Carving space below Cardiff Castle using volumes of sunlight

This project encompasses a deep, multi-level analysis of sunlight and shadow within the walls of Cardiff Castle Keep, and how these are affected by time at an annual and historic scale. Imagining sunlight as a volume, and curating carefully calculated data into a precise and predictable schedule of 'sunlight events', caverns are carved below the castle in which people can admire the abstract landscape of fleeting sunlight

Light is an ever-important theme in architecture, and the ability to understand it completely, and thus predict its form, is a powerful tool with many applications. Programmatically, the creative re-use and adaptation of old buildings is becoming the primary focus of architects all over the world, in line with the climate crisis.

A number of sunlight and shadow studies were conducted using rigorous computational methods, from LIDAR scanning, to scripting using Grasshopper and Ladybug software. These digital tools were used in tandem with physical models to generate a response that was convincing in its scientific rigour, and experiential and atmosperic qualities

I have never learned more in one year of teaching - to flip the process of design on its head and begin designing before considering a proposal felt confusing at first, but ultimately lead to a response that was entirely appropriate to the context that would never have been explored or identified using any other method