Moyes Studios, Broadwater Farm Estate
Year 3: BA Architecture at Central St. Martins 2023/24
The 2023/24 Studio 10 Brief titled, ‘The Tenant’, encouraged us to explore how we can re-imagine housing and public spaces to support social solidarity and living in common. We were asked to explore issues on site recognised by residents and users. This exploration would lead us to produce a community-led intervention on the site of Broadwater Farm Estate, Haringey. From my site and ethnographic research I found that everyone I spoke to highlighted that a space for young people to get together should a priority for the estate moving forward. After losing my Uncle at the beginning of the academic year I wanted to include him as much as possible throughout my portfolio to deal with my grief. My Uncle had a strong connection with music so when I saw this program connected to the site I knew I had to progress with it. His wall murals are a key inspiration for the form of my design and influenced the colour scheme of the portfolio. This building will be a space for the Youth to experience, experiment and express themselves through music. With this project as a personal outlet for my grief, I want the space to act as a creative outlet for the youth to help them with any mental struggles they might be facing. The target user group is 16-20 year olds – post GCSE’s to give them opportunities to see music as a future. The building will have a variety of spaces including a recording studio, both small and large rehearsal rooms, an IT suite, social spaces and performance stages.
I initially wanted to make this a space for people to safely rebuild their social skills after the COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone’s mental well-being. However, after speaking to Clasford Stirling, long term resident, he touched on the fact that the trauma people suffer with on site doesn’t come from the pandemic but from the events that happened on site in the 1980’s and from the negative reputation Broadwater Farm Estate has. Clasford spoke on the importance to “encourage to empower the community” to use Broadwater Farm Estate as a platform for people to progress and not be pulled down by its reputation. This proposal will support the young people of Broadwater Farm Estate to see music as a future career path, aiding the break down of the bad stereotype around the site.
Method
- Sketch Modelling
- ProCreate
- Adobe Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator
- AutoCAD
- SketchUp
- Enscape