THE BIG SOCKET
TEAM: Tsz Ying Victoria Tong, Jia Min Wong, Sora Kang, Janani Rajeswaran, Arina Roszali – University of Sheffield
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers and transport businesses.
One of their common features is their large open plan. The large open plan is needed for numerous factors like the loading of docks, constant movement of the workers and storage space. This began to give us a source of inspiration for our hotel proposal. We began to wonder how this open space can be used as a form of interaction and movement in a fun way. This is where ‘The Big Socket’ evolved.
Our aim is to design a suitable hotel scheme for tourists who are looking for an affordable accommodation and an ideal location to get to know the area. During a visit to Sheffield, we discovered an empty derelicted warehouse. As there are many unused warehouses, it was more practical to use an existing building and bringing it back to life again by accommodating people. Our proposal will mainly focus on the of a warehouse where there are budget travel possibilities.
Sheffield City is located in South Yorkshire. The city has grown from its huge industrial roots to encircle a wider economic base.
The industrial nature of Sheffield links to warehouses as warehouses are usually located in manufacturing areas. Warehouses play a role in delivering goods to hotels and also lead to travel linking to our proposal. What makes Sheffield popular? During the 19th century, it has gained a reputation for steel production including the innovation of crucibles and stainless steel.
Our proposal, ‘The Big Socket’, aims to provide an open space to foster budget travellers to interact. We aim to provide privacy in a shared atmosphere preventing isolation. We decided to keep everyone connected in boxes. These boxes are large enough to install furniture and create your own personal bedroom space. The boxes are not too large in order to reduce weight and enhance mobility. They can be moved and adjusted freely according to the needs of their use. The boxes are insulated and lightened by being connected to a socket below. The sockets planted under the floor allow the whole box to be plugged in therefore making it easy to move and settle into a comfortable space with the box. The bathroom, kitchen and laundry areas are in fixed locations therefore only the bedrooms are able to be moved around. The decision of having many boxes to create various environments was made to improve the quality of interaction and social lifestyles of people as well as maintaining a sense of privacy.