Friday Report - 24.10.08

Friday was a very busy day. The council 's fencing contractors arrived early to put in the gate posts for the new entrance to the site. Then the mechanical digger and dumper truck came and put in a hard days graft, digging out the trench for our proposed log wall and skillfully crafting trenches for the new ramp and hexagonal raised platform. This all happens quickly and pretty soon the trenches are complete and ready fo us to tidy and peg out.

We got stuck in with the digging up of tarmac for the grass island infront of the garages, using spades and pick axe to remove the surface.

Miles makes good use of the theodolite to ensure the foundations will be set at the correct level, whilst Tom and Gooch discuss the finer points of tarmac removal.

The day was exhausting and a lot happened, there is now a definite sign of our work on site, you'd be hard pressed not to notice what was going on. Hopefully the following days will continue in this positive vein and we'll have some real progress on site at the Spires.

Digger on site - 24.10.08

Today we had a digger on site to break the ground and create the trenches for the foundations of the ramp and raised areas. Report to follow.

Marking out - 23.10.08

The Spires, ready for transformation.


Making our mark.


Gooch watches intently, whilst Andrew ponders.


The latest brick delivery.


Tom marks out a revised path.


Discussions are had regarding the path from the gate.

Circle Time

T-Shirt Printing

For the 'Let's Break In' event, Gooch and I set about getting the pinkest T-Shirts H&M had to offer. These beauties matched our flyers perfectly but we still had to brand them with 'The Spires Live Project' if we wanted to look like a well organised, approachable team and not just 10 randomers who had embarrassingly turned up in the same garish pink top.



The spray paint we tried initially didn't take to the fabric and produced a faint, diffused blur of white letters. We then hand painted within the stencil; this was blotchy and the paint bled at the edges. The problems of this time-consuming process were compounded when the blobs of wet paint stuck to other parts of the T-Shirts, spreading the mayhem.

With an inspired idea and a teeny-weeny roller we perfected the printing process.

The cost of innovation is high, the first 3 T-Shirts out of our workshop were sort of '3D'; this limited edition run may become highly valuable as the demand for Spires-Wear (c) spirals, though be warned, they are likely to cause motion sickness in sensitive people.

Let's Break In - photo report

The day at the Spires begins at 10am with a litter picking session, the kids get involved and it becomes a competitive activity. This is followed by the chalks being rolled out and the hexagon we layout is soon decorated by drawings of rockets, smiling people and sunshine.

The van returns and we all muck in to unload the first of many block paviers.

A drink and cake break is definitely needed as the pile continues to grow.

Alistair gets to work marking out the area for the new pedestrian entrance to the site.

The lawnmower comes with its own set of problems, but eventually Gooch has the grass tamed.

The last of the 1617 blocks are stored successfully.

Team photo at the end of the Let's Break In event, a brilliant but exhausting start to site works.

Design Team Meeting

The display board, arranged by Alistair and Andrew shows our posters and documenting our design and consultation so far.

The Spires design drawing illustrates our concepts for the public face of the community centre. Key ideas include the creation of a new entrance into the building in a more prominent location adjacent to the street with an associated raised outdoor area, and a log seating wall that runs from a new pedestrian gate to the garage wall and which will enclose a planted courtyard area.

In our Friday morning meeting we talked through our latest design proposals with Alistair, Jenny and John. Working together we discussed further iterations and potential improvements to the design, that included a separation of car park form external pedestrian space and a more refined planting plan along side East Bank Road.

Later that day, we all met with Council Assets Manager, Gary Beatson. We ran through our ideas and described to him our vision for the public face of the Spires building. He was helpful in discussing the practicalities of the work and very positive in response to our proposals.

Do you know this monster?

The Spires Centre needs YOU...

The LiveProject Team and The Miracle Trust are hosting an event at The Spires Centre (600 East Bank Road, Arbourthorne) entitled "Let's Break In" on Saturday 18th October, starting at 10am... everybody is welcome!

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JOIN US @ THE SPIRES ON SATURDAY 18TH OCTOBER & MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

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-Free drinks and cakes!

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Painting, planting, digging, arts and crafts, chatting and more... something for everyone of all ages!

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If you fancy getting stuck in then please remember to come prepared with suitable outdoor clothing. If that's not your cup of tea, then please feel free to contribute any cakes or just to help out making teas - or of course just come along for the fun of it!

What's the idea behind "Let's Break In"?

We want you, as members of the Arbourthorne Community to take part in shaping the entrance to The Spires Community Centre. We want you to get want you want, for The Spires Centre to be your centre - the only way this will be possible is if you helps us: let's penetrate the fence, let's have a visible entrance, let's make The Spires stand out.... Let's Break In! (Sat 18th Oct).

Football on a wet Tuesday.

Relegated to playing on a local field, due to the sports centre closing because of a power outage. The conditions underfoot were wet and slippery, as the youth club and architecture students gathered for a kick around.

The treacherous conditions evened out the playing standard, many ending up on the floor as the ball was jostled for.

Goals were going in at both ends in an evenly fought game, Tom was guilty of squandering many of his teams chances as they pressed hard, but the defence of Team Gooch was solid if a little unsightly, breaking and counter attacking swiftly, it was all to no avail as Team Tom eventually ran out 7-5 winners.

This resource could come in handy for Saturday. Anyone for lemon drizzle?

Sunday morning design consultation.

So we found ourselves at the Arbourthrone Community Church for the service on Sunday morning. Alistair had allowed us the opportunity to talk to the congregation and engage them in a participation and consultation exercise. The service began in its usual manner with the gathered people joining in worship and then the floor was opened to us. Tom, dressed up specially for the occasion, delivered a quick PowerPoint presentation and then introduced the topics for discussion in our small groups.

Ideas for making the building more visible to the estate come thick and fast, including painting the breeze blocks, lighting the building with colour and a giant shark coming out of the roof. (thanks Andrew)

We also discussed the need for the community centre to advertise its events, be this through a notice board, digital projection or using a giant fan to ticker tape the estate with the events. (another useful Andrew suggestion)

Venturing outside allowed us to rediscover our attitudes to the building and to try and see how it is perceived by people who don't currently attend the Spires.

Felt pens were used to document ideas through notes, descriptions and drawings.

At the end of the session we brought our ideas together and collated them on a white board, using this as a premise for further discussion about how our ideas might be beneficial to the Spires building and to the community on Arbourthorne estate.

Meet Alistair.

alternatively send us a picture from your modelling portfolio and we'll upload that.

Let's Break In

The new leaflets go down well.

Work on the 15th floor.

The Friday Night Thang - Part 2

Recognising possibility.

After discussion with the client, our ideas are formed into what we want to acheive in the remaining few weeks and what we will leave in place for completion at a later date.

Quickly drafted masterplanning exercises help inform our ideas.