a r c h i t e c t u r e

2010-03-26T10:31:00.000Z

Welcome to my MGD blogger site.
As you can see I have a range of project interest from
architecture to graphics.

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic.
Portishead Pool is gearing up for this season's re-opening
and there it's lots to do. I have been preparing a pool history
booklet and detailing changes at the pool.
Sustainable energy options for the future are under investigation.
The main problem is evapourative heat loss on windy days.

My house projects are all doing well. One is on site and we are
up to wall plate height. The stonework on the front elevation is
looking good and groundfloor screed is down. My Cornwall houses
have done well at building regs with a B energy efficiency rating and
no major problems to overcome. Other sites in Bristol and Cornwall
are progressing.

I have some solar shadow plotting to do and plans are developing
for some decent size gigs with all the normal stage production etc.

My book projects are taking shape and I am looking at how to get
them published electronically through Kindle.

For those that like architectural archaeology, my links at the top of
the page will take you to current resumes for Avebury and other
ancient sites I am investigating.

Best wishes..
Michael Godfrey 2010

2010-03-02T15:52:00.000Z

Welcome to my architecture page.

MGD Ltd was established in 2008 providing architectural design,
planning consultancy and general design.

My work is mostly in the south-west counties, after I studied
architecture at Plymouth and continue to live in the south-west UK.

My career started with George Ferguson (past RIBA President) at
Ferguson Mann Architects in Bristol and I have successfully completed
a wide range of projects. Recently, I have completed refurbishment
designs for Portishead open air pool, wiveliscombe open air pool,
private houses, Sedgemoor Auction Centre (and site masterplanning)
and a range of projects including commercial, industrial, agricultural
and urban residential.

I specialise in aquatic/marine environment projects and also have an
established portfolio in lighting design, special effects and 3D visualisation.

Furniture & Paradigm

2010-01-15T01:36:00.001Z

At what point does the detail of a design end? In architecture
one can argue that the detail goes right down to the smallest
component, the structure of the material itself, the qualities
that bring durability, delight and good common sense.
Furniture is a vehicle for expression and exploration. It can be
an extension of the overall theme or it can be placed in
juxtaposition, a paradigm of the concept or else a concept
in it's own right. The human scale that furniture engages often
determines many practical considerations, although the problem
of assemblage, structural engineering and creative ambition can
result in lengthy debate, sometimes exceeding the building design.

What is great about furniture is the process of exploration.
Prototypes are an essential reality and with them comes useful
opportunity for testing and developing ideas.
Table 1# was designed to compliment a bespoke apartment.
The apartment followed a language of material and details, which
were executed in the detail of kitchen, bathroom and general living
spaces. The table was seen as a paradigm of these ideas, and yet
it had to be a separate piece, functional, robust and a talking point
in a proportionate georgian room, complete with decorative plaster
mouldings. It was to express it's massive and durable materials and
yet it was to float. A bridge was envisaged, where the observer may
wonder how exactly the table stayed level and true.

The final design was also the prototype and the critical
connections became key elements in the unseen solution.
Table 1# is supported on two elm bearers : A four sided
pyramid and a turned sphere. Onto these is rested a stainless
steel grating, specially manufactured for the job.

It is anchored by five secret bolt fixings. When it was bolted
into position, the platform flexed when assymetric load was
applied ! It required pre-tensioning to work and mass to
stabalise the whole assemblage. This was provided by a
sheet of georgian wired glass, overlayed by a single slab
of polished Merrivale Granite.
With the weight of the granite, the whole table became a
stiff entity and was easily able to support a person sat upon it.
As a low coffee table, the idea of supporting a person's weight
was not the main idea, however people do silly things and the
table had to be safe.

The finished table is 1700mm long and was much admired
at the Alan Phillips Associates exhibition at the RIBA, many
years ago.

Another project with Alan Phillips was the Column Minerva.
Designed to support a stair, where a wall had been removed.
The concept was drawn from representations of the Goddess
Minerva (the Client was a prominent Doctor). A single drawing
was carefully prepared and from this all the components were
developed and procurred. It was a complex and challenging
piece of fixed furniture, required to provide structural support
and to illuminate the living room with a gas fired flame lamp.

Copies of the drawing were sent to separate makers : a hermit
woodcarver for the body : a master blacksmith for the heavy
plate base, armature and traditional greek helmet (Graham
Hodgetts) : and others for the enamelled flame guard and
sundry elements. The carver followed my drawing almost line
for line and the helmet took weeks to research and make.
It was forged from a single piece of metal. The whole piece
was assembled in-situ and commissioned.

It was an unsual talking point for the Doctor
and his guests, especially when the flame was lit,
illuminating the whole room.

I was lucky enough to be involved on a quite different
furniture project with the now famous Zaha Hadid.
Zaha had obtained a commission to design the interior
of an apartment and had convinced the client to invest
in her exotic range of bespoke furniture. As far as I can
remember, Zaha had mostly painted her designs up to now
and this was amongst the first of her actual reality works.

I freelanced to trouble-shoot the technical problems of
translating her designs into real furniture, which was not
simple. The gymnastic forms required by her design were
not easy to reproduce, particularly as the chosen materials
had tolerance requirements that were very critical.

The concrete terrazzo chaise longue was as slender as
could be imagined and this presented problems for
structural support, without cracking catastrophically.
The tear shaped dining table was envisaged in bespoke
aluminium section with a plate glass top. The glass had to
be toughened and arised. It also had to bolt exactly to
the aluminium supporting framework, which was to be
anchored to the floor, so the whole table could
assymetrically pivot.

The toughening process would cause the glass to shrink.
It was a difficult undertaking.
Zaha had also designed a projecting internal canopy, which
was cantilevered from the internal wall with no allowance for
anchoring the cantilever. Lightweight composite materials
were explored to allow the canopy to reach Zaha's design
ambition with much input from Tim Rice (I believe).
A simple space was transformed into an elegant and truly
unique space, true to Zaha's intentions.

The paradigm's contained within these works have gone on
to inspire projects on a truly architectural scale and one should
never underestimate the ideas that are explored or the lessons
that are learnt through furniture.

Michael Godfrey 2010

Second Decade

2009-12-26T16:18:00.003Z

We approach the second decade of the 21st Century
and it's a good time to take stock. The priorities of our
age are beamed around the world, as climate, sustainability
media iconography and tempered futurism grapple the minds
of designers and their clients. What innovations will impose
themselves upon the world in the next decade and how will it
change my architectural thinking?

Energy changes are clearly something for everybody to
embrace. Petrochemicals will give way to cleaner sustainable
energy and this will impact upon over a century of ideas.
Already our designs embrace solar and wind alternatives and
the idea of being self-supporting, off the grid, has many
attractions. Reducing the demand for energy use is paramount
and innovations for providing alternative new technologies
(and also re-considered old ideas) is an important studio goal.

Resource use requires intelligent handling for the world does
not provide an inexhaustable supply of anything. The use
of Water has to be responsible because clearly the demand
is far outstripping the reliability of supply. We can learn many
lessons from ancient civilisation and new technologies are
providing options which should be every architectural designers
responsibility to embrace. The age of abundant metals is
changing also. Whilst Aluminium is abundant and so much of
earth is ferrous, the extraction uses large amounts of energy,
requiring careful consideration. Traditional copper and zinc
finishes are in short supply and demand from non architectural
industries places great pressure upon known reserves.

In local context, building stone and renewable timber stock
still make great sense, carefully mixed with regulation matching
specifications. Glass is more attractive than ever as new technology
and makes complete envelopes an affordable reality. Design is
embracing these material considerations, although the dance
between tradition and innovation is carefully metered by planning
restriction in so many localities.

Transport and communication also faces challenges ahead.
The commuting populace has new options, although the social
majority tradition is always slower than the technology to bring
change. Personal vehicles have become almost unabandonable
and public transport struggles to meet expectation in so many
forms of journey requirement. Only powerful political will can
overcome the necessary investment in change at a public level
and it is slow coming. Energy and transportation overload may
force change upon this in the next decade or so, as urban and
suburban populaces become further integrated by necessity.

The digital communication revolution has opened up unprecedented
exchange of information and views, with a better informed public we
hope. It also has created new pressures with a just-in-time culture,
driven perhaps more by accountancy than long-term common sense.
Education has a greater responsibility, although the service mentality
cannot turn it's back, whilst it's consumptive thirst is met by new
industrial powers who now manufacture in some far flung corner of
the planet. This is of course a myth for the impact is still the same
even if it is removed from one's own back yard and transportation of
goods becomes even more damaging with greater distance. Oceanic
airborne pollution from shipping is clearly mappable.

On a less sustainable note, our global culture embraces the new
thrill of media entertainment and architecture is fulfilling many futurist
visions with integrated technological displays of light and sound.

The blade runner visions of cinema sci-fi are now reality and architecture
is a key component in the social demand for fashion and change.
I look towards more efficient technology and a part of me, like most
humans, is still captivated by the mesmorising beauty of flickering light.
The cave fire of our distant ancestors has become the plasma screen
and LED phantasmagoria of an increasingly virtual world.

It will be an interesting decade ahead, that is for sure.

Michael Godfrey

Thermal Spa Bathing

2009-12-16T20:58:00.000Z

I love water and architecture. There is something about the
solid immovable nature of architecture and it's relationship to
water. The motion or motionless of water, it's transparency,
it's mesmorising quality of reflection, it's refraction of light.
Water brings animation of movement, light and sound.
It provides refreshing and nourishing counterpoise to the
inanimate substance of architectural containment.

When one can enter the water, play with it, indulge, the
experience becomes even more magical and for me none
is better than the hot waters of thermal bathing.
My interest in thermal bathing started as a child with visits
to the turkish baths at Jacob's Well bath in Bristol.
long since closed, this place was a municipal swimming baths
and included traditional turkish steam rooms, following on
from an ancient tradition of thermal hot spring use in the
Avon valley of Bristol and Bath (for about 4000 years).
The area of Bristol still bears the name "Hotwells" although
the warm and plentiful spring now pours into the river Avon
unused. A sad waste of valuable energy and a missed
opportunity for 21st century bathing.

During my architectural masters degree I elected to design
a thermal spa at "Hotwells" for my thesis project and the
research and design totally absorbed me. I chose a difficult
site with outstanding views and proposed piping the spring
to the spa building. From here it would feed a sequence of
baths and provide geothermal heat for the whole building.

Spa architecture is nothing without consideration for the users
and there are not many buildings where people are expected to
walk naked or draped only in a robe. The whole process is
spiritual and ritualistic and provides many opportunities for
social intercourse, ambulatory and restful contemplation.
The ingress and egress from various baths or treatments is
an excersize in it's own right and deserves celebration through
design.

Spa architecture also has to fulfil a demanding technical brief,
responding to steam filled environments and providing safe
facilities where hazards can be plentiful.

In my travels and visits to various thermae I have always been
engaged by the way in which light interacts with an architecture
animated by steam and vapour. The way in which reflections
dance across walls and ceilings, twinkling off the ripples or
through the droplets.

It is not only thermae which fascinate me. The sacred wells and
ceremonial gardens that have expressed water's magical qualities
hold a special place for me, and for countless people down the
ages. In an age where water is in such demand and we threaten
the very supply upon which we are all dependant, I cherish the
places where water is of the utmost importance and celebrated.
Long may the spa continue in civilised and joyous living with
responsibility and imagination.

Michael Godfrey

Portishead Open Air Pool (Part II)

2009-12-04T20:28:00.002Z

For those of you who read part 1, you will be aware that
the planned refurbishment of Portishead Pool was planned
to take part over 5 years. This was because of the limitations
of funding and because of the scale of work required.
In part 1 it was described how UK TV became involved and
how US makeover star Ty Pennington was going to be filmed
assisting the project. This was good news for the Pool Trust,
bringing sponsorship and full media attention. It was loads of
work for those behind the scenes, especially me.
In order to have a scheme in time for the arrival of the film
production team and Ty Pennington, I had to prepare and
obtain a full planning application in record time. As the pool
was in a "conservation area" this required the support of the
local planning authority. I also had to detail all planned works
for construction (to be constructed by both pro's and
volunteers) and I had to schedule and programme everything
to be completed in 1 week (where possible).

As you can see from the photographs, some of the work was
not trivial but involved major plant overhaul. All of the internal
spaces had to be extensively replanned to allow for disability
and 21st century facilities with many structural changes.
And the weather! It was truly horrendous, with squall after
squall coming up the Bristol Channel and battering the works.

The army of volunteers were amazing and took on all sorts of
jobs, from de-rusting old ship railings, painting, pool grouting
and all manner of tasks as required. The high rear wall to the
sun terraces had become covered in messy graffiti, from
bored teenagers over the years. It was felt that a new
graffiti freize by respected artists would be a colourful and
exciting solution. In a day the artists produced a sequence of
marine inspired works that were connected to form one long
graffiti wall. Locals loved it and teenagers seem to respect
their peers work.

As the countdown to opening was hours away, the site began
to be cleared and tidied and out of the build-site emerged a
new pool that promised to rejuvenate it's own fortunes.
A new insulated pool cover had been purchased by Portishead
Town Council to assist the Trust in their efforts, and with this
installed the pool could sensibly heat the water without the
previous heat-loss problems of old. It was a great jesture on
their part. The kiddies paddling pool, which had been covered
over for probably a decade or more was refurbished, complete
with a state-of-art water-play feature, imported generously by
it's Canadian manufacturer. New steps were crafted by a local
boat builder for safe ingress and egress.

Local school children crowded to see Ty Pennington and their
own efforts in supporting the pool. The children painted banners
and porthole art. They were looking forward to swimming in the
newly heated pool.
And then the public opening arrived. Hundreds of people flocked
into the refurbished pool to see the changes and to enjoy displays
of synchro-swimming, choirs, town band, Ty Pennington and a
late evening volley of fireworks. The old pool cafe, a tatty place,
had been rejuventated by local restauranteur "The Lockhouse"
and played host to the opening party that night. It boasted one
of the finest views on the coastline and is now a slick destination
for good coffee, drinks and food.

In it's first season the pool has been a fantastic success. In local
authority ownership it had managed 12,500 swimmers per season
and under the pool trust it attracted a record 32,500 swimmers.
Many people have expressed their gratitude for it's refurbishment
and their enjoyment of the bold colour scheme, for the channel
coast can sometimes be grey and a bit miserable.
Some of the works were not able to be completed in 1 week and
these are now underway in the off-season and beyond. The pool
should have it's fully refurbished changing rooms and a new entrance
canopy in glu-lam timber. It looks forward to a battery of solar
collectors, reducing the fuel cost by 50% with renewable energy.

In the future it is planned to add spa facilities and to make Portishead
Open Air Pool a truly memorable destination for locals and visitors
alike. For me, I am just glad to see a pool I spent many happy years
swimming in get a new lease of life. Just imagine if the site had been
bulldozed for luxury (and elitist housing)! Well done Portishead.

The last image is the original sketch for the project!

Michael Godfrey 2009

2009-12-02T01:19:00.002Z

Portishead Open Air Pool

The pool was originally constructed in 1963 and is located on
Battery Point, overlooking the Bristol Channel. In 2008 the
local authority who owned it threatened closure for private
housing redevelopment. There was outrage from the local
community and a trust was formed to try and save it.
In late January 2009 I became involved. I spent half my
youth at the pool and was keen to help in a strategy for
refurbishment. The pool was generally in servicable state
but tatty from years of underspending and neglect.

A five year plan was drawn up and it was important to
change the public perception as quickly as possible for
the planned forcoming season. I felt the Mediterranean
and Egyptian resorts, whose bold use of colour was
warming, would be a good starting point, although
there was many behind the scenes technical improvements
required.
The scheme drew attention quickly and then support
came from "Ty Pennington's Great British Adventure",
whose producers decided the scheme would make a
great TV makeover project. Suddenly, the 5 year plan
was condensed into 1 weeks filming schedule and the
project resembled an event production, rather than a
work of architectural construction refurbishment!

Ty Pennington arrived from the US in a deluge of rain and several
weeks of preparation kicked off a major race against time, to
complete in one week and be ready for public opening. If this was
not enough, the whole proceeding was to be filmed (and filmed
again - "can we just do that shot again from this angle" etc).

A workforce of about 130 persons (both professionals and volunteers)
turned up each day and materials arrived in a procession of lorries.
Organising this effort required cool and good humour, particularly
as unseasonal storms frequently appeared on the horizon to cause
downing of tools and running for cover. At one point a force 7 gale
unleashed into our project, which had even locals fearing the worst.
It all made great television and a strong spirit of adventure gripped
the working crew.

Not only was a repaint and extensive interior refurb required,
but also pool plant overhaul and re-grouting and re-filling of
the pool itself. As the pool took 3 days to fill and 3 days to heat
it was a very tight schedule with no room for error.

Did we complete the challenge and get the pool open, together
with a public party event?

You can see in my next post !

Michael Godfrey 2009

2009-12-01T03:21:00.001Z

Skeletal - Space - Shadow
To carve out a volume or define a spatial idea, to allow light to
wisp through or flood between : the emphemeral substance.
I often delight at the half constructed building, before it is clad,
or the skeleton, exposed for all to see, naked.
Here are four such schemes and none are selected for merit,
but only for the moment conveyed in an image.
The first is an intervention within a listed "historic" structure
of CoreTen steel, once designed as a tobacco factory in Bristol.
A robust industrial frame now conceptualised as a 21st century
complex of modern apartment living. Glass cell modules are
stacked within a frame that has stood as an empty sentinel to
declining cigarette politics for over two decades. I kind of liked
the empty frame, but real estate values demanded a new use.

The second image is the first of 5 interlinked portal frames.
A covered hall for somerset's relocated traditional livestock
markets. In completed form these agricultural sheds are hidden
from view behind a thoughtfully designed core-wall, separating
livestock from their human traders. Over 12,000sq/m of purpose
designed handling is now available in all weathers to the highest
welfare standards in Europe.

The third and fourth images are just plays upon the old feasting
hall idea. In a perfect climate there is no need for a roof and I
envisaged dining under the stars and a lightplay penetrating the
vertical slots and osier screenwork.

The fifth image combines horizontal victorian piers, slender and
minimal (to avoid tidal obstruction) with some of the most
beautiful sunsets in western Britain, across the Bristol Channel.
A futuristic tower, animated with gondola lifts plays regional icon
and is powerfully backlit by the setting sun. An interplay of
horizontal and vertical, animated by the world's second highest
tidal range, which never stands still.

2009-11-28T20:07:00.001Z

Welcome to MGD Architecture. This blogsite is about architecture
future - present - past and it presents both ideas and explores
work from this studio and around the world.

The MGD STUDIO LINKS to the right enable access to related
studio subjects for design and research projects. Below these
you should find ARCHITECTURE LINKS to news, magazines or
just interesting sites.

Architecture is an evolving process and this site reflects that.
I hope that you enjoy the range of work and that you become
a follower of MGD blogs.

Today's blog

Dubai has become a megatropolis of architectural innovation
as investors out do each other to have the tallest building or
most fantastic artificial island developments. Where is this all
going I wonder as I have spent the day delving deep into our
ancestors' concept of architecture. What deep philosophy or
operational software will be apparent in the ruins of these
structures in 5000 years time? Before they are barely complete
their supporting patrons will take deep breaths as the world's
financial markets re-direct investors' money into gilt edged
options.

On one hand the great works of Dubai are icons of wealth,
prestige and confidence, unmatched for scale and audacity
and on the other they are environmentally questionable,
constructed with poorly furnished labour and are detailed
by western consultancies who appear driven by hedonistic
client fee accounts. Conceived as five star tourist magnets,
these works must be fed by petro-chemical airborne visitors.
How many of those visitors will ever venture beyond the resorts
they are conveyed to, to experience the disparity and hardship
of life, commonplace across the middle east? Is this sustainable
responsible architecture I ask myself.

MGD Architecture

2009-11-25T00:46:00.000Z

where is architecture going?

2009-11-23T12:17:00.000Z

I was pleased to see that the debate regarding futurism is alive and well with an event hosted by the RIBA, although it was concerning to hear that certain architects now felt the future was unpredictable (in their hands or mindseye view). Architecture cannot be a possibility without some harness or grip over technology (whether it be ancient, contemporary or futuristic technology).
In an increasingly technology hungry World it takes a strong and well reasoned vision to balance future need
against past example. The present is always the near future in architectural terms (given the process of converting idea into reality) and embracing a healthly stance on past-present-future is essential.

Architecture is a rich pluralistic art, science and social indicator. I intend to place some links to useful inspiration
or else just to throw up questions here and there.

Casting aside visions of jetpacks and spacestations - Building Design

2009-11-23T12:08:00.000Z

Casting aside visions of jetpacks and spacestations - Building Design