Garnethill Box Light by Tom Lever at Coroflot.com

Garnethill Box Light

Garnethill Box Light from Tom Lever

Garnethill Box Light

Our final project of the third year was to provide a proposal for a park very close to the GSA. This was another joint project between PDE and Architects, and was also a live project, set and budgeted by the council. The project began with an in depth consultation stage, which culminated in a wide proposal for the park as a whole.

The second stage of the project was to design and engineer a specific part of the park of our choosing. I chose to re-develop the low light fitting.

My proposal delivers a new, modern look and feel. It also adds durability and smooth surfaces, solving the pressing problems with the light.

The project involved the ability to engage with both stakeholders and suppliers in order to deliver a competent product. It involved deep research into the limitations of production processes, focusing on Rotational Moulding, and it also allowed me to do detailed research on the limitations and benefits of different plastics.

The Box Light adds a Rotationally Moulded shell to the existing light fitting, reducing the total installation cost of providing new lights, but adding the essential durability.

The focal point of the original lighting scheme, installed in the nineties, was these box lights, designed by the park's designer Dieter Magnus. They have fallen into disrepair to some extent, and were not even turned on in the period we did this project due to concerns over maintenance costs.

The research stage involved a deep investigation on the existing light, which allowed me to see how the current light works, and what features I could use to my advantage.

There was an energetic development process, taking into account different production methods and different styles.

Rough models were developed, as well as a full scale prototype, developed as a visual proof of concept and to test light projection.

Possible manufacturing processes were considered during idea conception, but in depth research went into material properties and production methods, and from that, resulting geometric constraints.

In order to re-asses the design, and possibly make changes, I went through a process of verification. I did further research into materials, and then did digital tests to ensure that stresses and deflections were acceptable. I surveyed park users to ensure the design was preferable and get suggestions, and I costed the parts to ensure that they fitted into our initial park budget. The initial design faired well in this stage, but I changed materials and made minor adjustments to the overall system and to the main part.