Architectural Models - How they help us to understand new projects

 by Simon Thompson

A model provides a centrepiece that will attract a crowd at events and presentations. The intricate detail draws viewers in for a closer look inspiring awe when interior features such as reception areas are visible through windows or large cut out panels in the roof. Replicating the splendours of eastern architecture in some of the recent mosques that we have completed,  domes, minarets and illuminated interiors hold viewers spellbound by their majesty.

Campus 2000 Hemel Hempstead

Oldham Central Masjid

Churches provide stained glass through which colours are projected into mahogany finished interiors and one can almost smell the incense burning on the altar. In each row of neatly crafted pews there is a sense of how spaces will be filled.

Boarbank Convent Chapel, Grange over Sands

 

Landscaping, paths, street furniture and even rose bushes have to be made to suit exact requirements which can be fiddly but immensely rewarding when one stands back and admires the details of an ornamental garden such as the one below. 

None of the aesthetics or artistry of the architect's painstaking work are lost in a conventional model or obscured  as can be the case in digital representation.

The Ibstock Garden

Community projects such as churches, mosques and synagogues have amongst their leading lights few members who can relate to drawings. Long term benefits can be derived from having a model built as it so often aids fund raising and makes projects accessible to all members. Restoration can be helped along by an eye catching model stratigecally placed in the foyer. When we deliver a model of a mosque for example it has become customary to be greeted on arrival at the proposed site by an eager welcoming committee.

 

Islamic cupolas for a Mosque

Treasured relics as they may become we are frequently asked to update models as plans are revised or when subsequent development takes place. It is strange how sentimental one becomes as over the years many memories take shape and new friendships are formed on the foundations of building a model.

I Became a Model Maker

Like many youngsters of my generation, I once had a train set, or model railway as some prefer to call it.  I had never been entirely happy with the goods on sale at the toy shop and always sought to construct my own buildings and topography.  Trains going round in circles gave only limited pleasure, it was creating the environment that provided satisfaction. At first, buildings came from the grocers shops. Cereal and soap packets came with cut out building kits printed on the back. I always insisted in accompanying my mum to make sure that she bought the right brands. It was my father who gave me a scalpel at a young age. Once I had learned to work accurately, there was little to hold me back.

For a brief time, I built ships and boats, sometimes from kits. These would have been more successful had I read the instructions.  More commonly, I constructed ships of balsa wood. These were kept in the bathroom and were always dripping wet after Dad had a bath !

The railway gradually lost its' attraction as I found buildings more interesting to construct. I would usually take numerous photographs from which I would take my dimensions by counting bricks. Sometimes though, I would spend hours in taking measurements of my subjects. I always prepared drawings from which to work otherwise mistakes would be made,  as I found to my cost.

I eventually drew up a plan for an entire village and thereafter sought buildings to suit. This pursuit took up most of my leisure time and kept me from more regular occupations like television or the pub.

Being asked to build a couple of commercial models, a distribution warehouse and a squash court led me to consider earning my living through model making. I already had an interest in buildings so architectural modelling was an obvious course.   Having constructed some portable demonstration models I was soon receiving my first commissions.

The methods that I had developed in constructing my hobby models stood me in good stead and I have continued to work in that way for over 20 years.  I have of course considered CNC cutting and 3D printing. I prefer however, to continue using my personal skills and to build as much as possible by hand.

The model village to which I refer is described and illustrated on my other blog : http://brickcourse.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/bradthorne.html