Category Archives: Exercise 1.2: Mapping the Interior

I visited Subsea7 in Sutton on Friday 13th (!) of September.

From the moment I entered I was overwhelmed by beautiful and functional design of the place. The building has only been in use for about 3 years, so it is modern, designed in a way to improve productivity and has a pleasant aesthetic vibe.

The image above I drew quickly. I identified important features easily. They are the yellow criss – crossed columns (they are green on my map), rusted steel elements (orange), stripy ceilings, wall of tall curtains, lifts and atrium with open floor ‘balconies’ looking down at it.

I found it quite hard to estimate the size. The columns helped me estimate the height, I estimated 2 metres on the columns and assumed all floors have same heights of 5 metres. Later on I found out that the floor to top ceiling distance is 20m – thanks to handy ‘measuring’ column next to the staircase. The width and length dimensions I worked out by imagining how many living rooms from my flat will fit in there.

After drawing the first map and estimating the size I decided to draw another map, detailing more elements. The map 2 details most of elements from map 1, and has added entrance, three lifts (as opposed to one on first map), lighting, columns, stairs but I felt I could not include stripy ceiling on this one.

Reflection on how I found the process of mapping the interior.

I found it surprisingly easy. I started off with quite an exact drawing of the floor, but as I was adding more elements the image was becoming more and more abstract. I felt it was important to add the patterns present, like the stripy ceiling and rusted steel panels behind reception desk that had openwork, irregular, dotted patterns. I found it difficult to portait those patterns in my drawings. I didn’t feel adding furniture was as important in this space as the space was huge comparing to the sofas etc. Nevertheless I added a few sofas in the middle of atrium. I wish I had a yellow pencil or pen so the columns could stand out on my map as they do in real life.