In early November 2025, I worked with the first year cohort at Bath Spa University – a group of around 45 students (twice the last year’s group) who had only started their studies about a month prior. The students are designing pavilions for craftspeople working in ceramics, green wood, joinery, metalwork, printmaking, screen printing, and willow weaving.
Early in the project, they met their clients – actual craftspeople living in Bath and connected to the university – who shared not only their practices but also their personal interests such as yoga, bird watching, and comics.
The workshop brief was to create concept models drawing inspiration from the project site: the Old Quad at Newton Park Campus. These ideas around the clients’ hobbies became woven into the models developed during the day.
Some students engaged quite literally with their craftsperson’s materials – using willow for a willow weaver’s pavilion or clay for a ceramics practitioner. Others interpreted materials more creatively as metaphors; for instance, the screen printing craft inspired a model with a flip-up translucent partition resembling the printing screen itself.
The resulting models took varied approaches. Some revolved around two or three key gestures, whilst others represented more dispersed, non-hierarchical environments. In the latter cases, the models served as backdrops for storytelling – narrating episodes from the client’s day.
Unlike previous workshops, the final discussion featured student-led reflections within groups. A learning point for next time would be to designate a chair for each group to help facilitate these conversations.
no.balsa 