Studio 3.7 at Kingston University aims to survey, reuse, adapt, save, and transform buildings formerly categorised as waste and remould them into public spaces for the community to inhabit.
Our design thesis for the studio sees a pair of existing warehouses in the art district of Hackney Wick located in Queen’s Yard and transforms them into multifunctional studio spaces for the community.
The existing building has a steel portal frame embedded within masonry flank walls, creating a pitched roof. The frame is supported at either end by brick piers creating a double masonry gable on the North and Southside. To the front of the building, there is a large yard space currently used for car parking and a delivery drop off zone for the surrounding small businesses situated within Queen’s Yard.
Hackney Wick is currently being transformed through investments, with Queen’s Yard being at the centre, ultimately becoming a hub for culture, art and employment within the Hackney Wick Master plan.
Most buildings within the area house a place for artists to live and work with exceeding rents. However, these studios do not provide nearly enough space for those who are not graphic designers or photographers. Creatives that work with larger equipment such as print, textile, and ceramics do not have a space to work. This project aims to create a place where all creative professions are represented equally. Queen’s Yard will become a lively indoor/outdoor creative space for the community to work, hold exhibitions, and learn about artistic roles.
The proposal aims to reuse much of the existing structure and fabric of the original buildings paired with subtle adaptations to allow the building to become very public. The proposal raises the existing wall of the facade to directly connect the buildings to Queen’s Yard, allowing seamless public links to the workshops and the community of Hackney and the wider area.
“Multiple spaces under one roof”