Gillingham's Community Hub
Module:
Design 4A/4B
Year:
2018-19 - Fourth Year
Location:
Gillingham, Kent
Unit 3 was guided by making and the challenging of modes of thinking in order to widen our architectural tool kits. In my fourth year of my degree, the unit focussed on the understandings of context and territories using the theme of Islands, in its deepest sense, with the exploration of what it means metaphorically, spatially and socially.
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The main driver of the works produced this year focussed on placing context / site / location / place topographies. The locations of this years observations took place in the Medway town of Gillingham.
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The programme consisted of a series of smaller takes which were used to influence the narrative and focus of observation, recording and communicating. These tasks completed in the autumn term aimed to launch a collection of responsive works that introduce 'public conversations' to aid our individual designs for the final design project.
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Acknowledging the existing social affluence of the Medway town of Gillingham, the community led centre aims to create a central hub for social activity. Using a cinema as a tool to attract groups of all ages, it would allow a new activity to thrive within the centre of the town, as well as celebrating the existing social organisations within.
Breaking the building into elements of function differ ent for ms can be used to link functions together. This would allow each of the different uses to be contained within their own for m. Taking the existing residential properties, this would allow the main existing building on the high street frontage to be used.
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The Cinema, deliberately positioned to the back of the building. Even though it acts as the main social draw, the other gathering spaces inside the building would be far mor e important in aiding social richness to the community.
Interventions can be explored to the main High Street building. In or der to make the existing building attract and draw mor e people in, mor e of a link with the existing high street would be important to the design of the
whole project .
