The Patera Building

Second-year Interior Design student, Annabel Harding, 19, is designing performance venue to be presented in a Knights Park Showcase in June (Date to confirmed).

The brief given to interior design students, is to create a space suitable for a theatre performance to take place, meaning wise allocation of space is required for a backstage foyer and performance space to be included.

Harding said on Wednesday: “I intend to create a minimalistic feel for my iteration of the Patera building and I will take inspiration from Bernard Tschumi from an architectural and material standpoint, especially from his use of acetate.”

According to Interior Design Schools, acetate is a synthetic fibre made from cellulose which can add a luxurious feel and appearance.

The entirety of the physical and digitals models will be made at Knights Park due to the quality of the computers and vast array of materials available for students at the campus.

“I will use cedar wood for this project as it lasts a long time and how environmentally wood is in general is an added bonus,” said Harding, on Monday.

Wood is one of the most environmentally friendly materials as it has a low carbon footprint, it can be recycled and it is also biodegradable, this shows how Harding has considered sustainability.

Second-year Biological Science student, Adefolaju Thomas said on Sunday: “I am looking forward to the showcase in June, and to see and compare all of these Patera buildings.”

The Patera building prototype was first manufactured in 1982 by Michael Hopkins in Stoke upon-Trent.

Another one of Harding’s inspirations is the Theatre tower on the Julier Pass because of its notoriety as a theatre location and she said, acetate as a glass box works very well and its ability to project different colour changes the feeling of the venue.