Back in October last year I entered a RIBA competition for a cricket pavilion in Yorkshire. Inspired by the rolling hills of the North York Moors the roof line dips and soars to accommodate the different functions in the building.
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As of 16th February Whitaker Studio will be expanding into the virtual world of architectural visualisations, so that we can offer imagery from conception through to completion. A small but growing portfolio of my work is available on our website and price sheets are available on request.
Hopefully see you soon.
Khamisi
A year ago a small ad agency based in Hechingen, south Germany commissioned me to design them a studio for their fledgling company. Unfortunately their start-up stopped before it started and the studio was never realised, but before it did stop we had just enough time to come up with a design. Inspired by the growth of crystals in a chemistry test tube I designed a studio using shipping containers as the raw material. Fanning out from a central core, the containers created a floor plan that would allow teams to have their own spaces while still allowing all activity to be seen, encouraging cross pollination of ideas. Above ground floor the containers reached up towards the sky, tracking the suns path and channelling light back down into the heart of the building.
I even had enough time to give Michael Poulard, at Gardiner & Theobald, a quick call and he put me in touch with their Berlin office. As luck would have it the quantity surveyor in the Berlin office had just finished working on a job that involved a lot of steel work and he instantly knew who to speak to about sourcing shipping containers from Rotterdam, before being cut and welded by a company in north Germany, before being delivered to site in south Germany. It all started to look quite feasible on their modest budget of £250,000.
But then the start-up stopped. What could have been…
You can find out more details on my website under Projects - Hechingen Studio.
Here’s a portrait from yesterday’s shoot that I quite like.
Felix
There are some nice, new portraits up on my website now over at www.whitakerstudio.co.uk and if you visit RIBA’s website you can see a series of portraits that I shot for them last month.
My brother tipped me off about the rather nice site First-Stop.org a couple of days ago. It’s a great idea and an essential resource for creatives on the hunt for a photographer or illustrator.
I’ve just heard that Snapshot has won a short film competition in Canada - ShortsNonStop!
Some terrific news after everyone’s hard work!
For those of you who don’t know, Snapshot was my first short film which I made last year with a group of friends. It was written by my brother Thom and his creative partner Danielle, the set was built by my friend Jamie Hind at Cloud and Horse and the sound was edited together by the great people at Jungle Studios.
“We follow the journey of two couples as they get a snapshot that’ll last forever.”
Portobello Film Festival 2010, ShortsNonStop 2010, London Short Film Festival 2011
Snapshot starred Stephanie Wilson, Richard Mason, Becca Laidler and Chris Luca
Music by Dan Neale
Sound recorded by Dominic Humphrey
Sound edited by Dominic Dew
Set Constructed by Jamie Hind
Location managed by Michael Eichler
Screenplay by Thom Whitaker and Danielle Noel
Produced by James Whitaker, Thom Whitaker, Danielle Noel and Dominic Humphrey
Directed by James Whitaker
I just discovered today that Snapshot has been selected as one of the Top Ten Finalists in the ShortsNonStop Festival - a film festival over in Canada!
I think you stand to win a iPad if you go and vote for the people’s choice award so use your vote wisely… ;-)