UG Architecture Studio 01 Undergraduate Architecture – Studios

Studio brief

This year we will consider the complex, shifting patterns of rural and urban life post-pandemic. We will be exploring the architectural possibilities to redefine and reactivate the towns on the edge of London as distinct places with their own sub-urban identity.

We will be developing two projects on a new public square. The Gathering Place will occupy an existing building and include a covered external space – a place for the daily activities of a small town, festivals and market days. The Town Hall is a new civic building – a space for celebrations, protests and meetings.

This year of Studio 01 will consider what architects can bring to the complex, shifting patterns of rural and urban life of a post-pandemic city.

The way we live and work has been transformed over the past 18 months. Forced into change by a global pandemic, our relationship with the city is being redefined. It is estimated that 416,000 people left London during the pandemic. Many settling in towns and villages within commuting distance of the city they have no intention of travelling to on a daily basis.

But what happens when offices reopen? What happens when lockdowns end for good? Can we predict swathes of people living in rural areas longing for urban conveniences? Drawn by the promise of more space, will people be drawn back to the urban vibrancy of London or take the opportunity to redefine and reactivate their new homes as distinct places with their own sub-urban identity?

We will be developing two projects – a Gathering Place and a Town Hall centred on a new public space in Lewes, East Sussex.

The Gathering Place

The Gathering Space will occupy an existing building and include a covered public space – a place for the everyday, small-scale and habitual activities of a small town as well as events that engage an entire community; music and theatre, religious festivals and market days.

The Town Hall

In places around Europe, the town hall has become both a centre of political activity and local identity, and a centre for the everyday cultural and social activity of a place. The brief will include a range of uses that will provides a new civic-scale intervention in the centre of our site.

We will use site research, photography, drawing and model making to develop the detailed architectural response. We will focus on developing a palette of materials, understanding the impact of their use and focusing on minimising the waste prevalent in the construction industry.