Construction Massing / Problem Solving

The only issue with land topography and the base board has been the curling of veneer. If they begin to curl whilst being laser cut or after being clad to the model, this could lead to heavy and expensive damage also ruining the finish. Cutting pieces of veneer at the appropriate sizes and attaching them to MDF boards, followed by a layer of double-sided tape and topped with masking tape has proved to be successful ensuring ease of removal after laser cutting. So far, in combination with leaving heavy weights on top for a couple of days, the veneers have begun to memorise their new flat position.

For the floor plan and flat roof, the most appropriate way to produce these features would have been high quality 3D prints on the Form 2 with slots for the walls and windows to sit in. This makes assembling the building much faster and precise, providing a flush fit for the removeable roofs, retaining positioning and preventing them from sliding around or even falling off if moving the model around the office at Eldridge.

The main factors that prevented me from persuing this method to construction, were the cost of resin on the Form 2. Production of the entire building would have cost over £200 and although my client has agreed to help with material costs this was an extreme price to pay.

Alternatively, cutting chemi-wood on the CNC router was an option, however, due to how small the pieces are, this is not viable.

As all slots for the walls and windows are the same depth, laser cutting and etching the plan onto acrylic and diclo'ing a second layer of the same plans made sense. This time, with all the etched features cut out to create the inlays for the walls and windows to sit in has proved successful.

Production of the walls also proved to need some problem-solving. Time constraints from a possible lockdown mean that having components ready that can be worked on from home, is imperative.

The walls will be cut in the workshop, however 3D printing will be the best option if placed under lockdown, despite the potential clean-up time, so I have prepared 3D printable extrusions on Rhino 6 as a back-up.