U N I T I A POST INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATIONS 2 A L I S D A I R R U S S E L L
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S T U A R T B U C K E N H A M
6 C H R I S T O P H E R M C C U R T I N
A L I S D A I R R U S S E L L
S T U A R T B U C K E N H A M
C H R I S T O P H E R M C C U R T I N
Alisdair Russell is a Chartered Architect and Tutor at the University of Nottingham.
Stuart Buckenham is a Chartered Architect and Tutor at the University of Nottingham.
Alisdair is the Managing Director of Caven Associates Architects, having studied at the University of Nottingham before teaching at both the Undergraduate and Postgraduate level from 2002. Alisdair has achieved success in various architectural competitions, both as a student and practitioner.
Christopher McCurtin is an award-winning architectural designer, artist and university tutor.
Stuart is the Managing Director of Buckenham & Co. Architects, Nottingham. He has worked for award winning practice Marsh:Grochowski, exhibited at RIBA and been a tutor at the University of Nottingham since 2001.
His work has been exhibited throughout Europe and featured prominently in both print and online publications, including Architectural Design (AD) magazine, The American Institute of Architects website (in an article written by Cincinnati Art Museum director and architecture critic Aaron Betsky) and ‘Educating Architects’ for Thames & Hudson. Chris has worked with the unit for the last 5 years, starting as a full-time contributor in 2014.
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T H E
G A T E W A Y
As a unit we will continue to investigate the theme of post - industrial reinvention and adaptive re - use in the urban context of the Thames Gateway, a threshold condition stretching from the Eastern Periphery of London to Tilbury on the Essex Coast. This Eastern edge of London formed a Gateway to the City, historically important from its manufacturing belt of Dagenham, the transportation hub of Grays to the Port of Tilbury. This vast estuarial swathe powered and nurtured the growth of the City, the working class hinterland of London, the Thames
C O N T E N T S Post Industrial Transformations 2016 3rd Year Work 3rd Year Contact Details 2nd Year Work
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and the Essex Coast formed both the industrial powerhouse of the City a place to house its workers and a place to holiday, in its heyday Essex arguably had it all. In all its Architecture, from manufacturing, living (Bata) and its seaside resorts, Essex wholeheartedly embraced the Modernist Idiom as the Spirit of the age; somehow with its Proletarian roots and Socialist leanings, Modernism was the appropriate gesture. Vast belts of the Estuary now sit largely forlorn and unloved, awaiting a new life, its decaying heavy industrial structures juxtaposed with the expanses of Marshland 3
possessing an often eerie melancholy. As London`s population and economy expands at an exponential rate the city is shackled and left with nowhere to grow so these forgotten fringes of the city can once again anticipate a new life and future importance. We will investigate a series of sites along the Thames Estuary (from Rainham and Purfleet on the Western Edge to Tilbury on the East). The towns of Rainham and Purfleet, 30 minutes from the City of London are already experiencing a new lease of life; we will both work within these contexts and speculate a new lease of life for other locations along the Estuary.
R E G U L A R
V I S I T I N G C R I T I C S
A N D R E W
C R O S S
Photographer, Film maker & Curator
G O R D O N
R E A V L E Y
Critical Theory, NTU/Oxford University
O C C A S I O N A L V I S I T I N G C R I T I C S A N D R E W
E D WA R D S
Year Out Student, Heatherwick Studio
S O P H I E
B A R K S
EHW architects, Buro Happold
M AT T H E W
S T R AT F O R D
Structural Engineer, BSP
J O H N
M O R G A N
JAssistant Professor, University of Nottingham.
M AT T H E W
M I T C H E L L
Diploma Student
V I C T O R
L A M
Diploma Student
J O S H
S H A R P
Diploma Student
K AT H RY N D AV I D
The Active Core, Sean Martin, p.20-21
The BBC New Television Centre, Matt Drewitt, p.22-23
T H O M A S
Diploma Student
W H I T E H E A D
Diploma Student
F I E L D - T R I P This year, the unit traveled to Moscow, capital city of the Russian Federation. The urban landscape is currently in the midst of a large-scale transition, casting out the old industrial giants which once adorned its skyline to make room for the ‘modern’ and iconic global city that Moscow now aspires to be. Drawing parallels between Moscow and the key project site of Tilbury, we observed the slow decline of local industries in recent decades which have left large areas on the fringes of the city in poverty. Both areas are also now at the heart of fierce gentrification debates, due to the number of government housing projects scheduled for demolition, making way for new developments which are said to be beyond well the financial reach of existing inhabitants.
M O S C O W C H R I S T O P H E R M C C U R T I N
As with London (and more specifically, Tilbury), Moscow is an immensely eclectic architectural landscape, which often traverses history and vernacular in broad-brush strokes. It was perhaps this seemingly paradoxical parallel of an environment that managed to feel so familiar, yet so alien, that helped the city make such a bold impression on each of us.
T H I R D
Y E A R
RALUCA BURLACU - CHRISTOPHER CLARKE - MORGANE COPP - MATTHEW DREWITT - ANDREA ALVAREZ - CHARLOTTE GRASSELLI - ALICE HARDY - ANNA HELLIAR - LIZZIE HORSEY - BOYAN HRISTOV - XIAOYING HUANG - BELMA KAPETANOVIC - ALEX LAU - SARA LOHSE - SEAN MARTIN - RACHEL MORGAN - DANIEL PAIGGE - VALENTINA RIVOLTA - ELLA QUINTON - SAM WHITEHEAD
A key industry in East Tilbury was the Bata Shoe factory which was an economic force in the region in the 20th Century. However, in 2005, the factory closed down as mass produced shoes in the region became unviable with cheaper labour abroad. The project acknowledges the importance of the shoe industry in Tilbury and speculates about what a shoe factory can be in the 21st Century. In the style of the paternal Bata shoe factory, which created a town around itself to house its workers, the project explores the question: What can a 21st Century shoe factory offer the public through its architecture? As plastic pollution in our rivers and seas becomes a 12
problem we can’t ignore, a process of ‘alchemy’ seeks to turn waste plastic into something of greater value. By filtering out specific plastics and utilising 21st century technologies, the project creates quality bespoke trainers individually tailored to a person’s running style. Alchemy is the seemingly magical process of transformation, creating or combination. The project does exactly this by celebrating the processes in a way which is beautiful and engaging yet functional. By doing this, it educates the local population about limiting the damage we do to the estuarial ecosystems, as well as restoring a pride in the shoe making industry. The Estuarial Axis extends into the water to collect and sort waste and
process PET bottles into fabric. The Loom Tower is the centre piece of the project and marks the point in which plastic recycling turns into shoe production. The Shoreline Axis runs perpendicular and is the catalyst to bringing the public up close to the manufacturing process and the industrial Estuarial Axis. A continuous public route connects spaces through ramps and platforms and the building becomes an architectural adventure through production and industrial spaces. The roofscape and running track blur the boundary between park land and shoe factory, seamlessly straddling the estuarial threshold condition.
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D A N P A I G E E S T U A R I A L A L C H E M Y.
The Thames Estuary is a complex edgeland condition with undefined boundaries. Its typography is neither urban, nor natural but somewhere in between. Nowadays, when most of what remains from the industrial edifices is their deep scar on the landscape, and with the upcoming completion of London Gateway, the area is in need to reinvent itself. However, instead of erasing the existing context in favour of something completely new, the aim is to use the decaying ruins to dictate the emerging architecture. At its core, the building is a waste-to-energy power 14
plant that is emerging from the industrial ruins. Similarly to Mucking Marshes landfill, boats carrying barges of waste sail across the Thames and dispose it to the site. Two waste management processes run in parallel: gasification, which uses household waste and produces syngas (a cleaner alternative to incineration), and anaerobic digestion, which uses organic waste to produce biogas.
are becoming safer and more in need, and also question the boundaries of what a power plant can be. But most importantly, it seeks to celebrate the undergoing process and decaying architecture through a phenomenological journey by means of scale, materiality, light and juxtaposition between old and new. appreciating the juxtaposed marsh environment.
The building has open access to the public, seeking to bridge such typologies with the people, as waste management technologies
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H R I S T O V
P O S T - I N D U S T R I A L O D Y S S E Y
In an economic context where the brutality in mega cities plunges communities into rapid growth, this project tackles the importance of identity and culture and how it can be preserved or re-instated. It is about giving the future to the people and therefore challenging what life could be in order to change what it is and provide an informed alternative that loosens the control of reality on our ability to dream. Enforced by the strong cultural and social aspect of the site, the project is tapping into a 16
universe of film and narrative in order to create a space that becomes a catalyst for social dreaming and an avant-garde centre for creativity. The vital tools are dreams expressed through storytelling, imagination that drives fiction and archiving as a means of preserving relics of a culture in a pursuit of finding aspirational alternatives; how our communities evolve is among the most urgent challenges we collectively face.
The building encourages past recollections and impossible fictions in order to enhance the present by finding the point of convergence between the knowledge of the past and the possibility of the future. It is an architecture conceived as a chaotic novel of various futures and iterations of the present as a result of the same conditions.
R A L U C A B U R L A C U T H E T I M E L E S S I M A G I N A T I V E 17
In 2005, Tilbury’s once thriving Bata factories shut, leaving many jobless and isolated, whilst the factories simultaneously eroded. My project seeks to reconnect the people of Tilbury once more and alter the negative stigma surrounding the factory shells. This scheme looks to celebrate 18
the factory decay as a layer of the building’s narrative and continue this through architectural injections, utilising materials and spatial arrangement, that will change over time, to create new discoveries for the Invisible College. The programme seeks to transform research and
spatial exploration into creative commission, whilst allowing the skills of ex-factory workers to be re-awakened.
A L I C E
H A R D Y
I N V I S I B L E C O L L E G E A T H E N A E U M : T H E ‘ B A T A V I L L E ’ P A L I M P S E S T 19
The ‘Active Cores’ project develops from a brief that considered micro-migration and the comparative relationships between the urban and suburban realms. Predominantly, the emphasis of the analysis aimed to understand the effect of the form and fabric on the suburb culturally and socially. The city has become the epicentre of our modern lives. A city offers people the opportunity for a rich and cultural collaboration and hence creating a dense cosmopolitan environment. The cities fabric stitches itself together through an array of cultural cores. These cores often have their own brand and their own redeeming features that make them independent and unique. It is the unique nature of each of these cores that gives a city the dene 20
cultural fabric. In contrast to this, Grays lacks this cultural complexity. It lacks a sense of unexpected event which makes a city the vibrant dwelling environment. A town, such as Grays, finds itself in limbo. It is neither urban or rural. It aims to be neither and achieves neither. Instead, it lays upon the boundaries of London’s urban sprawl in a dormant state. The aim of the project therefore is to address this dormant nature and re-activate Grays by translating the concept of active cores of London in a sensitive and socially directed manner. Grays would maintain the central high-street, however the introduction of satellite cores would aim to mimic the cultural destinations that make up the urban plan. 21
S E A N T H E
M A R T I N
A C T I V E
C O R E S
BBC New Television Centre is an attempt to revive the creative industry once found in British television during the ‘golden age’ of the mid to late 20th century. The building stands as a symbol of optimism in the fight to retain the world’s first and largest public broadcaster, the BBC. The campus of buildings on site have been engineered to generate a ‘melting pot,’ whereby staff, talent and future talent can come together under one roof, continuing the BBC legacy set out almost 100 years ago; to inform, educate and entertain. 22
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M A T T H E W D R E W I T T T H E
B B C
N E W
T E L E V I S I O N C E N T R E
Fish City is a fish market that trades exclusively in locally sourced fish - i.e. fish from the River Thames and the North Sea. When i was conducting research for my brief i was surprised to learn that the tidal Thames is home to over 200 species of fish. The whole river is now a thriving and expanding ecosystem, as a result of the improving water quality. However, instead of sustainably sourcing food from our own doorstep, Britons generally prefer to rely on unethically and commercially sourced fish, that is imported and 24
sold to our supermarkets. Project III challenges our heavily-importdependent food culture. The project also explores the idea of amphibious architecture, which is slowly starting to be practiced in Briton by UK-based architects. Having lived most of my life in the Thames-side town of Hampton Court, I know that the threat of flooding is becoming an increasingly unfortunate norm for anybody who lives in a Thames-side location. This threat however, is exacerbated in the Thames Estuary, where many towns have been developed on the
river’s flood plains. I decided to integrate the amphibian concept into my final project by designing a partially floating structure. The completion of my project has led me to the conclusion that life beside water can be one rife with many design opportunities and much potential.
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C I T Y
Deeply engrained in the vast expenses of Essex countryside, East Tilbury sits in the ‘Edgelands’ of Essex, suspended between an urban and rural identity. Initially, the scarred landscapes, defaced by years of intensive industry and earth extraction, exude a sense of exhaustion. However, in reality, East Tilbury sits at the foot of a potentially immense ecosystem, bustling with biodiversity. 26
The project hopes to challenge the disengagement that exists between the people of East Tilbury and the fascinating eco-system that surrounds them. Through research schemes, restoration programs and education initiatives, the public will become increasingly aware of the importance of such a habitat, and learn to appreciate the nature that surrounds them. The Saltmarsh
Restoration, Research and Educational Centre is designed to support the conservation, growth and cultivation of the marsh as a catalyst of the redevelopment of the area.
C H A R L O T T E G R A S S E L L I T H E S A L T M A R S H R E S T O R A T I O N , R E S E A R C H & E D U C A T I O N A L C E N T R E 27
Canvey Island became a popular seaside destination for Londoners in Victorian Times. Then in the 1980s the petrochemical industry boomed, but quickly fell into decline. Canvey now has a high unemployment rate and is no longer a desirable holiday destination. My project intends to combine the themes of industry and leisure, uniting the 28
socio-economic history of Canvey Island. The production of salt in Essex can be traced back to Roman Times, when people used to be paid in salt. In the Doomsday book 1000s of salt pans were operating across Essex. The linear form of the building reflects the linear production process of cultivating salt. The manufacturing process has
a symbiotic relationship to the salt spa. The pier-like structure alludes to the quintessentially British sea-side icon of the pleasure pier. Concrete will envelope the structure, protecting it from the damp coastal conditions. Untreated copper cladding will articulate the facade, reacting with the salty air, the process of decay will be celebrated. 29
E L L A
Q U I N T O N
T H E C A N V E Y I S L A N D S A L T C U L T I V A T I O N F A R M A N D S P A
My project is a relief centre for refugees suffering from PTSD. PTSD occurs when a person undergoes a traumatic event. There are three different types of PTSD, allowing for three individual treatments to be carried out through a library, a gym and a meditation space. PTSD treatments revolve around the idea of “moving on,� so a natural integration process into the community was introduced as a further treatment. The building serves as a linear scale of progress and development, where the circulation demonstrates how much the patient is integrating into the community with every step of his therapy. 30
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M O R G A N E C O P P H E A L I N G T H E I N V I S I B L E W O U N D S
The Edible Landscape aims to be a catalyst of change, providing a holistic approach towards tackling rising levels of obesity, especially amongst children in Thurrock, Essex. The growth in population due to migration from London places a strain on local services, food production and the provision of green spaces in Thurrock. The project aims to explore how the integration of productive green landscapes can promote healthier lifestyles through Eco therapy, changing community perspectives and lifestyle choices. 32
Through providing a growing edible landscape, where the local community can get involved into growing or simply experience it encourages those healthily lifestyles and provides fresh local produce. With the rising numbers in obesity amongst children, having somewhere where they can be active and choose to partake in sports or other active recreation is key. Alongside to this, education on nutrition and where our food comes from is essential to create a holistic solution. Therefore the project provides cooking classes
on quick healthy meals and public seminars, educating the community as a whole on food; whilst also providing facilities focusing on alternative ways of being active, sports, mindful practices such as yoga and an exterior interactive play scape allowing for children and adults to interact with the building even when passing by.
A N D R E A
A L V A R E Z T H E E D I B L E L A N D S C A P E
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The Collective stems from a desire of 7 tinkerers to create an inventors utopia. After meeting Dan, an inventor who created his own home from reclaimed materials, and appreciating his scavenger lifestyle, the 7 set about to create Tinkerland, a living and working community of artists and inventors whose life is given entirely from salvaged, reclaimed or donated objects 34
and structures. a self build project, but on a much larger scale than dan had previously created. Tinkerland is a celebration of the undesirable, showcasing how much can be done with the items that we throw away without a second thought. They want to change our perception, and show just how useful the useless can be. Scrap metal, plastics, wood. These now become foundation materials,
from which the only limit is our imagination, and the unpredictability of relying on found materials. This approach to recycling stops items that would of been heading for the dump, and creatively puts them back into the community. The point isn’t to melt things down and make something new, its to use what you have to make something special.
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L I Z Z I E T H E
H O R S E Y
C R E A T I V E R E U S E C O M M U N I T Y
This project seek to find a potential solution for improve the current situation of housing crisis, by accelerate housing production and provide more skilled worker for on-site construction with prefabricated housing method and lecture hall for trainees. The Housing Factory brings back
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the manufacture purpose for abandoned Bata factories, use the previous leather and rubber factory as manufacture material for wall construction that feed in to the new factory space for assembly. The factory provide affordable and diverse housing for future housing sites around East Tilbury. Between the factory and market building, creates an opportunity for an
open high street from future train station to East Tilbury town. The public element in the factories gives people glimpses of manufacture process, allow people to observe and appreciate the beauty of prefabricated housing.
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( A M Y ) H U A N G H O U S I N G F A C T O R Y
This scheme is located along the River Thames in Essex 800m up river from the Dartford Crossing. The site’s strong relationship with both the organic and fabricated lend it well towards this project which aspires to re-imagine how we as a race build and manufacture. Current practice is riddled with open loop systems that are unsustainable and we are now also in an age where fossil fuels are diminishing while factories and industrial estates are becoming more scarce as productivity is moved towards larger and less frequent factories. This project has taken on approach where it looks to create a proposal that incorporates nature, a being that over many millennia has gone through countless environmental alterations that have shaped and continue to inform the planet today, a system that is full of closed loop systems. There is a 38
staggering amount of biodiversity, which has stood the test of time. This intellectual base is constantly re-imagined and rethought in an effort to sift through what is deemed unnecessary and excessive and arrive at a new level of understanding and ability. This program speculates our outlook on the production of material, looking at sustainable new methods, delving into the topic of Biomimicry. The project centers around bees and spiders while also incorporating other living organisms and their abilities to ‘architect’. These living organisms have been genetically modified to produce material at an industrial scale - spider silk that can be used as structural bearing, and bio-concretes created by bees that can be used in freestanding architecture.
The design brings together different elements fusing the organic with the fabricated in a new innovative way. The design situated on the River Thames acts as a potential future system, which could replace current industrial practices and becomes in itself common practice. The building and its idea could become parasitic and this idea could spread through the Thames Estuary and then onto further boundaries.
C H R I S T O P H E R C L A R K E ( H A R R Y ) A N O R G A N I C FA B R I C AT I O N
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The architecture explores the concept of creating a space, which allows for fresh exposure to culture on every visit, unique experiences, which are new, exciting and different. This led to the exploration of labyrinths. Both mazes and labyrinths disorientate the occupant, confuse them and stimulate their mind. In contrast to a maze it is impossible to get lost 40
in a labyrinth, the feeling of disorientation instead encourages an open mind and a calm state. Moving walls facilitate this labyrinth like state hiding and revealing market spaces and reading nooks, it explores the idea of individual spaces forming pockets of privacy whilst creating the feeling of being part of a larger social environment. 41
R A C H E L M O R G A N A
S A N C T U A R Y O F C U L T U R E
Project 3 looks into changing local people’s perceptions in East Tilbury, Essex. Through the development and understanding of unpredictable modern British weather. I explored the effects of floods socially and culturally in my brief and there frequency in the area. I sought to understand the acceptance and appreciation 42
of these natural occurrences and how my design could embody the beginnings of a new mentality and culture. Development from my project 2 caused me to look at the coast and I discovered an enthusiastic team of people who work in Essex as Storm-Chasers. Believing that storms, cloud formations and the weather must be appreciated. Holding
these values close to heart, I combined the Storm-Chasers society with that of the Royal National Lifesaving Institute (RNLI) and set out to achieve a structure where the teams could come together and teach each other as well as the public about safety and appreciation of the environmental changes.
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V A L E N T I N A
R I V O L T A
H E A D Q U A R T E R S O F S T O R M C H A S E R S A N D T H E R N L I
At a time when the ongoing European refugee crisis is being constantly presented to us through the media, the project in question explored the issue of refugee status, the public perception, and the potential for architecture to provide a safe, affordable, and sustainable approach to welcoming these new entrants 44
to the UK. ‘Beyond the Tent’ revolves around creating a transitional accommodation and rehabilitation space for those seeking asylum, helping them adjust at their own pace from the emergency phase of the previous refugee camps to fully integrating them into British society. The Centre for Innovation and Integration sees
a complete renovation of a disused railway station and cruise terminal in Tilbury; restoring a once vibrant site where the Empire Windrush ship docked in 1948, bringing 492 workers from the Caribbean and marking the start of the post-war immigration boom which was to change Britain.
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B E Y O N D T H E T E N T F O R I N N O V A T I O N A N D I N T E G R A T I O N
Entropy is the universal tendency toward disorder, disorganization, disintegration and chaos. Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Increased Entropy, states, “the total entropy of any isolated system will increase over time, approaching a maximum value.” As you take a journey through my pavilions you are taking a journey through the ideas of the chaos theory. If you think of your own mind having entropy the journey taken through the 46
pavilions increases your own personal state of entropy. The higher entropy The pavilions are meant as an aid for the user of the space to become present in the moment reaching a higher entropy in terms of becoming more malleable of the thought, clearing their mind through the sensory overload in which they are enveloped. Here Brian Cox uses a sandcastle and the sand on the beach as an analogy to show the differences in high and low entropy.
My buildings essentially have a low entropy in their actual material form but the concept of the layout and the journey through the structure invites the occupier to increase their own entropy through being exposed to the elements. The pavilions are a catalyst between the occupier and the elements, it encases these values within the structures layout and holds it within the space between the walls.
B E L M A K A P E T A N O V I C E N T R O P Y – T H E C H A T H E O R Y A N D H O W I N F O R M S M Y A L L E G O O F A R C H I T E C T U
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O I R R
S T Y E
‘The Cultivists’ project finds it’s foundations on the ever expanding town of East Tilbury, Essex. The once industrial and thriving community is now a shell of its former self needing a new lease of life. The proposed scheme aims to tackle the main concerns expressed by the local residents in a survey taken in the town in March 2013. Issues included the need for better education, the need for something to do in the area, the high levels of obesity and the want for people to visit the town to improve 48
into a food education centre. The centre consists of a cookery school, restaurant, library and classrooms. It is envisioned that the issues of obesity, food knowledge and agriculture can be addressed in a fresh hands on environment that will be attractive to the community in particular to the younger generation who would be the first to benefit from the development.
their economy. In my proposal, ‘The Cultivists’ programme harnesses the latest technology in agriculture to bring the world’s first major underground farm. This would encourage tourism and its economic benefits as well as furnishing Tilbury with the opportunity of becoming one of the first self-sustaining communities in the world. In addition to the underground farm one of the larger factory buildings on the site has also been developed
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C U L T I V I S I T S
D A N
P A I G G E
dan.paigge@hotmail.co.uk
B O Y A N
H R I S T O V
R A LU C A
B U R L A C U
raluca.1610@yahoo.com
boienhristov@gmail.com
S E A N
M A R T I N
seanmartin11@hotmail.com
H A R R Y C L A R K E
SARA LOHSE
E L I S A B E T H H O R S E Y
MAT THEW DREWIT T
MORGANE COPP
clarkechl@gmail.com
sara.alohse@gmail.com
lizziehorsey1@gmail.com
matthewpdrewitt@gmail.com
morgane.c@hotmail.de
SAM WHITEHEAD
A L I C E H A R D Y
X I A O Y I N G H U A N G ( A M Y )
A N D R E A A L V A R E Z
CHARLOT TE GRASSELLI
ELLA QUINTON
RACHEL MORGANE
V A L E N T I N A R I V O L T A
alice.rose95@yahoo.com
xiaoyingh06@gmail.com
andrea@alvarezf.net
laycdg@nottingham.ac.uk
ella.quinton@gmail.com
racheljulia11@gmail.com
valentina.l.rivolta@gmail.com
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B E L M A K A P E T A N O V I C
laysdw@nottingham.ac.uk belmakapetanovic@hotmail.com
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A N N A H E L L I A R annahelliar@hotmail.co.uk
S E C O N D
Y E A R
ERIC ATKINSON - NADA ELKATEB - ADELINA-RUXANDRA GUTU - TESSA HAUGH - YAVOR IVANOV - EMMELINE KOS - BHAVNEET KUDHAIL - KAI HIN LAW - AMELIA MARESCA - CHEUK YIN NG - DANIEL NORMAN - CHAE PARK - MEGAN SPOOR, - JACK PARMAR - EDWIN WONG - KANGLI ZHENG
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Set in the Thames Estuary, East Tilbury is a former industrial town that has remained in decline since the collapse of its industry. The Data Workshop aims to unite the work of traditional craftspeople with the town’s past of mass-manufacture. Both production methods can be seen as complete opposites. Craftmaking is an intimate process which produces unique individual products; whereas mass-manufacture is a large-scale 56
process producing hundreds or thousands of items at one time. The architecture enables the bridging of the two processes. Mass-customisation allows products to be produced on a large scale, although each end product ends up slightly different in form, colour, size, etc. The process of manufacture would also be visible to see for all, so it maintains the performance of craftmaking, albeit on a larger scale.
D A N I E L N O R M A N T H E D I G I T A L W O R K S H O P
Set in East Tilbury, a product of the visionary Bata Shoe Corporation, project 4 evolves from project 3, which led to the creation of the Re-Factory, transforming the existing Bata rubber factory into a creative guilds hub, where creatives gathered together experimenting with a range of materials and crafts. In order for such an architecture to be created in an abandoned town, it requires a catalyst, this is Project 4. The scheme makes use of the Bata leather factory, with a material focus on plastic.Plastic is a huge problem worldwide, with only
10-12% being recycled, the rest ends up in our environment. In order for a significant change in plastic pollution build up, a change in shift needs to occur, showing how things can be done differenlty by working with existing eco-systems. If the public are to visualise this usually hidden process in an engaging way, and view the possible outcomes, they will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance of recycling plastic. Another critical issue today is the 3D printer industry, which is growing exteremly fast. However the raw materials used 57
are exteremly expensive and harmful to the environment, the scheme transforms plastic waste (PET bottles) into filament that can be used for 3D printing, making this industrial revolution a sustainable one as well. The design can be seperated into two main cores, the left side of the scheme contains the primary functions of recycling plastic waste into 3D printer filament. This then acts as a power source for the right side of the scheme, where the recycled filament is used as feedstock to power the 3D printers, giving the plastic waste a new future.
B H A V N E E TÂ K U D H A I L 3 D
P R I N T I N G W O R K S H O P
CELEBRATING THE GULL
Axonometric drawing showing general layout of the building and its structure. The upper floor possesses a ‘floating’ feeling as it is suspended by the steel structure of exposed columns on the ground floor which are embedded into the concrete landscape. The ground floor is mostly open apart from four walls that prevent pedestrians falling and also control the movement along the promenade. Since the ground floor is predominantly outdoors, no insulation is added, allowing for thin walls and a thin sheet metal roof. The metal roof has a pointed shape relating back to traditional boat shed buildings. 1
The ground floor is contrasted with the ‘floating’ upper floor by being entirely enclosed in glazing with small roof-lights and a double height space throughout. It offers stunning panoramic views across the river. From the exterior, the glazing reflects the water. Overheating is controlled by the overhanging roof. 1
THE WORKSHOPS
The refurbished mast of the Gull will be placed at the front of the pier, this will light up when boats are approaching
Restoring the Gull
Preventing more rotting
Place
The hull of the Gull is pretty rotted and damaged. I aim to restore and present it near the entrance.
By painting the hull in a plastic coating it will turn the hull white but also will prevent the wood from rotting further
Placing the restored hull pretty much where it was moored all those years ago will link to its history. The overall look is intriguing from planting flowers and sand at the bottom.
Boat Sheds
Process of boat lifts
The roof sheltering the boat lifts and maintenance areas are shaped like traditional boat sheds.
When there are no boats in maintenance, the platforms are down and water travels into the spaces
‘GLAMOUR’ CLUB Boats of different sizes sail into the space and slot on to specific boat stands attached to the platform
The platform lifts up with the boat and the sailor can step on to the concrete platform
When the platform is level with the concrete floor, the boat can be lifted up or kept on the platform. Sailors can clean, polish and repaint their yachts.
Route The route through the building mimics what happens on the ground floor and the axis is the same. The whole space interlinks, no doors stand in your way. The interior offers panoramic views along with a double height space.
My boating centre aims to provide the public with a place to socialise, learn to sail and learn about the history of the place. It aims to provide the Yacht Club with a larger building, more space for boat storage and a solution to maintaining their boats - allowing them to sail into the building and carry out maintenance under cover. The building will reflect the
conditions of the Gull. The ground floor will reflect its purpose, how it functions in a very industrial manor. It will allow a very natural and fluid movement. The upper floors will reflect the Gulls glamour and its effect it had on the people of Grays. A glazed upper floor will allow light to shine out like a lighthouse, along with its appeal to the glamour of a Yacht Club
Shading The overhanging roof will provide some shade and will prevent overheating. However the rooms will still get hot and cold. This could be fixed by changing the glass facade to something with a rainscreen sun shade that would still provide views across the Thames
The following project is envisioned in the future, following the success and popularity of the grays promenade revitalising the town centre and sparking a deeper interest in performance in the area.
typology. I will also include the mast of the gull and save the hull from being removed. Overall the building will be a celebration of sailing. It will encourage more people to engage in this activity and with the Thames. It will connect Grays back to its history before it is lost to London.
E M M E L I N E K O S T H E
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B O A T
C L U B
This project seeks to expand the current main stage along the promenade, providing necessary additional spaces such as rehersal studios, dressing rooms, storage
and backstage areas. Due to links with the nearby south essex college - and with learning as a key aspect of rehersal - the building is envisioned as a learning and training centre for the performing arts.
the area. With half the building providing beginners teaching in performing arts for young children and college students and the second half providing professional rehersal spaces for performers, the project can solidify grays promenade as a catalyst for activity and social interaction with the performing arts.
High House production park has no training and rehersal spaces for performance, making the proposal the only such facility in 59
E R I C A T K I N S O N P E R F O R M A N C E C E N T R E
The Pier
The Marina
The Wharf
Lock Detail
Building Structure Detail
The Wharf
Scissor Lift Detail
The Grays Town Wharf Railway will run between the wharf and the centre of Grays with the option of being expanded to link the whole of Grays. It is a single track cable car system with turntables at both ends.
The Grays Town Wharf building contains a Trade Fish Market and Fishery, a Public Market, a Restaurant and a Fish Bar. It is a Steel Portal Frame structure with 3 levels.
The Marina is a sheltered dockyard for small boats after they have accessed the Wharf Building. Here there is space for oudoor market stallswhich will provide a bustling and vibrant space for local people to use. The Restaurant
The Dockyard
The lock system allows boats no larger than 15m hull to stern to access the Wharf building and the Marina when the tide is low and when it is high. They form part of a public pier which is accessible when the tide is low.
The crane is implemented to carry cargo from the conveyor over to the Wharf building. It stands over a larger lock which allows small ships and large boats access to the Wharf building by holding water when the tide is high.
Section A-A
The Marina
Grays Town Wharf Building on Project 3, in which we proposed installing 3 semi-permanent follies containing a fresh produce market, a cookery school and a fitness centre, I want to utilise the currently disused Grays Town Wharf and create a link from the centre of Grays and the train station down to the neglected river front which would help to open up the entire water front including Grays beach. The building is built onto a concrete pier with a large jetty which stretches out into the river, while creating a sheltered marina on the shore. The pier will allow small fishing boats to access the marina via a series of locks and a small canal running the length of the building on the ground floor, while the building will contain a Trade Market and Fishery, a Public Market and a Restaurant and Fish Bar. To link the development to the town centre I want to implement a single track cable car system to run from the centre, along the pier and through the building, where it will climax in a manually operated turn table at the far end of the building. The building will provide spectacular views of the River Thames, The QEII bridge and the industrial nature of the surrounding environment. It will draw people from not only the town but also from London as the restaurant and cable car system will become a grand attraction. The development will open up not only the riverfront, but also the whole of Grays itself to locals and visitors, giving them a new found relationship with the heritage of Grays, by allowing them to experience the river in a new way.
The conveyor runs the length of the conrete jetty to allow large ships to unload cargo which is then transported to the Wharf building.
Grays is located on the River Thames in East TIlbury in Essex. It is a place struggling with a poor economy and a low life satisfaction rate. Grays Town Wharf aims to create an attraction within the Town, utilising the existing features such as the beach and the high street, and provide residents with a new development to call their own. Grays Town Wharf is built onto a concrete pier with a large jetty which stretches out into the river, while creating a Interior View 1
Trade Fish Market and Fishery
sheltered marina on the shore. The pier allows small fishing boats, such as seiners, to access the marina via a series of locks and a small canal running the length of the building on the ground floor, while the building will contain a Trade Market and Fishery, a Public Market and a Restaurant and Fish Bar on the different levels, supplied by the crane and mechanical, moving wall.The building provides spectacular views of the River Interior View 2
Public Market
Thames, The QEII bridge and the industrial side of the surrounding environment. It draws people from not only the town but also from London as the restaurant and cable car system will become a grand attraction. The development opens up not only the riverfront, but also the whole of Grays itself to locals and visitors, giving them a new found relationship with the heritage of Grays, and allowing them to experience the river in a new way. Interior View 3
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Restaurant and Fish Bar
J A C K P A R M A R G R A Y S
T O W N W H A R F
The South Essex Naval Architecture School is one of the proposed masterplan schemes near a newly proposed dry dock in Grays, Essex. Located right next to River Thames and Tilbury Port of London, one of the largest ports in the country with extensive transport network linking the capital city London,
underneath are well connected to the model workshop, engineering laboratory and secondary spaces on the sides. Public and private arrangements are carefully considered so that front entrances are on level 0 while side entrances are on level 1. Roof lightings, atriums, slanted roofs, materiality of ship within the building could be found to make the space more vibrant.
the site has multiple advantages to develop a Naval Architecture school which minimises the segregation between the port and the town.The project is inspired by modern catamaran designs where support structures go on the two sides and the main elements are in the middle. Studio spaces raised in the middle with towing tank 61
J A C K S O N N G C H E U K Y I N N A V A L A R C H I T E C T U R E S C H O O L
The Ship Deconstruction Factory based in Tilbury is located alongside the river Thames estuary in between the public Gray’s park and the private principle port of Tilbury. Historically, the port of Tilbury opened in 1886 with major expansions in the 1920s, 1960s and 1980s. As the port expanded and developed, so did the surrounding towns. Despite such strong historical, social and economic growth between
the two, growing alongside one another, the existing conditions show no connection between the public and private realms. Evolved from project three, my ship deconstruction factory aims to bond the segregated connection between the two realms. The factory would responsibly decommission old, damaged or small vessels that would otherwise be sent to developing countries such as
Bangladesh. In addition, allow students and aspiring individuals to come practice using high tech machinery and learn about the docking, logistical and deconstruction processes. Public members can tour around the factory to observe the deconstruction emphasising the transparent nature of the project. It’s aim is to reveal the inner workings of an otherwise private and secluded realm. 62
H I N T H E
K A I L A W
W E A V I N G S C H O O L
My scheme looks to regenerate Grey’s Beach, once an artificial Victorian pleasure resort. Sat against the backdrop of Tilbury Docks the scheme embraces the architectural language of the site, an industrial yet playful extension of the British Seaside. Extending the existing flood wall, a promenade of shipping containers is formed above service spaces below. The modular containers work on tracks,
into the Seaside Imaginarium, an architecture primarily for children. Inhabited like a beach, heated tunnels allow a fluid building programme, where children can remain in swimming costumes. The Imaginarium is playful yet educational, encompassing the surreal fun of the seaside within an engaging learning environment. Oversized buckets punctured with slides, multisensory rock pool spaces and beachball-pits, lead to bouncy ice-cream cones and towering seashells.
allowing them to adapt to weather and cultural events, as well as expanding the permanent architecture. An open-air lido sits within a purely structural framework, supporting an adaptable facade. The modular steel structure allows shipping container play pods and family beach huts to slot in, inspired by puzzle-shape box toys, an active play-frame. Changing facilities and amenities are built into the wall, leading 63
M E G A N S P O O R I N D U S T R I A L S E A S I D E
U N
I T I A
The unit would like to thank the department, its tutors, and all of its visiting critics, without whom the body of work presented in this document would not be possible. Edited by Sean Martin. Raluca Burlacu, Daniel Norman and Boyan Hristov
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