Showcase 2025 Student Spotlight: Carmel Cain
Student Spotlight featuring BArch (Hons) Architecture student Carmel Cain and her project 'Newark's Collaborative Collective'.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 4 April 2025
Categories: Student Showcase; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The Project
Newark’s Collaborative Collective’ is a museum located alongside the ruins of Newark Castle.
The museum is centred around the visitor and their experience. It is comprised of exhibition spaces and workshops that encourage community collaboration, where the resulting artwork that has been produced collectively can be displayed.
The inspiration behind the project
The conceptual inspiration for the project was formed in response to the historic castle ruins on the site, and how best the design could respond, relate and adapt to the rich existing landscape. For Carmel, the desire to encourage people to visit the site led to four key concepts: engagement; interaction; balancing the new and the existing; and concealment and transparency. These elements play a central role in the museum’s design which aims to work in harmony with the existing site - to compliment the ruins rather than detract from or compete with them.
The inspiration for the project was formed in response to the rich existing landscape of the historic castle.
The project experience
Carmel has found the experience of working on this project to be interesting, and enjoyed being able to focus on a single project in such detail.
"The integration of the project between modules in my third year helped me to develop the museum’s concept and strengthen my design overall," she says.
"In the Context module, we were able to research a topic of our choice that would be beneficial to the development of our individual designs, enabling me to explore how a museum's design can promote inclusivity and facilitate wider representation, and to implement the findings from this research into my design. Furthermore, in the Technology and Environment module, we have been able to think about our design from a practical perspective as well as a conceptual one, which is something I enjoyed. It was interesting to think about the museum project in terms of its structure and how it would be constructed."
"It was interesting to think about the museum project in terms of its structure and how it would be constructed."
Being part of NTU
Carmel has enjoyed her time studying at NTU, although she was initially worried about being a commuter student and whether it would impact her university experience being distanced from other students who lived closer to campus. "But it couldn’t have been further from the case," says Carmel. "The course fosters a welcoming environment, encouraging students to work together."
She goes on: "I’ve found the coursework interesting and engaging. In particular, I enjoyed how varied the projects are, and the opportunity this provides to learn new skills. Studying the course has enabled me to develop my research, software and drawing skills. However, it has also enhanced my confidence, in relation to participating in working collaboratively and giving presentations.
"Studying the course has also enabled me to be involved in several extracurricular research opportunities, both focused around inclusivity in architectural education practices. These positions allowed me to develop and refine my research skills but also enabled me to learn more about the course and architectural education, which is something I have enjoyed."
For Carmel the most memorable moments over the course have always come from group work. She says: "One of the particularly memorable moments was in first year, where in Technology and Environment we were learning about the different types of support within structural frames. Subsequently, we applied our knowledge in a competition to see which group could build the tallest structure out of spaghetti and marshmallows, where our team's efforts was slightly sabotaged by people sneakily eating the marshmallows that were meant for the tower! Despite this we still won the prize for the most aesthetic structure built."
Carmel Cain - BArch (Hons) Architecture
Closing remarks
Carmel has the following advice for prospective Architecture students:
"The most important advice I could share with someone thinking about studying Architecture at NTU would be to collaborate and learn from their peers; the collaborative nature of the course means you’ll often be working alongside other students who may approach tasks from a different perspective to you, which provides you with an opportunity to learn something new.
"Also, be open to asking advice from the students in the years above you. Whether it's about how to develop a particular skill or use certain software, in my experience, students in the years above are happy to pass on advice and knowledge that they’ve learnt through studying the course. After all, it’s likely that when they were in your year, they had questions too!"