All work produced by Unit 14
Cover design by Charlie Harris
www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture
Copyright 2021
The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
leo@kauntzmoderini.com @leo.kauntz.moderini
London, UK
Fleet Gin is a distillery in Farringdon. The site for this project lies about 100m north of Farringdon station and is occupied by a trench hosting the metropolitan line. Enclosing this trench yields a new, highly constrained plot, requiring both bespoke technical solutions and a speculative spatial proposal. Located between Exmouth and Smithfield markets, the site is surrounded by lively, pedestrianised areas but lacks public space in its immediate context.
The proposal has three functions. First is the distillery with its stills, infusers, condensing columns and storage tanks, spanning from the basement to the first floor. Second is a bar, where visitors can engage with the distilling process and taste the gin. Third is a roof garden providing a new public space for Farringdon.
A lightweight structure with high thermal performance is achieved by engaging with the tectonics of stone and timber. All structure below ground consists of post-tensioned limestone. Prefabricated dowel-laminated birch and oak
forms a moment resisting primary frame above ground, borrowing early steel construction principles. The slab system iterates conventional glulam. Hardwood dowels take the place of adhesives. Veneers are separated to increase structural depth, reduce material use and host building services. Spaces are stack-ventilated, and the envelope consists of timber frames containing straw bales.
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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Charlie Harriswww.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture
Copyright 2021 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.
At the center of Unit 14’s academic exploration lies Buckminster Fuller’s ideal of the ‘The Comprehensive Designer’, a master-builder that follows Renaissance principles and a holistic approach. Fuller referred to this ideal of the designer as somebody who is capable of comprehending the ‘integrateable signifcance’ of specialised fndings and is able to realise and coordinate the commonwealth potentials of these discoveries while not disappearing into a career of expertise. Like Fuller, we are opportunists in search of new ideas and their benefts via architectural synthesis. As such Unit 14 is a test bed for exploration and innovation, examining the role of the architect in an environment of continuous change. We are in search of the new, leveraging technologies, workfows and modes of production seen in disciplines outside our own. We test ideas systematically by means of digital as well as physical drawings, models and prototypes. Our work evolves around technological speculation with a research-driven core, generating momentum through astute synthesis. Our propositions are ultimately made through the design of buildings and through the in-depth consideration of structural formation and tectonic. This, coupled with a strong research ethos, will generate new and unprecedented, one day viable and spectacular proposals. They will be beautiful because of their intelligence - extraordinary fndings and the artful integration of those into architecture.
The focus of this year’s work evolves around the notion of ‘Crafted Horizons’. The term aims to highlight the architect’s fundamental agency and core competency of the profession to anticipate the future as the result of the highest degree of synthesis of the observed underlying principles. Constructional logic, spatial innovation, typological organisation, environmental and structural performance are all negotiated in a highly iterative process driven by intense architectural investigation. Through the deep understanding of constructional principles, we will generate highly developed architectural systems of unencountered intensity where spatial organisation arises as a result of sets of mutual interactions. Observation as well as re-examination of past and contemporary civilisatory developments will enable us to project near future scenarios and position ourselves as avant-garde in the process of designing a comprehensive vision for the forthcoming. The projects will take shape as research based, imaginative architectural visions driven by speculation.
Thanks to: ALA, Boele Architects, Daab Design, DaeWha Kang Design DKFS, Heatherwick, Knippershelbig, NK3, RSHP, Seth Stein Architects, ZHA, Expedition Engineering.
