from voids - to bridge - to building de s ig n deve l opme n t
THE ALTERNATIVE ARTS & C U LT U R E S C E N T R E
The complete footprint of the considered urban area is 5200m2
Looking after the well-being of asylum seekers and other Sheffield minorities through art , trade and education. An exploration of an exemplar typolog y when finding ways to resolve the Refugee Crisis through mindful architectural design. London Road is a mosaic of Kurdish barber shops, Japanese tea every void as an opportunity to claim the right to imagine the city as tural communication and integration. This project aims to cultivate
Name: Nala
rooms, Polish deli’s, and real ale pubs. It has been the home of those its own. A closer look into the era, proves that its terrace legacy has the humanitarian benefits of London Road’s existing architecture
Age: 23
displaced by the impact of war, colonialism and economic struggles been used as a white canvas on which kinetic structures of foreign and explores the possibilities of translating them into modern-day
Country of Origin: Somalia
for over two hundred years. The 19th century promise of prosperi- traditions are overlaid. Tangible boundaries between private and space making. It strives to highlight the key role of architects and
Former Occupation: Architecture Student
ty has attracted a savvy workforce from around the world, turning public, flexible terraced housing and human scale urban voids have urban planners in physically shaping a friendlier global community
Family: Brother - Asad, 9
South Sheffield into a multi-ethnic hub, which gravitates along the created a pre-condition for spaces to evolve with the users’ necessi- in a time of crisis. Its purpose is to give asylum seekers an oppor-
Status: Asylum seeker (pending application)
To be relocated Mill’s complex
To be demolished
5
the existing setting 3
Gallery circulation
:
9:30am
4 00am
4
Raised platform
tre
9
:
11 00am
A bridge-like structure
months ago with her baby brother Asad, 9. She is
cen
8
5:30pm
10
11
sc
ity
hopeful she will be granted refugee status soon so
ard
student accommodation
tow
high-rise apartments
Nala is a Somali refugee. She move to the UK two
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traffic artery of London Road. The self-proclaimed immigrant colony ties. Clusters of human scale spaces carry a sense security and invite tunity to nurture and showcase their identity beyond their legal seeps through the urban spaces of the industrial revolution, using contact with others, which is, ultimately, the essence of inter-cul- status, and create a refuge space for inter-cultural communication.
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student accommodation
the initial form
she can resume her studies. While she has no working or education rights at the moment, she can spend her days doing research in the AACC, narrate the exhibitions she is familiar with and look after her
circulation
9:00am
:00pm
9
t
ligh
brother. Although she doesn’t get paid for her help
:
7 30pm
circulation
in the facility, she is housed for free in the recently
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renovated mill complex below the AACC. In her free
2
time, Nala likes to cook and experiment with new foods and flavours, as well as play the guitar.
the site after demolition
8:45am
the proposed development
circulation
1
Her favourite thing about the AACC is that she gets to meet all kinds of people every day and hence build a support network of other minorities such as
legend
asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and the lo-
*This section drawing tracks the daily routine of Nala and Asad - both of them are marked in red throughout the diagram
cals very quickly. (This profile is completely fictional and is based on my dissertation research)
London Road
Nala
housing estate New access
Asad