Optics & Design

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The New Museum.

Faisal Alsaleh 20801004 IA676 Design 6 Experience & Systems

Optics & Design.

I confirm that I have a Learning Support Plan for which includes adjustment deadlines as recommended by the Disability and Dyslexia Team, and agreed by the School. I understand the deadline for my assessment has been adjusted (as per the required School protocol) and that this should be taken into consideration when my assessment is marked/ graded.

Contents.

Project Overview

Site & Context •

Site Analysis

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Site Maps • 1:5000 • 1:500 • Terrain Map • Light Pollution Map

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Site Orthographics

Research & Analysis •

Chosen Craft

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Craft Process

Design Development •

Spatial Mapping

Design Proposal •

Hot Room

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Glass Cone

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Workshop

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Observatory

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Inhabited Visualisations

Project Overview.

The aim of this project is designing a “New Museum” situated in the now defunct Singleton railway stations Goods Shed.

A Museum is a building or institution in which objects of historical and cultural interest are preserved, stored, and exhibited.

The New Museum is a space in which culture and objects of cultural interest are preserved and interacted with. The aim and virtue is to reignite and keep alive what is stored here rather than have it be a place of antiquity.

In the case of this project, The New Museum will be preserving and reviving a heritage craft that has been deemed endangered by the UNESCO accredited Heritage Crafts organisation.

The chosen craft “Optical Instrument Making” is now Critically Endangered and is practiced by a total of only 2 professionals in the UK.

The Optics Museum will provide visitors all the necessary equipment and supplies required to create Optical Telescope lenses from their most basic components and materials, and points in which visitors can then use their lenses for stargazing.

Site & Context.

Site Analysis.

Singleton Goods Shed, West Dean Estate, South Downs NP

Primary Site Materials

Pargetted Panels

Timber

Clay Tile Roofing Red Brick

Pargetted Timber Panels

Steel/Iron

“The Goods Shed at Singleton Station, designed by T.H. Myres in 1881, remains the only surviving goods shed of its kind from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway era (Historic England, 2013).”

Grade II listed building

Site Map.

Terrain Maps.

Topographic Terrain Maps synthesized from Lidar Data collected by DEFRA

(Department for environment, Food, and Rural Affairs)

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Dark Zone.

SQM (Sky Quality): 21.16 mag/arcsec² Brightness: 0.371 mcd/m² Artificial Brightness: Natural Sky Ratio:

199 μcd/m²

1.17

Bortle Class: 4 (Rural-Suburban Transition) Elevation:

‘

60m

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The Singleton site lies within the South Downs International Dark Sky Reserve — one of the UK’s protected dark sky regions. Lens making naturally integrates with the local landscape’s astronomical potential. This craft allows for direct engagement with the surrounding night sky. West Dean’s mission to preserve endangered crafts, paired with its historical links to creative craftsmanship and experimental design, make lens making a fitting foundation for the proposed New Museum.

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Site sections.

1:100

A

Steel Lintel

B

A

B

Site sections.

1:100

Site Plan.

1:100

Warehouse

Stage

Office

Site Elevation.

1:100

Exploded Isometric.

1:200

Research & Analysis.

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Chosen Craft.

Eyepiece lens-making is the endangered craft at the heart of the museum — a precise, water-based process of grinding and polishing small glass discs to create the final optical component through which the sky is seen. While modern optics are machine-produced, this project preserves the last surviving manual practice of shaping light by hand.

Eyepiece Lens

Secondary mirror

Eyepiece lenses were selected over primary mirrors due to their lower environmental impact, shorter production time, and higher viability for handson craft engagement. Mirror-making involves material-heavy silvering processes with high embodied carbon, while eyepiece crafting remains Primary Mirror

tactile, efficient, and deeply symbolic — shaping the final image the viewer

Craft Process.

Clean recycled Glass

Break down into cullet

Melting and fining

(Sourced from Chichester Recycling Center)

(Sourced from Chichester Recycling - )

Pour cullet into crucible along with fining agents and flux (90% glass cullet) at 1300°c

Casting and annealing

Cut

Grind

After casting and annealing ( slowly cooling) the glass

Using grit, water and a secondary glass blank to continuously hand grind the blanks against each other in a circular

blank will be ready for cutting and polishing into a lens

eventually shaping the disk into a convex lense

Polish

A resin layer makes the final polish much more precise and clean, like grinding, a back and forward motion whilst rotating about the center axis ensures the most efficiency

Test against light source

Design Development.

Spatial Mapping.

Lens Room

Hot Room

Observatory

Lens Grinding and polishing

Glass Blank Firing and annealing

Stargazing using crafted Lenses

Requirements: Water source, linear light source, & cylindrical table for ease of use during rotation

Requirements: Kilns, Crucibles & ceramic molds

Requirements: fixed dobsonian telescopes

Workshop

/‘

Iterative Design.

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One of the very first things I wanted to focus on at the beginning of this project was light, especially as my chosen craft was optical instrument making, this focus on light and optics much of my decision making and design language.

(right) early sketches and ideation of underground light tunnels.

(left) underground structure being informed by the angle of the sun over duration of museum opening hours throughout the year.

(Left) Stourbridge Glass Cone

sketch of glass cone with recycled glass brick/blocks

(Right) inspired by early industrial glass cones with the hot room below the grinding room .

(Above) digital painting depicting the feelings the design would evoke inspired by Peter Zumthors ”Field Chappell ” (Left)

(right) intersecting Dome into the hall

(Left) plan sketching experimenting with work table layout and water collection basins

(Right) sustainable water source: rain Dome collects rain into spouts pouring rainwater into internal basin

(Left) geometric, spherical, midcentury inspired

(Right) simplified, continuing with multiple water spouts

Singular spout, collecting water from all around the perimeter of the cone using a diagonal ring shaped drain connecting to the internal basin at its lowest point

(Above) atmospheric visualisation of “hot room” with glass Kilns lining either side

(right) atmospheric visualisation inspired by traditional glass cone kilns (left)

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(Left ) Technical Analysis of Traditional dome observatory structure

(Right) experimenting with fixed telescope systems.

Dobsonian reflector telescope built into observatory dome walls.

Attributes: Vertical Single telescope Wheeled track, rotatable

Pointing in one direction = ephemerality Only seeing a celestial object once a year

(Left) extended walls create cave like hallway with telescope inserts pointing at specific celestial bodies

(Above) Design language is continued from the Glass Cone, inverted on an axis.

(Left) embedded dobsonian telescopes point at specific celestial objects in the night sky The observatory is on a hand operated rail rotation mechanism, echoing the railway heritage of the site and rotatable system of more traditional observatories, while keeping the ephemeral nature through fixing the vertical axes of the telescopes.

The telescopes also have no embedded optical lenses, only a slot in which the user/museum visitor can insert their very own hand crafted optical lenses.

Design Proposal.

Hot Room.

The “Hot Room” serves as the glass working hall, housing the full lens-making process of melting, annealing, and casting glass blanks. Eight horizontal barrel kilns are arranged symmetrically along the refurbished Goods Shed, with four on each side. The spatial arrangement allows for safe visitor circulation, clear viewing lines, and direct engagement with the craft process.

(Above) atmospheric perspective of the hot room (Below) Atmospheric section of the workshop

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Kiln.

The kiln is designed to both melt and anneal small lens blanks within the same chamber by utilising electrical coil-based temperature control and controlled cooling, replicating heritage glass cone furnace versatility in a modern format.

Firebrick

The salvaged brick plinths supporting each kiln directly reuse historic site materials, embedding the narrative of site-based reuse and circular Brick reclaimed on site ( from demolished office structure )

construction within the new craft processes. The firebrick kilns reflect the balance between technical performance and material honesty.

Coil Heating Elements

Hinged lid

The design focuses on small-to-mid scale telescope optics, producing lens blanks typically between 200–450mm diameter and 20–40mm thick, fully suited to both the kiln capacity and heritage hand-grinding processes demonstrated on site.

Power input

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Glass Cone.

Light Source

The top of the glass cone is covered by a convex glass lens, redirecting light towards the floor of the cone for use during the testing of lenses after grinding and polishing.

Vertical Timber Rib Frame Charred Timber Cladding (Shou Sugi Ban)

Water Source

Plywood secondary skin

The internal surfaces of the Grinding Cone are finished in Tadelakt — a traditional limebased plaster technique that creates a fully waterproof but breathable surface. This allows rainwater harvesting and direct contact in the grinding basins while maintaining natural moisture regulation within the rammed earth structure.

Tadelakt Plaster

Rain ‘gutter’ / collection ring

Rammed Earth Block Masonry Wall The timber rib structure is infilled with CNC-cut plywood sheathing panels, forming the continuous enclosure which supports external cladding layers and internal finishes

Rainwater collection Basin

Oil based Sealant (likely linseed oil)

Stabilised Earthen floor

Limecrete Floorplate

Local Rubble

The Grinding Cone sits on a breathable rubble trench foundation composed of local stone, crushed brick, and recycled site materials. This passive

Gravel drainage Layer

foundation system distributes load evenly while allowing for natural drainage, eliminating the need for conventional concrete slab systems and fully aligning with circular design principles.

Workshop.

1:200

Observatory.

Observatory Section 1:50

The Observatory employs a tilted inverted cone geometry constructed from prefabricated Glulam ribs and external ring beams secured through all-timber dowel connections. The rotating CLT floor plate sits on a limecrete foundation ring, protected by a COR-TEN perimeter ring and stainless steel ball-bearing rotation system, all resolved through circular design logic. Fixed-elevation telescopes are housed within the rotating structure, allowing seasonal alignment through horizontal rotation, encouraging visitor interaction with the celestial cycle.

Observatory Plan 1:50

Observatory Exploded Isometric.

Charred Wood Cladding

24mm Plywood Diaphragm

Glulam Telescope Frames

Vertical Timber Rib Frame

Weather treated CLT flooring

Observatory Program.

Telescope 5

Telescope 1

Telescope 6

Telescope 2

Telescope 3

Telescope 4

The Observatory operates as a functional astronomical calendar. Visitors engage with different celestial bodies throughout the year by rotating the structure to align each fixed-elevation telescope to its seasonal target. The observatory’s six telescopes track both winter and summer targets, blending crafted lens-making with the temporal nature of astronomy.

T2 - Summer (Cygnus) T4 - Summer (Hercules)

T2 - Winter (Polaris) T6 - Winter (Sirius)

T6 - Summer (Virgo)

T1 - Winter (The Moon) T3 - Summer (Arcturus)

T3 - Winter (Pleiades)

T5 - Summer (Altair) T5 - Winter (Orion’s Belt) T4 - Winter ( The Andromeda Galaxy) T1 - Summer ( Vega )

Hand crank rotates the structure at 1 rotation per minute

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Site Intervention.

Intervention diagram illustrating areas of retained historic fabric, proposed demolition zones, and newly inserted craft-based structural interventions.

Existing site interventions (demolition)

Planned design interventions (construction)

The design integrates direct on-site material reuse to reinforce both sustainability and narrative continuity. Salvaged bricks from the original Goods Shed are repurposed to form the kiln plinths within the Hot Room, embedding the site’s historic fabric into the new craft processes.

Excavated site materials, including flint, brick fragments, and subsoil, are incorporated into the rubble trench foundations beneath the Grinding Cone, enabling breathable, low-carbon load-bearing systems without concrete slabs. Stabilised rammed earth and lime-based materials further extend the circular material logic, reducing embodied carbon while reconnecting contemporary craft with traditional regional construction methods.

New Museum of Optics and Astronomy

Workshop

Observatory

Final Proposal Atmospheric iso

Bibliography Historic England. (2013). Former Goods Shed at Singleton Station, West Dean – Listing Entry No. 1412379. Retrieved from: https:// historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1412379 Wikipedia contributors. (2025). Singleton railway station (West Sussex). Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Singleton_railway_station_(West_Sussex) Edward James Foundation. (2019). West Dean Estate Whole Estate Plan 2019–2029. West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.

University of Brighton. (2025). IA576-IA676 Design 6: Experience & Systems Brief.

University of Brighton. (2025). Overview Brief Presentation.

University of Brighton. (2025). Technology Module Brief - IA699: Resolution.

University of Brighton. (2025). Talk & Task - Concept Model Workshop.

University of Brighton. (2025). Building Codes Final Decisions for Goods Shed, West Dean.

University of Brighton. (2025). Building Codes Workshop 2025.

South Downs National Park Authority. (2019). South Downs National Park Vision 2050. (Referenced via West Dean Estate WEP) l Web Online Planetarium. (2024). https://stellarium-web.org/ Heavens Above Satellite & Astronomy Planner. (2024). https://heavens-above.com/ NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. NASA Exoplanet Archive. (2024). https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/