The Dartington Hall Trust wrote the competition brief for a temporary 7mx5m timber shelter campsite and a meeting space. 14 groups comprised of second and third year Architecture and Architecture Technology and the Environment students worked over a period of 5 days to respond to the competition brief for a demountable structure. The winning scheme was highly praised both by the Dartington Hall and the wider community.
The students underwent the process of completing the costing, measure, planning permission and construction manual. Year 3 students (Kasia Bogucka, Taylor Gittens, Tom Grimer, Freya Kay, Ioannis Kilinkaridis and Thabi Nyezi) put together the planning application pack for the Dartington Build Big Tent live build project. The application was submitted and approved by the South Hams Council.
The construction stage included Year 2 students staying in accommodation on site all week to construct the project and, Year 3 students made ‘site visits’ in smaller groups each day acting as project managers.
The potential employers have described this way of working as invaluable to the skillsets of a Part 1 student of Architecture. This is now the third ‘live’ build-and-consultation project we have collaborated on with the Dartington Hall Trust, starting off with the Eco Pod ‘Tiny House’ in 2017, the Queens Marsh Bird Hide in 2018, and now Big Tent in 2019.
