Superblue

Fun, Games and Knitting on the Beach

2010-08-07T17:55:38Z

Superblues 'Giant Knitting Nancy' joined design company HKD on the beach for there annual picnic. Fun and games were had by all on Margate Sands as new ways to play with the ever growing knitted structure were found. All the 'Giant Knitting Nancy' collaborators were there, Dan Preston (Sculptor), Holly Packer (Jewelery Designer) and the Superblue Team, to enjoy the sausage rolls and games on the beach

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A new place and a new space for the 'Giant Knitting Nancy' allowed for fun, games and new explorations to be made. The beautiful Margate Sands provided a great location and backdrop for people to discover hidden knitting talents and add to the ever growing seating structure. The curves and forms of the knitting Nancy looked great against the famous skies of Margate.

New games were invented as people bounced along the length of the knitted structure. New ideas were also thrown about as the picnic became another interesting part of Marine Studios First Fridays Events. Thank you to all at HKD and Marine Studios for inviting us down and all that helped with the knitting, drinking and nibbling during the day

Join the Knitting Nancy for a Picnic on the Beach

2010-07-11T17:56:48Z

Dan Preston, Holy Packer and the Superblue team will be heading to Margate Sands on August 6th to join museum design company HKD for their annual picnic. Come and join us for the day and have knit, a picnic and a swim and meet all the fantastic creatives in Margate.

]]> The Giant Knitting Nancy has been invited to participate in HKD's annual picnic, a part of their monthly project called 'First Fridays' which has developed out of HKD's project space 'Marine Studios'. People will be invited to come and tryout the Giant Knitting Nancy whilst socialising with a bit of food and drink on the beautiful Margate Sands.

If in doubt about how great and social the beach can be, you can see for yourself with Robert Frith latest tilt-shift test video

Margate Tilt Shift Test from Superblue on Vimeo.

Giant Knitting Nancy come and 'Get Knitted'

2010-06-25T22:23:10Z

Superblues 'Giant Knitting Nancy' was launched onto the public at Canary Wharf. There was not a ball empty during lunch break as all the office workers joined in. See more photos from our first day in the park. The 'Giant Knitting Nancy' is a collaboration between Dan Preston (Sculptor), Holly Packer (Jewelery Designer) and the Superblue Team.

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Over 72m was knitted by over 100 visitors during the weekend of 25th - 27th June on 2 Giant Knitting Nancy to create the exciting seating structure defining the space at Jubilee Gardens, Canary Wharf.

Following the London Festival of Architecture theme, “The Welcoming City”, large-scale knitted structures will create an architectural seating unit that weaves through Jubilee Park, inviting visitors to sit and play as they enjoy the pleasant green environment in the middle of Canary Wharf.

The design is inspired by the traditional Knitting Nancy, a much-loved knitting toy which has been scaled-up so that visitors can participate in the knitting and making of the installation. The space and installation reflects the theme of “The Welcoming City” via exploring and celebrating together the woven, knitted structures and cultures that turn London into a distinct, unique, welcoming place.

Everyone was invited to try out the Knitting Nancy’s for themselves, or simply relax and enjoy the ever-growing seating structure. Superblue’s ‘Knitting Nancy’ was made in Canary Wharf, by EVERYONE.

Giant Knitting Nancy - 'Under Construction'

2010-06-22T23:08:23Z

Superblues 'Giant Knitting Nancy' is currently under construction for this week London Festival of Architecture at Canary Wharf. Come and have a go at knitting yourself or chill-out on a the giant seating structure created.

]]> What: Giant Knitting Nancy at Canary Wharf for the London Festival of Architecture

When: 25th - 27th June 11am - 5pm

Description: Superblue Giant Knitting Nancy - get together and knit your space.

Everyone is invited to try out the Knitting Nancy’s for themselves, or simply relax and enjoy the ever-growing seating structure. Come and join in as ‘many hands make light work’. Superblue’s ‘Knitting Nancy’ will be made in Canary Wharf, by EVERYONE.

Furzefield Community Space

2010-06-22T22:11:26Z

The Hertsmere Community Spaces, new community youth shelter opens to the public at Furzefield. The shelter provides a place to hang out with friends. The unique shared structure allows people to climb up high and have views across the whole park. With seating steps you can have a rest on the way up or way down to stop and enjoy the view. If it gets... rainy then shelter under the slopes of the shareds, or just find a different space and view. The shelter provides a new space for all park visitors all year round.

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Furzefield Park is a unique site which sits is at the back of the Furzefield Leisure Centre. It consists of King George V playing field, Furzefield woods, an ancient woodlands and a meadow area, which Potters Bar Brook runs through.Furzefield Wood and Meadow was designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by Hertsmere Borough Council in September 1998. The playing fields unique features are three mature oak trees. These run in a line and are the remains of an old hedgerow.

Construction
The shelter is made from an anti-slip red striped resin plastic inserted boarding with metal mesh seats. The underside seats are made from soft wood cladding. There is a steel sub-structure. A play rubber surface has be used for the surrounding area and can be planted to sympathetically place it in the old hedgerow and will eventually be overgrown by grass. The shelter has passed all play inspections and is happily being used by all ages of the community. The fantastic fabrication was carried out by Mark Cosgrove Associates at The Scenery Shop.

The Hertsmere Community spaces shelters have been installed at The Moatfield in Bushey, Furzefield in Potters Bar and Phillimore Recreation Ground in Radlett. Superblue worked on this project with Green Heart Partnership and the team of officers from the Parks and Amenities, Communications, and Community Services teams at Hertsmere Borough Council, Aldenham Parish Council, the Police and other stakeholders. The design of these community spaces follows community consultation carried out with young people in summer 2007, which led to a successful application to the Big Lottery Play Fund.

Radlett Community Space

2010-06-20T22:58:36Z

The Hertsmere Community Spaces, youth shelter has opened at Phillimore Recreation Ground in Radlett. The shelter offers a variety of seating and shelter and a new staging area for local events

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The Hertsmere Community Spaces, youth shelter has opened at Philimore Recreation Ground, Radlett. This permanent new structure is designed to provide a variety of seating areas inside and out, a place to rest your bike and an open stage space facing the park. The Shelter has a robust steel sub-structure and is clad with a larch wood, which will age to a silver grey. A mesh screen sits at the front powder coated in gold to shade from the sun and provide a stage curtain for the stage. The fantastic fabrication was carried out by Mark Cosgrove Associates at The Scenery Shop.

The shelter is positioned close to the existing park facilities and area of existing high foot traffic. Many people already gather and use the existing bench on thie site and the shelter adds to these facilities. The space is close to the carpark and away from houses on the periphery of the recreation ground.

Key considerations for the positioning of the shelter were:

* Place where young people are already meeting
* Away from immediate houses
* Easily accessible to the community police via the car park
* If the youth center is set up in the park it will be a resource for this facility
* Looks over the park and playing field

Moatfield Community Space

2010-06-19T22:40:24Z

The Hertsmere Community Spaces, youth shelter has opened at The Moatfield, Bushy. This permanent new structure can be used to climb the unique hexagon climbing bars, sit high and look out over the park, or simply hang out from .

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The shelter sits on a cross-roads of existing informal and formal pathways between the woodland strip and moat to the north, and the formal play area to the south.

The area is surrounded by foliage which will reduce noise transference but can be seen clearly from across the park. Ground areas may be water logged during heavy rain and will need further investigation.

Key considerations for the positioning of the shelter:

* Where young people are already meeting
* Away from immediate housing
* Easily visible to the community police from the car park
* Linked into paths into the woodlands and the future natural play proposals

The shelter has two seating spaces, one covered, one open. Running through the structure is a unique hexagon climbing strip which lets people climb up to the roof or can be used as monkey bars from below. The structure is a robust steel sub structure with a soft wood cladding. The roof has softwood with anti-slip resin inserts. The fantastic fabrication was carried out by Mark Cosgrove Associates at The Scenery Shop.

Three New Innovative Shelters for the Whole Community

2009-10-06T07:43:44Z

Three innovative and eye-catching shelters, known as the Hertsmere Community Spaces, have been designed specifically for three very different green spaces in Hertsmere and will be installed this autumn in Phillimore Recreation Ground in Radlett (above image), Furzefield in Potters Bar, and The Moatfield in Bushey

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The Hertsmere Community Spaces project is the result of a thorough and inclusive design process that has not only won over some resistant residents, but has engaged with a range of young people from the borough and has included a range of stakeholders on the design team including the police.

The project led by Hertsmere Borough Council commissioned arts and environment organisation Green Heart Partnership (GHP) to develop the project and manage the design and community engagement process. GHP is facilitated by Haring Woods Associates, who worked with multi-disciplinary design team Superblue to design the shelters by working with a range of local people to explore and respond to their needs, ideas and aspirations for new types of shelters that would be attractive and safe for a diverse groups of people using their local parks.

The structures have been a triumph of inclusive design, proving that a thorough and detailed design process that invites input from a wide range of the community and local and regional stakeholders, is possible and productive. Although the project generated some negative responses in the first instance, the inclusive design process has taken the community along the journey of all aspects that need to be considered when developing multiple-user facilities with a limited budget to reach imaginative and viable design results.

The project was named Hertsmere Community Spaces to instill a feeling of unique structures for all the community to use, rather than simply installing ‘off-the-shelf’ standard shelters that have no design connection to the site and can quickly become misused or underused. A major concern voiced by some residents was that the shelters would increase anti-social behaviour in the area, by providing young people with somewhere to congregate. To address this, GHP established an interdisciplinary team of officers from Hertsmere Borough Council’s Parks, Health and Safety, Planning and Culture Departments, Aldenham Parish Council and especially the Police including both the Antisocial Behaviour Caseworker from Hertsmere Community Safety Unit and a range of Police Community Support Officers from each area. This project team was established at the outset and ensured that all aspects of the shelters’ usage and impact on the community were fully considered before reaching the final design stage, as well as generating ownership by the different departments responsible for the shelters’ maintenance and legacy.

Working in tandem with the interdisciplinary project team, the Hertsmere Community Spaces project developed a vibrant marketing campaign with an independent website, postcards, posters and stickers distributed around the three sites. These advertised the project and three engagement activities over the summer that invited local people to discuss their ideas with the designers and officers from the council. Draft designs were then presented to the public and a series of public meetings were held at each site before designs were finally signed off at the end of September. This thorough and phased consultation process has resulted in three innovative designs, specific to each park’s environment and the people who use them. As well as providing a meeting space, seating and shelter for a range of users, the shelter at Phillimore Recreation Ground can also be used as a performance space by the variety of local community arts organisations and other community events; the shelter for The Moatfield ties in with a wider landscape design to introduce natural play into the park; and the shelter at Furzefield provides a viewing space in the centre of the park for the well used skatepark and football pitches.

Each shelter will be constructed using materials that are hardwearing and sympathetic to the natural landscape, creating warm and welcoming spaces that people will want to use. The inclusive nature of these three attractive structures aims to serve the whole community and create intergenerational spaces, and therefore reduce the risk of mis-use and vandalism.

The expectation is that these unique and exciting structures will become showcases for other local authorities wanting to employ their resources for young people’s spaces in a creative and integrated way, which avoids alienating other sections of the community, and provides attractive and landmark shelters for all.

Brockfield House

2009-08-02T19:53:22Z

Brockfield House (previously known as Runwell Forensic Psychiatric Hospital) new reception area and ward identity and way finding commission. Superblue worked with Impact Art to produce significant elements for this delicate new build project for Grovesnor House Group developers and South Essex Partnership University NHS Partnership Trust with architects Steffian Bradley.

]]> The commissions played a crucial role in humanising the interior and exterior spaces. Through consultation sessions with medical staff design themes for each of the wards was developed. The final outcomes were then all based on the natural world. Superblue created work for the main entrance including a two storey lightbox and corten steel and concrete seating that flows from entrance plaza into the main reception. The bespoke furniture pieces using steel and concrete starts the way-finding strategy to what is a complex secure health environment. Silk-screened glass bricks for each ward garden and ward entrance light boxes were developed to give an identity to each ward and to aid way finding. The natural elements through the use of lighting flowed throughout the hospital, expressed in different ways.

Right: leaf close-up ward garden glass blocks.

Hospital reception area with corten steel and concrete seating with a two storey L.E.D. lightbox.

Hospital entrance plaza

Cherry blossom glass block ward garden features

Hertsmere Community Spaces

2009-07-20T16:38:43Z

Superblue are currently working with the community of Hertsmere to create exciting new outdoor meeting spaces and natural play environments

]]> Following community consultation carried out with young people in summer 2007, which led to a successful application to the Big Lottery Play Fund, Hertsmere Borough Council appointed Green Heart Partnership to facilitate the design and build of three site specific meeting spaces for the whole community to make use of and enjoy. This represents another milestone towards the successful delivery of this project by January 2010. Read more about Green Hearts Partnership at www.greenheartpartnership.org/

Three innovative, eye-catching, sculptural structures will provide appropriate shelter and seating at three separate open spaces: Phillimore Recreation Ground in Radlett, Furzefield in Potters Bar, and Moatfields in Bushey.

Moatfields in Bushey

Furzefield in Potters Bar

Phillimore Recreation Ground in Radlett

Superblue will be working with Green Heart Partnership and the team of officers from the Parks and Amenities and Community Services teams at Hertsmere Borough Council, the Police and other stakeholders to develop the structures. Building upon the consultation already carried out, Superblue artists Annick Collins and Robert Frith will be talking to local people about their vision for the structures, in order to finalise designs. They will be talking to people of all ages including open space users, sports groups, neighbourhood residents, local schools and community groups. A number of exciting creative events and workshops will be held at the three sites over the summer. These events will be publicized in and around the sites and through the local press and we hope as many people will get involved as possible. Superblue have produced an identity for the project including website and print material. People are invited to have there say and catch up with the project through the website at www.hertsmerecommunityspaces.org

Drawing on the community’s input, Superblue, with the project team will develop and share detailed designs. The three new shelters will then be constructed and installed on the sites by January 2010. It is planned that the completion of the shelters will be celebrated by a public event in Spring 2010 to which all contributors and local residents will be invited.

Phillimore Recreation Ground Community Day in Radlett, 06/2009

Councillor Brenda Batten, Portfolio Holder for leisure, culture and health, said: "The vision is to create a small sheltered meeting space for the whole community to make use of and enjoy. The event at Phillimore Recreation Ground was a real success with lots of local people getting involved. The temporary structures are a great way for residents to start thinking about what kind of shelter they want and we had some great feedback. Young people especially seemed to enjoy writing and drawing on them."

Councillor Caroline Clapper said of the event at Radlett, "I was very pleased to see that consultation was taking place, to discover what the people in the area want, where they want it and what they need from it before any structure is erected. There seemed to be lots of input from many parishioners and I hope that the outcome of this consultation will be a shelter of beneficial community use to all residents."

Creswell Crags

2009-07-20T15:08:47Z

Creswell Crags Visitor Centre was opened by Sir David Attenborough. The Pin Hole Cave wall is the first thing visitors see as they enter.

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The panel will be made from european oak reflecting the material used on the external cladding of the visitors centre.

www.creswell-crags.org.uk

Holbeck Competition Team shortlisted

2009-03-19T14:41:48Z

Annick Collins from Superblue has been working in collaboration with Gregory Cowan and Natalie Skeete to be successfully shortlisted for the Holbeck competition.

]]> The competition entry prepared by Collins, Cowan, and Skeete proposes a triadic strategy of landscape, urban 'furniture' and a palette of suitable materials, where non-humans and humans will interact. The final result will be announced on the 28th of May.

A discussion about the transdisiplinary work of OOZ was brought my attention by a neighbour commentating on the work. Geese, Birds, Fish and Bats had been studied and discussion ensued about human and non-human interactions.

In March the team was shortlisted, among a field of competitors from Yorkshire, California, and beyond. Our process-driven design strategy, which combines urban landscape, animal 'furniture' and a code of materials will not easily translate into a photo opportunity. The press article says "The winner, who will be announced on May 28, will see his or her vision turned into reality and installed in Holbeck Urban Village ready for local critters to move in."

Whether our scheme will be suitable for building a photogenic prototype for the 'critters' - as the organisers envisage - remains to be seen.

ENTHEO Work Spaces

2008-10-20T14:50:15Z

A new office design promoting ENTHEO, a innovation consultancy, whose approach of Energy, Creativity, Collaboration and Strategy need to be reflected in their working environment.

]]> Working with all staff members, freelancers and associates through a series of consultations Superblue visually represented ENTHEO’s working practices and transferred this into there working environment.

business phylosophy translated into space

Through a staged design and install process the space has been allowed to evolve and be personalised and taken ownership by the staff.

desk detail

work space, AV presentation and storage space

individual identity in a hot desking environment

ARUP - Optimise

2008-09-22T10:29:43Z

The second in the Arup installations following on from 'Tools' brings you 'Optimise' an exploration of generative, computational and analytical aprroaches to design engineering

]]> Optimise

In any decision the brain has to process multiple pieces of information, subconsciously weighing up the pros and cons to arrive at the optimal solution - the best response in any given circumstance.

The design process is a balancing of technological performance, economic considerations and qualitative factors. These could be useability and comfort, responsible use of resources and energy, or the desire for a peaceful or stimulating environment. Perhaps the design is driven by other constraints; individual versus universal control, rigid or flexible structures, natural or mechanical systems.

At Arup, our designers and engineers have adapted and integrated mathematical software tools into this design process. An automated approach allows us to generate numerous and sometimes surprising combinations of factors that input into the design. We use our experience and knowledge to explore and evaluate the results to develop appropriate options. The process itself can help clients and colleagues to grasp the concepts more quickly and to collaborate in the design in greater detail.

A designer always aims to reach a better solution in response to many and varied requirements. The possibilities could be endless but this approach can encourage us to realistically ask "What if" . . . . . . . .

To find out more please send an email to: optimise@arup.com
or call 0207 755 3765

Installation designed by Arup and Superblue

The New Romantics - The Telegraph

2008-07-23T14:07:31Z

Architects are turning from cold steel and glass to crafty decorative facades. By Dominic Lutyens - Robert frith, Superblue is quoted

]]> As a part of the 'Challenging Ideas - Building Spaces' series in the Telegraph writer Dominic Lutyens investigated the new integration of Craft and Art practitioners within the built environment.

To read the whole article click here:
'The New Romantics - The Telegraph'