Student has new designs on lake in Southport

Architecture student Emma plans to modernise Marine Lake in Southport

A family hot spot in Southport has been given a modern day makeover by a creative University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) student.

First year MArch Architecture student Emma Illingworth from Kirkham, has designed a luxurious bathhouse on the popular Marine Lake in Southport where people will be able to enjoy the scenery and take in their surroundings in a completely new and relaxing way.

Inspired by the night sky, stars and the relaxation that comes from ‘looking up and letting go’, Emma designed a series of outdoor pools, featuring a hot and cold bath, a massage pool and a large circular pool, which was the main focus of her design, to make up the bathhouse.

If Emma’s designs were to be put into practice, she would like it to be a place with no disruptions from the outside world.  She said: “My aim for the project was to create a space where people wouldn’t get distracted by what’s going on outside and I wanted to design an open area that didn’t have any restrictions of windows and doors. The location is a perfect place for people to be able to relax and unwind.

“The process of putting this project together was quite challenging but then all architecture projects are challenging at times. The reward is when you get to see it all come together at the end and see the final product.”

Emma’s work has been on display this month in the Lancashire Arts Festival – UCLan’s degree show that runs from 9 – 16 June and displays the final work of students from architecture, design, fashion and art courses.

Looking into the history of Southport before finalising her designs, Emma found the area to be quite a good fit: “There used to be an outdoor swimming pool in Southport and a Victorian bath that has now been turned into a gym so it was a really historically rich location to begin with.

“The brief was quite flexible so we could place our designs anywhere in Southport and with its history, I thought the Marine Lake would be a really good base for my project.”

Using a variety of methods to complete the bathhouse, Emma used a laser cutter and university workshop facilities to build a series of models as well as doing it old school by hand with a scalpel to put together the buildings and pools.

The MArch in Architecture is a two-year course at UCLan and Emma is currently finishing her first year. But this has not stopped the enthusiastic designer from thinking about the future.

Emma hopes to return to the architect company ‘Purcell’ in Manchester where she worked for a year after graduating from her BSc (Hons) in Architecture at UCLan in summer 2015.

Emma credits the University and its tutors for their support and being given the freedom to explore her ideas and not be restricted in her creativity.