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Sited within the yearly theme of 'Cultural Understanding,' this year, Year 1 MSci students have embarked on a journey of exploration and discovery in the London neighbourhood of Brixton. In response to the year building brief of London Local/e, the students were tasked with critically contemplating the essence of 'locality' and unraveling the spatial and urban characteristics that define a 'locale.'
Throughout the year, the students have studied and responded to a series of complex site conditions, addressing the intricate interplay of social, historical, technological, political and cultural narratives that shape the fabric of Brixton. With a firm understanding of the site and a unique and original personal lens, each student has crafted a building project that reflects their individual perspectives.
Guided by structural and digital skills classes, the projects showcase an ambitious investigation into locality and 'local elements' as key drivers of the project's programme and narrative. They offer a unique reflection on what it means to create an insertion in a part of the city of London that has experienced significant transformations in recent years.
Soft Pace utilises the concept of 'threshold' in the programmatic form, incorporating a bike repair room, pocket café, two L-shaped resting rooms and two public sharing spaces, to celebrate Brixton's bike culture.
This diagram demonstrates the visual occupancy following the hotspots path, with utilising the 1:1 occupation-shifting apparatus.
It achieves this through the use of bridge-like timber columns, offsetting columns on each floor and an array of glazed timber slats as the exterior skin, offering cyclists a journey of varying speeds.
A Sonic Reverie carefully traverses the realm of spatial audio experiences, where music and light flow through the apertures of the building.
This symphonic voyage in the heart of Brixton aims to provide a refuge and sensory buffer for visitors; a calm and welcoming environment for music.