William Armitage
Multi-disciplinary designer with experience in product design, engineered products, branding, and an interest in design for the heritage field and built environment.
Morris — a refined climate monitoring system, designed for the unique demands of historic houses. It is a guardian, helping to preserve delicate plasterwork, timber, and textiles by alerting occupants on potentially harmful conditions before damage can occur. Blending function with aesthetic sensitivity, this product becomes part of the building’s narrative, not an interruption of it.
England’s buildings are its greatest asset – they are not only beautiful pieces of design to look at, but a tangible link with the history and heritage of the country and its people. Professional conservators look after the National Trust and English Heritage properties we are familiar with… but the vast majority are in the care of ordinary people; they are the town houses, cottages, and barns that are scattered across this island.
As such, the 500,000 people who live in them can’t always understand the needs of their building – this leads to tragic loss of building fabric, and costly repairs. In the UK, nearly £2000 is spent on heritage building repairs every minute, but no amount of money can replace the heritage we lose forever.
Professionals use data loggers to monitor building climate, but these products give readings which are difficult to interpret to the ‘average joe’, and they are not designed for the domestic setting. Historic building owners want to know what’s going wrong, why it’s going wrong, and what can be done to solve it. The greatest threat to buildings is moisture – this causes the vast majority of issues that historic building owners face. Morris monitors the humidity, CO₂, and temperature within the room it is placed, and it translates these readings into understandable, actionable guidance for homeowners, so that any issues that could potentially stem from poor room climate are prevented.
Branding is a big part of this project — Our ‘core brand principle’, is that Morris unlocks a deeper emotion with buildings and heritage. It sums up what the company can do for people, and how they feel about their buildings. And crucially, it empowers them to understand and protect them. Our brand core is the feeling, the guiding sentiment that should permeate through everything that we do. It affects the images and the words we choose to use, the way we project ourselves and our work.
A building is a story of everyone who has touched it – owners, visitors, builders, architects, they all leave their mark. They are truly precious pieces of work. Even if you don’t own a period property, you can still contribute to the care of England’s magnificent building stock. Just by visiting country homes, museums, churches, and castles, you make a case for their funding. Please always sign the visitors book, and donate when you can.
Thank you for viewing my project.
Below are other projects from previous years, and activities undertaken relating to studies and extra-curricular projects.
Jackson – A dynamic rover designed to help conservators monitor little terns and other species at the Humber Estuary in North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. (Group Project)
Audible Immerse – a smart AI powered concept which listens to you read, and plays real time audio and music to enhance the story.
Starpack Sustainable Design – a project which aimed to tackle plastic waste relating to the sale of fresh fruit produce in supermarkets.
My work is eclectic, but recently heavily focused on my passion for heritage. I am privileged to have been working with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings at their Working Party around Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham, learning traditional methods of buildings craft, design, and upkeep. I have also spent much time at Lincoln, report writing on the role of design and technology at Lincoln Cathedral and York Minster, and how this alters perceptions of spaces. My work in product, packaging, and brand design has seen multiple products sold by major retailers such as Next, and Home Bargains.
I am always happy to discuss my work, or just talk about design! Please do get in touch.