A life for design - Sheffield Hallam University

24
Review
Research and business
Collaborative design book
‘most beautiful in China’
Sheffield Hallam’s Art and
Design Research Centre have
worked with the China Central
Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) on
a collaborative book to showcase
innovative and creative design at
both institutions.
The book, ‘Designing Impact!
Approaches to Applied Research’,
has now been named ‘Most Beautiful
Book in China’ by China’s General
Administration of Press and
Publications.
Sheffield Hallam’s Deputy Vice-
Chancellor, Cliff Allan, said: “We’re
delighted that the Designing Impact
book has been recognised in
this way.”
The book showcases examples of
design, such as the Cutting Edge
sculpture, a major piece of public
art in the centre of Sheffield. It
also includes advances in medical
prostheses, the designs for medals
for the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing and new variations of Chinese
traditional costumes.
The book will now be entered into
the 2012 World’s Most Beautiful
Book competition at the Leipzig book
exhibition in Germany.
The dual-language book
brings together the best
design and research
projects undertaken by
students, academics,
artists and designers at
China Central Academy
of Fine Arts and Sheffield
Hallam’s Art and Design
Research Centre.
78
Pt
Platinum
79
Au
Gold
Design collaboration
47
Ag
Silver
46
Pd
Palladium
What’s in
your stuff?
A
project looking at the rare and valuable materials
inside our everyday gadgets has given people
the chance to find out the real facts about their
precious and valuable contents.
The ‘What’s In My Stuff?’ field lab was set up in the
atrium of the main City Campus building, and invited
participants to disassemble mobile phones for themselves
to reveal the key elements that make them work.
With the help of the University’s scientists students
were able to discover that mobile phones contain over
40 chemical elements and hundreds of components,
including many rare and precious metals only found
in certain parts of the world, all needed to make these
everyday objects function.
“Many people knew that plastics and various metals are
in our phones, such as copper, aluminium and nickel, but
few people realised that there is platinum, silver, gold and
even palladium in there too,” explained Dr Hywel Jones,
from the Materials and Engineering Research Institute.
“These devices contain hundreds of components and
many valuable and rare materials, so this project is about
helping people to realise and understand this.”
Following the field lab, metalwork and jewellery lecturer
Maria Hanson will create a collection of contemporary
jewellery objects from the elements of the deconstructed
mobile phones, to be exhibited at the University in 2012.
‘What’s in my Stuff?’ is a collaboration between MERI
and the Art and Design Research Centre (ADRC). Further
information can be found at www.whatsinmystuff.org
25
Review
Facilities management
academics at Sheffield Hallam
are more used to advising
outside organisations about how to
re-imagine their workspaces - but
they have played an integral part in
the revamp of their own business
engagement centre.
The TSK Business Engagement
Centre, which opened for staff
at Sheffield Business School in
December, is the result of a revamp of
existing office space spearheaded by
the Centre for Facilities Management
Development (CFMD).
Working with Manchester-based
work place specialists TSK, the team
drew from its own research about
how companies can make better
use of space. This has lead to a more
motivated and engaged workforce
and the creation of the centre.
Professor If Price, one of the
academics behind the new-look
centre, said: “We are absolutely
certain that we have delivered a
smaller space that can accommodate
a wider range of business needs. It
sets the benchmark for the University
and its competitors to follow.”
The cramped warren of offices and
corridors has been replaced by open
office space, break-out areas, a new
business suite and an ideas lab.
Research and business Facilities management
Revamped building
takes care of business
The redesign has led to meeting
space capacity in Sheffield Business
School being doubled, while space
devoted to desks has been reduced by
25 per cent.
Professor Price continued: “The newlook
space has created a new kind of
environment for employees by doing
something very different with space.
Rather than a traditional approach,
this project has taken the business of
work as its main guiding principle.
“It creates a new identity for Sheffield
Business School without the need
for a new building. And it is a case of
practising what we preach in terms of
applying our own external research
to an internal University space.
“By acknowledging the need for
flexibility, the space is now more
energy efficient and more productive,
and can be used as an example of
best practise in higher education
facilities management.”
Robin Moore from TSK said its
workplace design consultants looked
at how employees communicate and
deliver their tasks, and then provided
an environment that empowered the
team to achieve their goals efficiently.
He said: “The new settings support
different styles of working and
are responsive to a range of needs
created by the modern business
environment. The TSK Business
Engagement Centre not only provides
a home for the executive and
administration, it is also the point of
contact for commercial organisations
who are seeking to adopt new
techniques and protocols as well as
the skills required to manage their
workplaces as effective business
tools.
“The aim of our collaboration is to
provide an opportunity to explore,
discover, innovate and deliver
competitive advantage. It brings
together academic innovation and
practical delivery for the first time.”
Adrian Hopgood, Pro-Vice Chancellor
of Sheffield Business School said:
“This is an exciting new space in
which staff, students and our clients
can interact and work together in
a physical representation of the
‘business school without walls’. The
centre is part of an ongoing journey
to provide high-quality space that
facilitates personal engagement
across Sheffield Business School.”
“This is an exciting
new space in which
staff, students and our
clients can interact
and work together in a
physical representation
of the ‘business school
without walls’.”
Adrian Hopgood