Hi Sam. Can you tell us how you got involved with the Sinking House project?
I’m a carpenter and I’m also doing a degree in design specialising in the environment, which ties in very nicely with a project like this.
Lloyd, the project engineer, and I have known each other for a long time. He contacted me and told me about the project. He said it would be good to get a local carpentry team together rather than using one of the big contractors. And I was honoured to be asked and excited about it from the start.
What are the challenges when working on a project like this? What were your worries?
I would say no worries just problems that are yet to be solved! My background is doing builds for festivals across the UK, so I often find myself faced with an interesting concept, such as this. It requires a lot of thinking outside the box, working in different ways to how you might normally work with conventional carpentry and being very fluid with your problem solving.
What were your personal motivations for joining a project like this?
I’m passionate about the environment. I like to be engaging with what’s going on rather than worrying about it. It’s nice to feel like I’m helping to raise awareness of the climate emergency. Also, I love to build things. It’s nice to be involved with something interesting, creative and challenging.
You’re from Bath? Does that make this project more special to you?
Yes it does. I’ve lived in Bath my whole life so it’s great to be involved with something that will hopefully receive lots of attention within the city – and for such a good cause.
How do you think people in Bath are going to respond to the installation and its message?
I think Bath is quite an environmentally-aware city and I hope what this thing represents will be received well. It’s in a very iconic place, a highly photographed location. I’m excited to hear what people think.
