The brief for this project was to take an existing 1920’s grain silo (Silo D) in Newham, London and give it a new use whilst considering circular economy.
For this proposal I began by researching into the local demographic of Newham and I found that it had one of the highest populations of homeless people and rough sleepers in London. Due to this I designed a homeless shelter called Beyond The Barge that provides accommodation, kitchen/cafe, counselling spaces and a workshop space for people between the ages of 18-30.
The wood workshop reuses the 1980’s Patera Building System by Hopkins as its’ structure and within it disused barge boats from the Thames are renovated in order to create affordable housing. These boats can then be sold on and the money received can be put back into the programme. The workshop gives residents a stable job and income, as well as offering them transferable skills that can be taken forward in their next steps after leaving the shelter. The shelters ground and first floor are open to the public in order for residents to make a connection with their local community and feel as though they have a safe space to socialise with the public.