A dedicated space to enjoy Caribbean culture and embrace afro hair
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Ife Njock-Barnes. Interior & Environmental Design. Social Digital.
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Scotland. 05.2021
A dedicated space to enjoy Caribbean
culture and embrace afro hair
Caribbean Cultural Centre
Caribbean Cultural Centre
A dedicated space to enjoy Caribbean
culture and embrace afro hair
T
he Caribbean Cultural Centre is a space centre I could find, when researching,
where anyone can go to be educated on/ and being a Caribbean person from
embrace the various Caribbean cultures. Birmingham I had never heard of the place.
As the countries are so diverse the ideas This demonstrated a lack of dedicated
were created around a generalised view of all spaces for cultural activities.
Caribbean countries. The building is split across This project aims to create a Caribbean
five identical floors and offers a wide selection of cultural centre that takes inspiration from
activities from a food canteen to a music studio. the vast Caribbean culture and some of
The rooms in the building where chosen based my previous work (an afro hair salon). With
upon popular entertainment in the Caribbean the majority of the Caribbean being black,
(elderly people playing dominoes) and what the there are many people with afro hair living
Caribbean is known for (music and food). there. The idea is for the space to host a
variety of activities from Caribbean culture
Although Birmingham has the largest Caribbean but also be open to hosting non-traditional
population, there was only one Caribbean cultural events for people from every culture.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2
Contents
Contents
01
Meet the Designer
02
The Brief
03
Research
04
Inspiration
05
Project Development
06
Final Proposal
Ife Njock-Barnes
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3
01 Meet The Designer
Meet The Designer
Previous work...
2nd Year - COmmunity Exhibition
1st Year - HABlab
3rd Year - Afro Hair Shop
4th Year - Crawford Building Project
As a designer I hope to create
spaces that inspire people to
embrace diversity and see
how it connects everyone
instead of seperating them.
Ife Njock-Barnes
ife1998.wixsite.com/idesign ife_interiordesign
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 4
02 The Brief
The Brief
Background
The misunderstandings/clashes of cultures are very prominent nowadays, as seen with the resurgence of the BLM
(Black Lives Matter Movement).
I am asking if ignorance can be diminished by introducing an understanding of minority backgrounds in a space
dedicated to celebrating a specific culture.
The building I am looking at is set in Birmingham, a very culturally diverse city, and from the last UK census (2011) it
was found that Birmingham is home to the largest Caribbean population in the UK. The large Caribbean population
is due to ‘Windrush’, in the 40’s Caribbean people were invited to help rebuild the UK and one of the first ships that
arrived was called ‘HMT Empire Windrush’.
Problem
Although Birmingham has the largest Caribbean population, there was only one Caribbean cultural
centre I could find, when researching, and being a Caribbean person from Birmingham I had never
heard of the place, which demonstrated a lack of dedicated spaces for cultural activities.
Aim
This project aims to create a Caribbean cultural centre that takes inspiration from the vast
Caribbean culture and some of my previous work (an afro hair salon). With the majority of the
Caribbean being black, there are many people with afro hair living there. The idea is for the space
to host a variety of activities from Caribbean cultures but also be open to hosting non-traditional
events for people from every culture.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 5
03 Research
Site
Analysis
Distance from (on foot)
* Moor st station - 11 mins
* New st station - 13 mins
* Coach station - 5 mins
* Curzon st station (HS2) - 17 mins
* City Centre - 16 mins
Site location
Scale 1:400
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 6
03 Research
Arches
River Rea use
o
ott H
Sc
Greenhouse
Courtyard
Views from the building (Scott House)
T o gain a deeper understanding of the
surrounding areas of the site and the way in
which the environment affects it, I started my
The existing building (Scott house) is connected
to another two buildings so to make the project
more manageable I stuck to five floors of the
project by conducting a site analysis. Knowing building in the shape of the image below. While
the distsance of the building from transport also using some of the surrounding outdoor
and amenitites allowed me to understand the areas to add a dynamic element to the building.
potential influx of people to the building.
The sun and wind pathways allowed for
an appreciation of the weather and how
this could potentially be incorporated
to my design. This lead me to create
larger glass windows on the south
facing side of the building to allow more
light into the building, especially as
this side of the building neighbours a
couple other buildings. I also thought
about what you can see from the
building (above) later influencing the
design.
Areas of the building used
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 7
03 Research
Questionnare
I nitially, the idea for this project was
to expand on my third year afro hair
shop design (i.e. enlarging it). So, I
there is a large caribbean community,
it seemed appropriate to design a
caribbean cultural centre. This also aided
sent a questionnare to a few people in narrowing down design ideas. As it
with afro textured hair asking them was difficult to talk to real users during
various questions such as; ‘what does the covid pandemic. I created personas
your hair mean to you?’, ‘what do you for potential users of the building (right),
think of the layouts of current afro hair explaining their background and their
shops’ and ‘what is your experience of motivations and frustrations with using
going to an afro hair shop in person?’ the cultural centre.
The answers I recieved for the first
question (below) inspired me to evolve
my project into a cultural centre, as
many people thought of their afro hair
as a part of their culture. Adapting
these responses to my building which
is situated in Birmingham,UK, where
“What does your hair mean to you?”
My hair means my heritage and projects power
in which ever way I choose to stye it. it is a part
of my identity and instills confidence within me.
My hair is a big part of my identity. the authenticity
of my blackness is strengthened when I wear my
afro hair the way it grows out of my head. there’s
power in taking back something we’ve been
taught to hate for so long.
My hair is an extension of my beauty, and often
expresses how I want to be recieved in the world
depending on the style.
Questionarre responses
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 8
03 Research
Personas
Errol, 76 Jane, 30
Came to the UK during windrush, misses British, intrigued by other cultures
their homeland
Motivations: wants to learn more about
Motivations: wants somewhere to be caribbean culture and enjoys a sense of
a little piece of the caribbean and has community.
grandkids that he wants to teach more
about his culture. Frustrations: can feel overwhelmed when
immersing themselves in new cultures.
Frustrations: wants to participate in
things that don’t require too much
energy.
Makeda, 21 Roy, 55
2nd generation caribbean, wants to connect Grew up in 1st generation caribbean
more with their culture household, embraces culture
Motivations: wants somewhere to embrace Motivations: wants to educate others on
culture, wants to use their culture in various their culture, has many friends from a similair
aspects of their life and wants somewhere to background and embracing their culture
spend time with their family. makes them proud.
Frustrations:doesn’t know many people their Frustrations: their culture has not always
age from a similair background. been accepted in the UK.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 9
Image: https://www.grapevinebirmingham.com/listing/the-custard-factory/
05. 2021
IED:DJCAD
Existing
Building
03 Research
1003 Research
Brick
Vinyl
High ceilings Green Man
Crittall windows
Courtyard
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1103 Research
History
Scott house is currently used as
workspaces and studios.
The custard factory was built by Alfie bird to
produce ‘Bird’s custard’ in 1906. Today it retains
its industrious look with original crittall windows,
exposed steel and high ceilings.
Digbeth is known as the creative hub of
Birmingham, known for its street art in the
form of murals and graffiti.
The area ‘Digbeth’ has its own typeface ‘Digbeth
sans’ created by Dn & Co in 2019 (which I use on
these boards).
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1205. 2021
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Custard Factory around 105 years ago
03 Research
13
Image: https://twitter.com/custardfactory/status/76623754457711411304 Inspiration
Cultural
1. 2.
5. 6. 7.
1. The shape of a cross-section of an 6. Hair spiral of afro textured hair
afro hair strand
2. The existing train bridge arches 7. Caribbean carnival, a bright and
besides the building joyous festival
3. Bantu knot hairstyle, a tradional 8. Dominoes, popular with the elderly
african style in the caribbean
4. Popular colours used in caribbean 9. Afro pick, used for fluffing out an
architecture afro
5. Hair beads, a popular hair 10. Braids, hairstyle
accessory
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1404 Inspiration
Inspiration
3. 4.
8.
9. 10.
1.
A s the project started out as an afro hair
shop and many people from the caribbean
have afro textured hair I chose to take a lot
of inspiration from this hair texture. Afro hair
is very versatile so there was a large choice
for inspiraion; from texture, to hairstyles and
accesories. One of the most influentual of
these was the flat oval shape of afro hair
strands, and this pattern has been carried
through the building in various forms. Another
was braids, I was intrigued by how the form is
created by three strands becoming one unit.
A lot of the caribbeans culture involves bright
joyous colours so I wanted to carry this through
with the colours and materials used in the
building as I wanted the people who visist to
feel a sense of joy when inside of the building.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1504 Inspiration
Design In
Confeti Hair Strip
Sergio Sebatian
Ife Njock
Image: https://laud8.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/confeti/
This installation uses colourful acetate circles below string lights My third year personal project. It was
to create confetti like shapes on the ground below. A caribbean afro hair car shop that hosts a hair p
carnival has many pops of colour, like confetti so this project gave workshop/salon. Some of the desig
me ideas for my thesis. inspired and been brought forward
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1604 Inspiration
n Inspiration
ir Stripped back Wow Lieven Cultural Hub
Atelier Carloalberto
e Njock-Barnes
Image: https://archello.com/project/wow-lieven-cultural-hub
ect. It was an environmentally friendly The Wow Lieven cultural hub contains a cafe, performance space,
sts a hair product shop and hair care meeting rooms, exhibition space and offices.The different areas
f the designs from this project have are distinguished by chromatic colour variation. This inspired me
ght forward into my thesis project. to give each floor of my building it’s own colour, on the walls.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1705 Development
Development- Sketches
T o develop and demonstrate ideas I
sketched out the various thoughts
going through my head. To develop
the ideas I abstracted shapes, rotated,
scaled and created repetition with the
existing shapes from my inspiration.
Sketching is not my strong suit so a lot
more was developed on 3D softwares
such as Sketchup.
Enlarged Crittall windows
Afro atrium
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1805 Development
Steel pan performance area
Atrium barrier pattern
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 1905 Development
Atrium barrier Workholder Spiral staircase twisted rope barrier
Braid structure Pillar structu
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Plait pattern
llar structure Hair bead chair
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2105 Development
Zoning
First floor
Ground floor
Z oning the building into specific areas really
shaped each floor of the building. To start this
process off I created a table and listed out every
room that would be on each floor. I then thought
of what each room needed such as; plumbing,
natural light and public/private access, which I then
translated onto post-it notes, to be able to quickly
move rooms around when testing out different plan
orientations.
Fourth floo
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2205 Development
Second floor
Third floor
A fter finding the most convenient plan for
each floor I drew out a 1:200 scale plan of the
existing building. Over the plan I translated the
post-it plans into more realistic shaped rooms,
while thinking about the use and flow of each room.
Which I then finished with a final overlay of rythms
and shapes that would be used on each floor.
Fourth floor
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2305 Development
Sketch Models
I created sketch models to translate
the sketches into 3D and further
develop ideas. With limited access to
The image behind the text is a
representation of the ‘afro atrium’.
The oval shapes are each hole of the
workshops, due to covid, I used clay atrium, on each floor, decreasing in
as an easy at-home alternative model size as it rises, representing the shape
material. I hadn’t used clay much and of an afro.
the models didn’t turn out exactly how
I had planned (highlighted models to
right). As I was used to using paper the
paper models were a bit more effective
in demonstrating my concepts.
Afro atrium representation
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2405 Development
Clay hair bead seat
Pillar structure
Clay ‘kidney bean’ bean bag
3D zigzag pattern
Clay overlapping seat
Atrium barrier
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2505 Development
Digital Development
F urther development of sketches was done
in Sketchup as I find it easier to visualise
my ideas with these kinds of 3D softwares.
Manipulating, scaling and adjusting objects is
easier and much faster then sketching, for me,
so developing furniture pieces went quicker.
Hair bead seating
Afro pick structure
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2605 Development
Salon seating
Exhibition seperator
Food seating Pillar
Language seating
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2705 Development
Materials
Carpet
Coralina Stone Cork
Laminate Wood Oak Timber Plaster
Plastic Rope Tweed
Brushed Steel White Brick Shingle Cladding
T he materials used in the building have
been chosen based on materials
traditionally used in the caribbean (rope
Various floorings have been applied
to cater to the use of the room, such
comfort in the library and non-slip
and plaster), local materials (coralina flooring in the dance studio. Weather
stone) and materials already used in the was also taken into consideration, so the
existing building (brushed steel and bantu pods have a plastic covering to
white brick. prevent damage from rain.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2806 Final Proposal
Final Proposal
T o translate my final ideas, I created a digital
and physical model of my building. As
Sketchup is a strong suit of mine and has a 3D
Some of the images of the digital model have
been rendered to give a bit more realism. People
have also been edited in to tell a story of how
warehouse, the digital model is more realistic each area could be used.
to what I want it to look like. Due to having less
amount of access to workshops, due to covid,
my physical model is a more simplified version of
the building.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 2906 Final Proposal Ground Floor 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 30
06 Final Proposal
T he ground floor is the grand entrance to the building. There are
multiple entrances; the main front street entrance that leads to the
recption area, the side courtyard entrenace that leads to the eating/
networking area and another entrance by the toilets that leads out to
arches besides
the building. This
floor also offers;
a kitchen, storage
room, staff room
and cloakroom. This
floor is meant to offer
a light introduction
to the building, by
offering a friendly face,
refreshments and
entertainment.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3106 Final Proposal First Floor 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 32
06 Final Proposal
T he first floor is for people who want to pamper their hair. It offers;
a salon/barbershop, a hair product shop, toilets, storage room
and staff room for staff on the floor.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3306 Final Proposal Second Floor 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 34
06 Final Proposal
T he second floor is for people that are looking to learn/teach. It
offers; language rooms, a library, conference rooms and toilets.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3506 Final Proposal Third Floor 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 36
06 Final Proposal
T he third floor is for people looking for entertainment and to learn. It
offers; an art exhibition, a design exhibition, history exhibition and
toilets.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3706 Final Proposal Fourth Floor 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 38
06 Final Proposal
T he fourth floor is for people looking for entertainment and to
practice/show their talents. It offers; a radio, a music studio, an
acting studio, a dance studio, toilets, box office, a snack bar and
theatre with backstage area.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 3906 Final Proposal Exterior 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 40
06 Final Proposal
Front elevation
T he exterior of the building has
stayed the same as the current
existing building, except for the front
door and expanded windows on
the left side of the building. In the
courtyard to the left of the building
I have incorporated a performance
space (indented into the ground in
the shape of a steel pan instrument)
surrounded by bantu seating pods.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 41Cloakroom 06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 42
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 43
Canteen
06 Final Proposal
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 4406 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 45
Hallway 06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 46
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 47
Second 06 Final Proposal entrance 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 48
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 49
Afro hair 06 Final Proposal shop 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 50
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Conference 06 Final Proposal room 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 52
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 53
Language 06 Final Proposal classroom 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 54
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Library 06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 56
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 57
History 06 Final Proposal exhibition 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 58
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 59
Radio 06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 60
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Snack 06 Final Proposal
Bar
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 6206 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 63
Stage 06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 64
06 Final Proposal 05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 65
06 Final Proposal
Final Model
Scale 1:75
To create the final model I used a couple techniques such as; laser cutting
to get simple shapes cut within a short time) and 3D printing (a fast way of
producing my more intricate designs). The exterior walls are clear acrylic
so that you can easily see into the building and the exterior has been kept
the same as the existing building so I wanted to highlight my designs on
the interior more. Using the 3D printing material and kappa board for the
interior items allowed each floor to stay quite lightweight, which is handy
for stacking the floors.
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 6606 Final Proposal
Scale 1:75
05. 2021 IED:DJCAD 67I would like to thank:
Gary Kennedy
Andrew Milligan
Linsey McIntosh
Matt Kallarackal
My flatmates
Younger year helpers
&
The staff in digital making
for their support and helping
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