GRADUATION VINTER 2020
Lydia Stott
GRADUATION PROJECT:
The ReMakery Emporium: A Community ReMake of St Andrew’s Dock, Hull
PROGRAMME:
Studio 3: New Beginnings
CONTACT:
+45 5037 9877
lydia.n.e.stott@gmail.com
lydnaomi
The ReMakery Emporium
The ReMakery Emporium questions how we as spatial practitioners can begin to tackle the growing epidemic of loneliness in our modern day lives. Looking specifically at one site in the city of Hull, England, the project explores ways that architecture and urban design could contribute to promoting social interaction and reducing isolation. Whilst focusing mainly on an intergenerational housing typology, several programs are proposed for creating somewhere a community could thrive.
St Andrew’s Dock, ‘Fish Dock’ in Hull, England, was, for nearly a century, home to a prosperous fishing industry. The site had a large trawler fleet and a buzzing fish market. The dock was a symbol of the city’s success and spirit. Following the industry’s collapse in the 1980s, the dock was left abandoned and its buildings left in disarray and disrepair. The site is now a haunt for illicit teenage activities and prostitution and the only thing left of the old market is a series of cobbles indicating where the market street once was.
Old photos of site
MAPPING
Since the loss of the fishing industry, Hull has struggled and faced devastating deprivation. The abandoned St Andrew’s dock is now symbolic of the city’s deprivation. There are over 10,000 16-25 year old’s out of work, more than double the UK average. Research has shown that unemployed youth would like to gain employment; however, their lack of skills makes this challenging. Interestingly, of the unemployed young people a disproportionate amount are female, more so than the rest of the UK. Studies suggest this is a result of the particularly high proportion of single mothers in the city, of which there are over 10,000. The other stand out issue is the large aging population. Over 65s are the fastest growing age group in Hull and across the UK. As can be seen in the red age distribution map, Hull ‘s older populations are relegated to the edge of the city and the suburbs. This is a reflection of the fact that there is now less of an age mix in UK neighbourhoods than at any time in the past. This separation is fostering stereotypes, misunderstanding, ageism, exclusion and loneliness. St Andrew’s dock is situated at the point these generations begin to divide.
The transformation of St Andrew’s Dock aims to become a prototype for how communities could be designed to reduce loneliness. At the heart of the project is the ReMakery Emporium, a repair market that aims to bring together different groups of the community.
My project sees the older generations in the city as an untapped resource, with spare time, knowledge and skills. The ReMakery Emporium proposes harnessing their potential by creating a repair and skills market, where the old man teaches the young. People bring their broken possessions to the market to be fixed and in the process can learn carpentry skills, textiles techniques, upholstery, how to fix a radio or a bike. This is a win-win situation, improving the skill set and employability of the youth while providing the older generation with a purpose and company, while also promoting a sustainable agenda of repair and re-use.
The site masterplan sees this vast space as somewhere to develop housing, around the market, which will be developed along the historic street with a series of boutiques and workshops. The dock itself, which has been temporarily filled in with mud and old bricks, will be imagined as a recreational green space with wildlife ponds and outdoor swimming baths. The extensive program aims to remake the community spirit once celebrated at the dock.
The Mother’s House
Within this large program, the project focuses on one of the intergenerational housing types; a mother’s house. The housing caters specifically for single mothers and elderly women, who would otherwise be living alone. By bringing these two groups together, there is an opportunity for mutual support and company. Sharing the household work takes the pressure off both the mother and the elderly woman. The elderly women can be better integrated into society and the mothers have the support they need to gain employment.
The housing is located along the street and raised for flood prevention reasons. It is strategically placed in front of vegetation to create a buffer from the road. Shared amenities and a common house are located on one side of the street, whilst the apartments and gardens are located facing the south and the view across the dock. Play spaces for the children are overlooked by access balconies into the apartments and directed to the south to be light and sunny.
The housing is constructed using resources from the derelict buildings on the site in conjunction with a DLT structure. The use of materiality creates a different atmosphere inside the street to the facades facing the dock and road. Painted steel and glazed bricks compliment the reclaimed brick and create a fun and engaging feeling when in the street. The reclaimed brick double façade facing the dock is more unified with the existing buildings and creates opportunities for greening. Virginia creepers would allow a variety of conditions as the seasons change, from greening to autumnal leaves and even bare vines creating a natural shading device for the south side of the housing.
The shape of the roof allows light to spill down and into the street while also creating a protected and cocooned atmosphere on the terraces.
The design follows the idea that an elderly woman and a single mother and her child / children would share a duplex. Similar house share schemes in the UK have been extremely successful, however they can sometimes fail as a result of the pressure put on that one particular relationship. Therefore, the design of the housing strives to create an interconnectedness between many different residents, preventing any residents feeling like they are solely responsible for or dependent on one other person. Relationships with strangers are unpredictable and therefore, the apartments must have enough flexibility to allow for privacy.
The apartments for this project are arranged around a core which contains bathrooms and services. This arrangement allows a series of sliding walls and folding doors to be incorporated. Apartments can be arranged as a series of independent rooms or one large open plan space, allowing day to day flexibility. These sliding walls also offer the opportunity to connect your living spaces to the neighboring duplex, allowing for co-living on many different levels. The balcony and outdoor spaces allow for a similar interconnectedness.
In addition, the design features a series of voids that can be closed off if desired but allow for a visual connection between the different floors and apartments.
