Tom Gardner Architecture Portfolio 2023 - Part II Architectural Assistant

Tom Gardner

Architecture Portfolio

CONTENTS

Concept Sketch of the Communal Living Centre within the derelict Bata Shoe Factory

Gardens in a Factory

Location: Bata Factory, East Tilbury, Essex. University: Royal College of Art

Bata-Ville and the Bata factory are a product of the industrial revolution, which permanently altered the human relationship with the earth; the move from agriculture to industry produced a “mechanistic” view of the world, superseding the idea of organic nature.

“Factories in a Garden” proposes the reuse of the Bata Factory in East Tilbury, under heritage protection, as the symbol of the celebration of the mono-industry & monoculture.

The approach to the design of space and community proposes a gradual transformation of the site into an educational centre for reconstituting relations between humans and nature which overcomes the separation introduced by modernity.

The campus will generate a broader learning community by teaching sustainable living strategies, remediation techniques and exploring nature through collaboration.

Architecturally, the project proposes the slow erosion of the grid across scales, from the strict land use division to the dissolution of the external walls in some buildings on site.

Masterplan

The Campus has three 5-storey factory buildings that provide learning facilities, sustainable living, and improved social infrastructure.

The 1-storey buildings, currently derelict, are converted into gardens (for both production and leisure) that serve as a pedagogical tool.

The site removes barriers to increase the porosity of the site, encouraging greater integration within its surrounding contexts.

New paths are created to encourage public engagement with the Campus and the surrounding ecologies.

The site’s phytoremediation strategies to remediate the soil and re-wild the site, opening up the possibility of future reuse depending on the community’s needs. The Campus is ideal for teaching sustainability and creating a community separate from the city’s corruption.

Illustration of the Proposed Bata Factory Site

Programme

Each five-storey building focuses on facilitating education and supplying social infrastructure to the community.

The Bata-Ville Heritage Centre provides a dedicated home for Bata Heritage Centre.

The Communal Living Centre teaches a more sustainable way of life, accommodating short & medium-term residencies.

The Innovation Centre will facilitate research to study the surrounding ecologies, monitor the effects of the remediation of the landscape, and reintroduce wildlife.

Illustration of the Proposed Bata Factory Site

Education Agenda (1/2)

The campus works alongside existing institutions (University of Essex and South Essex College), and local authorities (Forest School of East Tilbury Primary School) to facilitate learning at various levels.

For older students (college/university), there are opportunities for nature watching, monitoring, surveying, re-landscaping, Phytoremediation, removing built surfaces, replacing with nature, monitoring soil progress, and introducing wildlife to the campus.

Illustration of the Education Agenda relating to the Communal Living Centre

Education Agenda (2/2)

The Forest School curriculum for early education facilitates building dens, capturing and observing insects.

The campus encourages participation of the wider public through day visits, local interest and youth groups, communitybased projects (re-landscaping, Phytoremediation), and park walks.

The architectural interventions promote learning through individual curiosity and engagement, allowing people to learn at their own pace.

Illustration of the Education Agenda relating to the surrounding landscape

Landscape Strategy

The original Bata Grid system created optimum efficiency and flexibility, but unable to integrate with its surroundings. The project utilises an “erosion of the grid” through landscape reorientation to maximise daylighting & create less prescriptive paths.

The landscaping incorporates Phytoremediation as a pedagogical tool, using different plants to remediate soil based on contaminants.

The occupants will develop and monitor the landscape, studying its effects on local wildlife. The site’s natural civic square improves social infrastructure and encourages community networks, creating a new identity while re-engaging with the past.

Visual of the Proposed Landscaping and Community’s Interactions

Phytoremediation Strategy

As part of the Phytoremediation strategy, I have identified the factory’s three critical zones of pollutants and toxins. These are pesticides(from surrounding agriculture), asbestos (a large underground service tunnel), and heavy metals/ petroleum (past and current industry, as well as abandoned oil barrels).

To inform the landscape strategy and architecture, the proposal will include (but will not be limited to) the following plants for their respective zones.

Map of the proposed Phytoremediation strategy

Communal Living Centre

Altering the Bata Grid promotes interactions with the surrounding ecology; blurring boundaries between inside and outside.

Communal kitchens build a network of people with a common goal through cooking and eating, which becomes increasingly externalised by warmer weather, promoting the integration of human behaviours with nature.

Upper floors facilitate collaborative living, providing collaborative areas to study, and exchange information. For example, “conversation pits” refer to the social interactions surrounding a firepit, the “personal greenhouse” that encourages the care and cultivation of personal plants.

The perimeter consists of short-term accommodation with private study spaces.

Visual of the Communal Living Centre. Elements of the building are revealed to highlight key elements of the building & user engagements.

Communal Living Centre

Baffle Louvres control the thermal comfort and permeability of the space, acting as a continuous threshold to externalise activities to promote the nonprescriptiveness of human movement whilst also providing privacy.

The building has a single brick layer façade resulting in poor thermal performance. Therefore, the proposal contains an internal second skin, creating a thermal envelope for increased climatic comfort.

Key Architectural Interventions

This page demonstrates a series of key architectural interventions within the Communal Living Centre.

For example, “conversation pits” refer to the social interactions surrounding a firepit, the “personal greenhouse” encourages the care and cultivation of personal plants, and the “observation block”, a breakout provides views of the surrounding ecology.

The Treehouse

Location: Warren Farm, East Sussex

Firm: CAUKIN Studio (Volunteer)

This project is an excellent way for groups of all ages to learn about the natural landscape around them. Longbridge and Cherry Wood Adventures are partners in this effort and are currently running educational sessions at the farm.

The tree house provides additional outdoor education and social spaces, emphasising a connection to nature, such as the “Bird Box” and “Watch Tower”.

The design was inspired by the children’s ideas within the Forest School through organised workshops. Through these workshops, we encouraged their participation by introducing them to various tools whilst making parts of the Treehouse.

Throughout the construction of this project, I was heavily involved in the site layout & foundation buildup, constructing structural elements, as well as the detailing and joinery.

Reclaimed materials from the surrounding farms and old agricultural buildings was used in the project to explore how we can use agricultural waste for construction.

Original Photography - Front view of the Treehouse.

Original Photography - Close-up shots of the Treehouse

Original Photography Children and parents using the Treehouse at the Opening Ceremony

Remnants of a Separation

Location: Aleppo, Syria

Project Type: Solo Competition Project

It is post-war Aleppo. Syrians are starting to return to their homes. They remember a city vibrant with heritage and culture but have arrived to see a city that suffered greatly from corruption, bombing, and communal chaos during the conflict. It is a broken place that needs reconstruction to bring the region together.

The challenge is to create memory infused architecture to be served for and by the citizens of Aleppo.

The solution is a Caravanserai to help Syrians transition to a permanent home, incorporating traditional markets (Souq) and leisure activities (shopping, storytelling, and debates) to kick start the building of communities.

Visual Manifesto - “Remnants of a Separation” outlines a plan for post-war Aleppo. It is harnessing illustration to unfold a narrative of a future post-war Aleppo through three different future points.

Typologies Study

An archaeology of traditional architectural language within Syria that interweaves through “Remnants of a Separation” invoking memories as a form of celebration, delivering a new architectural vernacular.

Syrian typologies study

Walkthrough of the Caravanserai

The Caravanserai arranged in a chronological progression from post-war to twenty years post conflict.

Ruins of the conflict are repurposed in public gardens, reworking the past.

Post-Conflict Syria

The masterplan demonstrates a twentyyear post-conflict Syria surrounding the Caravanserai.

The Caravanserai’s Souq expands beyond the confines of the building.

Syrians have returned to their new homes; communities are established with industry and trade flourishing.

Approaching the Caravanserai A conceptual visual showing the transition over time in Aleppo

Masterplan 20 years of post-conflict Syria

Establishing the Frontier

Location: Aylesbury Estate, London, England University: Royal College of Art

London has been experiencing a significant rise in housing costs since the late 1990s, leading to the displacement of low-income tenants. It’s widely believed that publicly-owned council estates are one of the last remaining frontiers for gentrification in London.

Unfortunately, it’s the poor and working-class citizens who are being pushed out of these thriving cities. Rather than halting the creation of wealth, we need to work towards making our economies more inclusive and encompassing.

Despite the abundance of anti-gentrification activism, these efforts and communities have been relatively isolated and hidden from the public eye. To address this issue, the establishment of a semi-temporary antiinstitution, such as “Establishing the Frontier”, can serve as a central hub for gentrification frontiers in London.

The aim is to provide a physical platform for activists, aid in the resistance to gentrification, create a network of knowledge exchange through affected communities, and remove the hierarchy between authorities and corporations with residents by enabling democratic discussion between all parties involved.

Anti-gentrification Activists

This image demonstrates Antigentrification activists within the MVRDV’s VPro building, acting as an Anti-Institution, showcasing the diverse forms of resistance necessary to combat gentrification and its detrimental effects on low-income communities.

The image references past successful resistances such as the Heygate Estate, to propose new methods to address previous shortcomings in order to shape a future that is both inclusive and equitable for all.

Illustration of Anti-Gentrification activists occupying MVRDV’s VPro building

Construction Methodology

This axonometric illustration depicts the intricate construction process of the building and emphasises the crucial involvement of the public.

As the construction process begins, skilled workers and specialised machinery will be necessary due to the immense scale of the project. However, as time progresses, the public will gradually increase their participation in the process, playing a vital role in developing the complexity, density, and activity of the building.

Conceptual axonometric demonstrating the key construction stages of the Frontier

Programme

Within this proposal, the Frontier occupies an available site next to the Aylesbury Estate. One of the largest Council Housing Estates in Europe, currrently undergoing aggressive Urban Renewal projects.

Axonometric of the Frontier situated within the Aylesbury Estate

Programme

The following image depicts the ground floor plan at its peak activity, demonstrating it’s required program (specifically) for the Estate:

Forum, Physical Archive and Archive exchange - Forms the entrance, the hub to gain and exchange knowledge. Helps to expand and form new communities.

Physical Workshop, Building design strategy classes Self-sufficiency, education and transferring of knowledge. Maintain their Estate to prevent Local Authorities leaving it in disrepair and enforce demolition.

Online Archive, Writing/ publishing offices and anti-gentrification exhibition space - Enables the self-expression of the community, control the narrative and gain exposure of the issues to the wider public.

Life Surrounding the Perimeter

This image demonstrates the daily life surrounding the perimeter of the Frontier, both internally and externally.

It depicts a variety of crucial interactions that both forms and strengthens the community, as well as demonstrating the beginnings of discussions with Local Authorities and Corporations.

Illustration depicting key moments surrounding the proposal

Post-Activism of the Frontier

This image depicts the aftermath of an Anti-Gentrification protest, the moment the Frontier is at its most active.

Residents and activists gather to meet in the courtyard, celebrating a succesfful post-protest.