Creative solutions for plastic waste

Tom Hughes

Plastic is a material that we’ve tended to avoid, put off by our awareness of the environmental problems that its irresponsible use has created. The reduction in plastic use, finding more ecologically friendly alternatives, is still a great idea. But what about the mountains of plastic waste that already exist? Can we contribute in some way to preventing these carbon-intensive materials from ending up in landfill, or in the gullets of turtles, fish and sea birds?

At Future Makers, a creative hub in Nottingham, we’ve been learning about plastic waste and helping set up facilities for turning it in to useful recycled (and recyclable) products. Adding value to a waste product makes the process of collecting and recycling it worthwhile and cost effective. The Future Makers ethos is to approach these problems in a creative way; they bring together the infrastructure required with the expertise and knowledge that enables artists and designers to explore new ways of working.

Importantly, there is an economically sustainable approach. New ideas aren’t just conceived as one-off experiments, instead they build the knowledge and experience required to create viable commercial opportunities. In this spirit we were commissioned to work with the initial, terrazzo-style production run from Future Makers’ industrial sheet press, to create some simple-to-build furniture pieces.

Using the HDPE sheets, made with waste left over from artist Joshua Sofia’s 2001 Regulated Exhibition at Backlit, and in collaboration with Marcus Rowlands (Sheltered Spaces), we designed a slot-together furniture system for an armchair and coffee table. Easy to assemble and disassemble, without fixings or complex brackets, this can be transported to exhibitions and events. As a product, it could be mass produced and shipped, flat-packed to customers. As a single type plastic, it is recyclable again at the end of its useful life as furniture.

In itself not THE solution to the problem, but hopefully another piece of evidence that plastic waste has value. And a thoroughly rewarding project to be involved in!

 

Portfolio project
Yellow Brick Road #6 installation

Thibaut Devulder

Continuing our collaboration with artist Morgan Dimnet, of French art collective QuboGas, we developed an interactive installation that explored the relationship between of visual artwork and electronic sound composition.

The Yellow Brick Road #6 installation/workshop at the Frigo (Albi, France)

The project was inspired by the Mélisson, an educational modular sound synthesizer developed in the 1980s at the GMEA — Centre National de Création Musicale Albi-Tarn (France).

Initially created to introduce children to the fascinating world of sound synthesis through experimentation and collaboration, these playful instruments were also used by experienced electronic musicians to create complex soundscapes and compositions.

Morgan Dimnet wanted to place the Mélisson at the centre of his new installation/workshop, inviting pupils of local primary schools to use its intuitive physical interface as a composition tools for not only sound, but also for visual art.

Exploring infinite variations of sounds and visual compositions, the visitors are then invited to create a physical vinyl disc cover for their own musical creation.

Collaborative sound creation with the Mélisson modules (© GMEA)

As the knobs of the Mélisson modules are tweaked to create unique sounds and effects, this soundscape is translated into similarly unique composition of shapes and colours, projected onto the workshop’s wall — ready to be reproduced by the visitors on mini stamping workshops designed by the artist for the exhibition.

We developed for this installation a hardware interface that could “listen” to the Mélisson synthesizers, and a custom computer program that translated the sound creations into unique visual artwork, following the artist’s visual language and aesthetics.

The project took place in 2022 with several primary schools in Albi, and concluded by a public exhibition at the collaborative cultural centre Le Frigo.

Project credits:

  • Visuals and furniture design: Morgan Dimnet

  • Hardware interface and electronics: 2hD Architecture Workshop, with Jean-Jacques Devulder

  • Programming (Processing): 2hD Architecture Workshop

  • Music composition (vinyl edition): Roland Ossart

Portfolio project
Care Leavers' Accommodation

Tom Hughes

In August 2022, 2hD was involved in the early stages of a project for new care leavers’ accommodation, collaborating with Simon Middlecote Architecture. Our contribution was focussed on the research process and feasibility stage; with the ultimate aim of developing the design brief.

One of the several diagrams we produced for the study, here illustrating alternative accommodation types

Care leaves are young people aged 16 - 18 who have previously been in foster care, but have now chosen to live more independently. Care leavers’ accommodation acts as a bridging space where these young people can be self-sufficient and live alone, whilst being supported.

We researched case studies of many accommodation types, both past and present and found that most existing models have been found wanting.

One important issue in particular was that many are excessively institutional because of the way they foreground security, whilst others sacrifice safety measures to provide a more adult, independent environment. It was essential that we move on from these established patterns, in order to pinpoint the design challenges in the context of today’s social care.

Timeline for care leavers

Diagram illustrating the layering of security in accommodation

Their housing needs to have a careful balance between public, shared and private areas to provide security without seeming institutional.

Furthermore there is a wide range of support needed within this group that adds further complications. For example, some care leavers need provision that is similar to that of a childrens’ home, and on the other end of the spectrum some need near-total independence.

We arranged visits to existing care leaves’ accomodation to have meetings with staff and care leavers themselves to understand their needs and their views on how the accommodation could be improved. All the stakeholders of this project (such as the care leavers, social workers, staff and the local community) were consulted on their opinions and lived experiences.

The outcome of our work was a briefing document for Simon and his client that clearly identified the needs of the project stakeholders and the current context in which the project design will develop.

 

Oslo study trip

Tom Hughes

The UK office of 2hD took a short trip to Oslo this month to study some of the city’s new building projects as fresh inspiration for our own practice. We teamed up with Simon of Simon Middlecote Architects — a long term collaborator, both in teaching at NTU and more recently on the Care Leavers’ Accommodation project (more on this to follow).

 
 

Some highlights included the Oslo Public Library by Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem Arkitekter. This huge building somehow feels inviting and warm, and people really seem to feel they belong there. The top-lit atrium connects spaces into a seamless experience without dominating the small scale and intimate areas that surround it. Facilities that we couldn’t dream of having in a public library in Nottingham, such as 3D printers and makers’ spaces with sewing machines and large format printers support locals to be creative. The books meanwhile are everywhere — within touch as you journey around the building but the shelving never dominates.

The overall impression is that you are likely to find interesting books by chance, whilst a digital navigation system guides you when you are looking for something in particular.

 

On Simon’s suggestion, we took a ferry across the harbour to visit the Norsk Folkemuseum and its collection of timber historic buildings salvaged from around the country. It was a great counterpoint to the fast-paced development around the harbour. Beautifully crafted and functional farmsteads, churches and civic buildings gave a sense of a more peaceful time, but also a reminder of the rapid development the country has undergone since the exploitation of its oil resources began.

 

Oslo is a unique mix of fjord-side port, with thriving, dynamic urban communities and peaceful suburbs enveloped by well-used and highly valued areas of natural environment.

Whilst not without its problems, there is a lot we can learn from the city about making workable, humane and happy urban places.

3D-printing models

Tom Hughes

Although 3D software are essential tools at 2hD, we also love to make physical models — which have proved invaluable for communicating ideas to clients. Unfortunately, they can be time-consuming to make and we have recently missed using them as part of our design process. Could 3D printing be a solution?

I bought a Prusa MINI+ 3D printer, using a recent teaching award from Nottingham Trent University. The NTU architecture course has a real emphasis on hands-on making and craftsmanship, in conjunction with digital skills. Learning how to use the printer will bring benefits to both my practice of architecture and my teaching, allowing us to explore a range of ideas that we couldn’t before!

One of the Capybara trial prints…

The results of our initial trials to learn the technology were interesting, to say the least, but after a few slightly strange capybara models made for my youngest daughter, I think I was getting there!

2hD is also part of a team brought together by Tristan Hessing of Future Makers, looking into the recycling of waste plastic in design and architecture. We don’t believe in creating waste, so we are very interested in using recycled filament in our model making.

Following on from my award for innovative ideas in construction, one of the things we are considering at the moment is the 3D-printing of complex junctions in buildings. And if we can use construction industry plastic waste to create these building components, we’ll be part of a truly circular economy.

Prototyping with the CNC router

Thibaut Devulder

We have now access to an amazing CNC router at our new office space at Kroloftet. I tested it today for the first time, initially to fabricate some simple wooden gears for a homemade “analog music sequencer” I am developing for our next Ooo-Ya-Tsu art project (more in this later…)

The wooden gears, cut on the CNC router, with MIDI music “encoded” into grooves on the right

These gears were modelled in SketchUp and imported into AutoDesk Fusion, before being sent to the CNC router for fabrication. The geometry for the round grooves on one of the large gears was generated by a computer program I coded in Processing that reads musical MIDI files and convert them into 3D shapes, which can then can be grooved into the gears, effectively “encoding” the music into the wood. Fairly simple to start with, but it worked, so on with the prototyping!

Many thanks to Peter Magnus, expert digital fabricator at Kroloftet, for the heads up on using this amazing machine!

New office and wood workshop at Kroloftet

Thibaut Devulder

We are delighted to have joined the dynamic and eclectic work collective at Kroloftet, in Oslo.

In addition to a shared workspace, we now also have access to a fully equipped wood workshop, including a large-scale CNC router, to fabricate custom-made furniture and fittings for your next project!

We are looking forward to exciting collaborations with the many skilled crafts(wo)men at Kroloftet, whose disciplines include (among many others) metalwork, wood joinery, upholstery, boat building, illustration, film direction, ceramics and puppet making!

The collective wood workshop at Kroloftet

Portfolio project
A birdwatching 'eyrie' to hover over Wicken Fen

Tom Hughes

We recently achieved Planning Permission for a new birdwatching hide and observation deck for the National Trust at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire.

Set at the edge of the fen, the structure was inspired by the singular setting of the SSSI site. The fully accessible birdwatching hide is nestled like a cocoon inside a screen of undulating timber battens. The observation deck above gives view over Sedge Fen, roosting site for Marsh and Hen Harriers. A final eyrie-like observation level gives 360° views ,which take in the whole of Wicken Fen nature reserve and the big skies for which it is famed.

The building nestles into the Carr (tree scrub) at the edge of the Fen.

The highly sensitive eco system of the site is based on 3 meters depth of peat soil, so the structure is designed in collaboration with Canham Consulting Engineers to “touch the earth lightly”, elevated above the Fen on piles so that the habitat can flow underneath. A gently ramped boardwalk, designed for wheelchair accessibility, connects the hide to the existing boardwalk footpath some 30m away.

A fully accessible bird hide at the entry level floats 1.5m above the fen, upper levels can be explored via a triangular staircase to the rear.

Wicken Fen is the National Trust’s oldest nature reserves and one of the most important wetlands in Europe, supporting over 9000 species including a spectacular array of plants, birds and insects. 2hD won the commission via a competitive interview in partnership with Sheltered Spaces, with whom we went on to design the timber cladding and the public consultation process. It is a great privilege to be entrusted with such a sensitive site and to be supported by a client keen to think afresh about how visitors might experience and understand the Fen’s sense of place.

Project team:

Timber screen experiments with Marcus of Sheltered Spaces

Illustrations for a new court house

Thibaut Devulder
Approaching the new courthouse in Eidsvoll (design by Besseggen Arkitekter)

Approaching the new courthouse in Eidsvoll (design by Besseggen Arkitekter)

Continuing our collaboration with Besseggen Arkitekter, we have produced a series of illustrations to present a new court house project to the municipality of Eidsvoll, Norway.

This ambitious project, designed by Besseggen, aims at gathering on the same site the different courthouses of the region as well as a new police station, cradling the site of the old train station on the bank of the Vorma river.

Thanks to an efficient design workflow developed by Besseggen, we were able to produce inspiring illustrations based on their BIM model at an early stage of the design process.

These images were used to present the project to the local community and gather political support, before the Norwegian Court Administration takes a decision later on this year on the future location of the new regional courthouse.

Design concept for a fire station

Thibaut Devulder

Concept design visualisation of our future fire station in Såner, Norway, with its public facing core building and connected modular fire engine halls at the back.

I have been collaborating this last week with Besseggen Arkitekter (with whom we are sharing our new office in Oslo), developing a design strategy for a new fire station in Vestby, Norway.

The competition brief called for an easily extendable building, with a strong focus on personnel safety. I have prepared this sketch concept view, together with diagrams explaining our design approach to address these points. Using a construction strategy based on modular plug-in elements with identical folded structure roofs, each module can be easily connected to the station as it expands in the future, supplementing both additional capabilities and associated staff accommodation to the facilities.

The design strategy diagrams we prepared for the competition

New office in Oslo on Akersbakken 37

Thibaut Devulder

We have just moved our Norwegian office to a new workspace in central Oslo, in the Gamle Aker neighbourhood!

 

We are excited to share this new office space with three other architecture studios: Besseggen Arkitekter, SKAANE arkitektur+ and Don Lawrence.

After six years at Sommerrogata 17, our former office space is now closed for renovation. And we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the talented people who shared that vibrant space with us, for all the fruitful collaborations and good laughs!

Pop by and say hello at our new address:

2hD Norway
Akersbakken 37A
0172 Oslo

New art performance project at Le Fresnoy

Thibaut Devulder
Double bass player Nicolas Crosse and music composer Yann Robin (photo © Franck Ferville)

Double bass player Nicolas Crosse and music composer Yann Robin
(photo © Franck Ferville)

We have just started a new art performance collaboration at the Studio National des Arts Contemporains (a.k.a. Le Fresnoy) in Tourcoing, France.

Titled "Symétriades/Extension" (a reference to Stanislaw Lem's book Solaris), the performance project is a collaboration with Nicolas Crosse (double bass player), Alain Fleischer (visual artist) and Yann Robin (composer).

The artists' intention is to:

... give rise to a gigantic, organic, “living” creature whose every component is interdependent and whose nerve centre whose vital organ is constituted by the double bass player and his instrument. The soloist and the double bass will be positioned on a structure placed in the middle of the “playing” space. The instrumentalist’s body, the double bass, as well as the structure, will act as surfaces on which various visual dimensions will come to life. By extension, this visual entity, whatever its forms, will extend and proliferate in the architectural space hosting the performance.

Using our experience with the Ooo-Ya-Tsu performance, also interweaving music and interactive visuals, we will be helping the artists to develop the concept and scenography for the art performance and to create the real-time interactions between live projected visuals, the soloist’s gestures and electronic sound manipulations.

The first public performance of the piece is planned for October 2018.

 

Photography: Kubik's Nedre slottsgata

Thibaut Devulder

A new photoshoot forKubik Interiør Arkitekter: a newly redesigned staircase in Oslo's city centre.