Our process of beer brewing, mycelium cultivation, and insulation panel growth are delicate processes sensitive to temperature and light. We need to design a more controlled environment than the one we are working in currently, whilst also making it look comprehensible and exciting to all of our visitors.
That we have no heating goes without saying, since the objective of the project is to soon have it insulated by our own grown insulation panels. However, this does mean we are in a race against time. The colder it gets, the greater the necessity that the barn is suitably insulated for us to continue working there! We also have a limited water supply which is vital for our daily activities.
The 4 Cubes
We have identified four separate stages in our work process that need to be completed in specific environments. The clean room, the two separate fermentation rooms, for primary and secondary fermentation, and an incubation room for growing our panels. We also need to make space for our daily beer brewing activity which will take place in the barn too.
The basic design revolves around the four separate rooms being cube shaped to maintain order and continuity, whilst respecting the dimensions and structure of the barn. We are working between the beams and arches which limits each cube to 2.5 metres in width. The design is also hugely contingent on the volumes and quantities of beer, beer grain, spawn, and the sizes of the panels we are making. There needs to be enough space for these large quantities of beer to ferment and the panels to grow.
These are some of the preconditions that our team are working with. But besides this, there is a lot of room for using our creative license. Materials, layout, and extra artistic details that will add to a working exhibition installation are all still flying around the drawing board. Below are some rough examples of things we have been thinking about so far.
