MArch 6th Year Connor Randall
Tutor: Jayne Barlow
Individual Project
Fès School of Construction connor.randall2@bath.edu Located within the historic Fès Old Medina, the Fès school of construction seeks to preserve the skills and knowledge of traditional building craft in the city. The building acts as the heart for all restoration and construction work, gathering all of the craft expertise into one location. Using the city as a living classroom to put their teachings into practice, the Old Medina will gradually be restored by the apprentices, providing the perfect practical experience. This will then enable the densification strategy in the New City as part of the masterplan proposal to be carried out, utilising the lessons learnt from the Medina. The site provides workshop and studio spaces, classrooms and apprentice accommodation. Through teaching, apprentices and local architecture students learn about four key craft materials; woodwork, earth, metalwork and fabric. These are separated into four craft’ houses’, arranged around a central courtyard, with external circulation connecting them and to a fifth ‘house’ containing the theoretical teaching aspect. The scheme is arranged around the idea of a hierarchy of courtyards, which was then used to define the environmental, servicing, structural and tectonic strategies.
From top: View of Central Shared Courtyard, View along Central Arcade, Approach View, Axometric Model Photo, View across the Rooftop, Street Facing Elevation 200