, the workshop will be limited to six students, and three of the group’s members will be present to ensure a high teacher to student ratio.
That’s all for this week. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the project.
Wow!
The project looks to be well in-hand.
Now that you are just over half-way through, can you identify the characteristics of project management that you were introduced to in CIVL 201? What about project context? – i.e., how has the context influenced your decisions about the design?
Keep up the good work!
–SN