All work produced by Unit 14
Cover design by Charlie Harris
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture
Copyright 2025
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.
LLondon, UK -
ondon City Freeport is a project rooted in the past and shaped by the present to prepare for the future. The UK, once the heart of the Industrial Revolution, has since the Second World War transitioned from a production-based economy to one focused on professional and financial services. This rapid deindustrialisation has left the British economy increasingly reliant on imports and global stability for food, energy, and essential technologies.
Freeports—special economic zones where goods can move without tariffs or taxes—are now being introduced across the UK with cross-party support. London City Airport and its surrounding docklands are underutilised assets. This project proposes integrating the airport into a wider zone for advanced manufacturing and logistics, making it a site of national economic importance rather than a commuter link for finance professionals.
London City Freeport would use existing air, rail, road, and maritime links to support a new mixeduse district combining housing, green space, and next-generation factories. It is not a vision of generic industrial sheds, but a bold model of social-industrial architecture. The aim is to create a testbed for reindustrialisation—one that reintroduces high-value production into urban life while generating skilled jobs and long-term resilience for the UK economy.
Broch Mousa is possibly the best preserved Broch in Scotland, it is found on the island of Mousa in the Shetland. Over 13 meters tall it has been standing since 300BC. The double layered dry stone walls once house a spiral wooden stair to a second floor.
Scottish Castles, Louis Kahn, servants and the served
Louis Kahn had a great love for Scottish castles and used them as archetypal example of served and servant spaces. Conlongon Castle in Dumfies is the orthogonal descendant of the ancient Brochs with the servant spaces housed in the walls of the central served spaces
“The Scottish Castle, Thick, thick walls. Little opening to the enemy. Splayed inwardly to the occupant. A place to read, a place to sew.... Places for the bed, for the stair.... Sunlight. Fairy Tale.”
The concept of ‘served and servant’ is found throughout the British Isles, Trim castle in Ireland is example of how the hierarchy cant be expanded ad infinitum in either direction; the servants can have their own servants and the served may in turn serve lager more important spaces. Trim Castle, Ireland
Orford Castle, Great Britain
King Henry II commissioned Orford Castle between 1165 and 1173. The polygonal keep is unique in England with its three turrets and central core. This morphology express the multiple served and servant spaces found on each floor of the interior.
Jorn Utzon designed and built Can Lis in 1973 in Mallorca. Locally sourced sandstone blocks are used to build a series of pavilions with sea facing opening and connecting corridors.
The Twelve Angle Stone in Cuzco is the most famous example of Incan carved stone. It fits perfectly into its 11 surrounding stones in the foundations of what is now the home of the Archbishop of Cuzco. Many theories still surround how the stones were cut.
Articulations of Conceptual Investigations
3. Rationalisation of profiles into a set 8 interrelated geometries.
By changing the proportions of the families of stone blocks the way they nest together can create architectural scenes of vastly different character. All three are variations on geometry produced with by a 3x3 guide grid.
By Webb Yates engineers exhibited at
the Royal Academy. By threading wires through a series of stone blocks and tensioning them post assembly the compressive forces on the bottom of the are taken by the stone and the tensile forces are taken by the wires along the top of the axis.
De-Industrial Society and its Consequences
In the UK post war de-industrialization saw the beginning of the end of the coal, steel, shipbuilding and textiles industries, major reasons were industrial outsourcing and technological changes. This eventually resulted in mass unemployment and in formerly industrial areas, often leading to increase in crime and generalised urban decay. Government reduction in subsidies and pushes toward privatisation increased industrial closures. The transition toward financial services and cultural industries could match the number of people who no longer had a job. Industries lost in this economic metamorphoses include:
Post Industrial Britain
In this time former industrial sites and other residential area were transformed/regenerated into new residential/mixed use developments. Sometime this resulted in a Barbican or Alexandra Road, more often these estates were un-iconic mid rise brutalist development of variable build quality.
Now after the first quarter of the 21st century, the UK has far lower industrial manufacturing output compared to other regional powers both European and Global. Decades of de-industrialisation has led to a reliance on imports and little investment in advanced manufacturing, further shrinking the Uks industrial base. Economies such as Germany have embraced high-tech fabrication industries where the UK has overwhelming switched to office jobs and professional services.
In the 2020s, the UK’s de-industrialization has led to economic vulnerabilities compared to nations like Germany, the USA, BRICS, and China. Germany’s sustained investment in advanced manufacturing underpins its robust export economy. The USA retains global industrial leadership through innovation and reshoring efforts. China dominates mass production, while BRICS nations expand industrial capacity. The UK, focused on services, faces trade deficits and reduced global competitiveness. This industrial imbalance limits economic resilience amid global supply chain challenges that are only set to get worth with regional wars such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The new urban residential developments on former industrial land in London somewhat fixes the hygiene and build quality problems of the old brutalist estates yet often exacerbate socio economic problems by neglecting affordability and the social needs of local communities. The aesthetic qualities of these new builds are often not much better than the tower blocks they replace.
Many of these new developments are taking place in the most immediate physical example of the UKs de-industrialisation, the London Docklands. The old shipping berths and docks are still existing yet often shallow, dirty and unutilised.
Early Development: 1600 - 1700
The historical London port mostly consisted of private docks and open wharves along the river. As global trade expanded congestion an inefficiencies increased. To remedy this the Duke of Bedford build what is now the Greenland Dock in 1696.
Expansion of Enclosed Docks: 1800
More enclosed docks were built throughout the 19th Century, these include the West India and East India Docks in 1802 and 1806, the London Docks in 1805 and later St Katharines Docks in 1828.
Rise of the Royal Docks: 1855 - 1880s
In 1855 the Royal Victoria Dock opened in 1855, the first docks specifically designed for steamships including a direct rail connection. In 1880 the Royal Albert Dock was built with deeper water facilities.
Technological Developments: 1885 - 1920s
Operations were slowly modernised with mechanical cranes, hydraulic power and refrigeration for produce. The George V Dock was added to the Royal Docks in 1921 to cater to increased trade demands.
Decline of London Docks: 1945
With the sudden rise of containerisation (requiring large facilities than those available in London), shifting trade patterns and the opening of Tilbury further down the Thames, the London Docks experienced significant decline.
Closure of the London Docks: 1960s-1980s
In the 1960s the West India Docks were first to close, quickly followed by the other inner city docks. The Royal Docks spun down operations in 1981, ending centuries of industrial transport in the Docklands
Docklands Redevelopment Plans: 1981
In 1981 the London Docklands Development Corporation was established to initiate regeneration of the area. Plans focused on residential, commercial, mixed used and leisure space while improving local transport infrastructure.
Early Regeneration: 1980s-1990s
The DLR and London City Airport both opened in 1987
Further Development: 2000s
New mixed use developments were built around the old Albert and Victoria Docks culminating in the Excel and the expansion of London City Airport.
Current Redevelopment: 2010s-Present
The emirates cable car opened in 2012, the North shore of the Royal Albert Dock was slated for full redevelopment but failed in the late 2010s.
Freeports can be used to kick start the Re-Industrialization of the British economy with streamlined customs processes, tax incentives, and reduced import tariffs to attract manufacturing investment from both home and abroad. The plan to institute multiple new freeports has passed through multiple governments with continued (but varying levels of) support. These are all current or planned freeports in the UK.
Oct 2023 paper on re-industrialisation
Freeports were originally a Tory plan
Labour has scaled back yet still plans on continuing their expansion.
The government has been actively exploring increased industrialization and is directly boosting into the aerospace industry. Aerospace, Automotives and Computer parts are among the main areas of manufacturing set to make a comeback.
May 2024 academic paper
Aerospace also receiving investment
One of the main sectors set to grow is wafer fab and semi conductors/
Redeveloped:
Redeveloped:
Redeveloped:
Passenger numbers reached 5 million in 2019, the runway and terminal were also given upgrades.
In 2020 the airport closed due to Covid-19 and passenger numbers plummeted. 2031 plans to expand to 9 million passengers a year were put in doubt.
To be the petri dish for UK re-industrialization, the airport was developed into a freeport for high value add manufacturing, research and development as well as cultural and civic functions.
East Area: 95,000m2
Location: UK
South Area: 21,000m2
Location: UK
Boeing Tianjin
Area: 60,000m2
Location: China
Noble Automotive
Area: 9,000m2
Location: UK
Ford Dagenham
Area: 170,000m2
Location: UK
Tesla New York & Nevada
Area: 98,000m2 - 400,000 m2
Location: US
The general points of entry and exit will be the basis of the urban-industrial master plan.
The airfield is will be re-organised primarily for delivery flights of aircraft fabricated on site and will not see as many landing
Programme, Light and Urban Morphology
Allocating the general industiral areas using existing geometry, entry and exit points, and transport links
7. Light and Heavy rail transport for public use and cargo respectively
8. Defined industrial base with transportation and circulation.
Sketch defining Urban Fabric of Public Realm
Massing Varaition and Civic Character
Luxury Residential
General Residential
Luxury Offices/HQs
General Offices
Recreational
Hospitality
Cultural
Commercial & Retail
Small Factories, Training Centres, R&D
Mega Factory
Luxury Residential
General Residential
Luxury Offices/HQs
General Offices
Hospitality
Recreational Cultural
Commercial & Retail
Small Factories, Training Centres, R&D
Mega Factory
Luxury Residential
General Residential
Luxury Offices/HQs
General Offices
Hospitality
Recreational Cultural
Commercial & Retail
Small Factories, Training Centres, R&D
Mega Factory
Luxury Residential
General Residential
Luxury Offices/HQs
General Offices
Hospitality
Recreational Cultural
Commercial & Retail
Small Factories, Training Centres, R&D
Mega Factory
Luxury Residential
General Residential
Luxury Offices/HQs
General Offices
Hospitality
Recreational Cultural
Commercial & Retail
Small Factories, Training Centres, R&D
Mega Factory
Surplus Views, Earlier Explorations
All work produced by Unit 14
Cover design by Charlie Harrishttps://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture
Copyright 2025 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.
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 significance’ of specialised findings 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 benefits 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, workflows 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 findings and the artful integration of those into architecture.
The focus of this year’s work evolves around the intrinsic chance and professional desire for creative and systematic investigation. The explorative and intellectual process of iterative learning through informed experiment, catalysed by potent discoveries and ultimately seeking an architectural application. An intensely investigative approach enables 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 underpinned by strong research. 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 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 civilisational 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: ARUP, DKFS.io, Foster+Partners, KLASKA LTD, Populous, RSH+P, Seth Stein Architects, ZHA, knippershelbig
