Cabin on the Water
Interior Architecture Internship Project - 2019
Hawkins\Brown Internship winner
Brief
Create a beach-side pavilion to promote ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ – a space to educate users about all things around marine conservation.
Surfers Against Sewage
“People protect what they love, but they only love what they know” - Surfers Against Sewage
Founded in 1990 by a group of Cornish surfers, SAS (Surfers Against Sewage) is a leading UK marine conservation charity who work with local communities to protect beaches, oceans and marine life. SAS promotes us to: “Think global, act local”
Interior Architecture, Interior Design, Internship
The Site
Located at Porthgwidden Beach in the heart of St Ives, a quiet cove within a busy tourist seaside resort. The beach huts adjacent to the cafe belong to the owners of the Porthminster Restaurant chain and this is where Cabin on the Water is located.
Site diagram hand drawn - understanding the site and what there is to work with
Weather Diagram:
Summer Holiday Great in the sun Good in the wind Okay when it's colder Hard when it's raining
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In St Ives So much to do when Can fly kites Can wrap up warm What can families do here
the weather is good whilst still getting out of the house?
Concept
Inspired by a story called The Storm Whale, by Benji Davies, encouraged me to think about how children learn and how much impact a story can make.
The concept is to create a space where children learn through beautiful stories about the ocean and their world surrounded by a space where they can fall in love with it. Learning through stories increases a child’s vocabulary and helps with comprehension and understanding. It exposes children to new emotions and feelings which increases their emotional intelligence. It exposes them to new ideas and beliefs so they can have a compassionate understanding of the world. I believe that there are many ways to teach people, and this is a different way to help children grow and learn to look after their planet. By creating a space which feels like theirs which is at one with the ocean having a sense of ownership will increase their will to be mindful of their ocean.
External View
Externally, Cabin on the Water seems as if it is nestled into the existing cliff side with the earth reclaiming a part of itself. I wanted to create a shape that took on the curves that the sea might have created had it have always been a part of the rocks inspiring story telling and imagination from children and adults.
General Plan - Scale: Unknown
Internal Views
Internally, Cabin on the Water feels as if it's a cabin boat just waiting for stories to be told inside whilst 'sailing on the sea'. The curves imitate a cave that has been moulded by the waves with large window seats to sit in and look out at the ocean. The story books are all placed on a shelf ready for children to choose an adventure to get lost in and learn about their beautiful ocean.
“As I looked from the window of my ship I saw my sea, I saw my waves, and I saw my birds, and I fell in love with my world all over again.”
Laser Cut Model
To aid in the visual realisation of the scheme, I created a laser cut model using Adobe Illustrator to map out the Cabin. Ply wood is layered to show the formation the cabin takes inspired by the ocean and geographical mapping exposing layers in our earth.
“People protect what they love but they only love what they know”. This really resonated with me throughout this project and I wanted to create a space that made people fall in love with the world, and then in turn, want to protect it.
