Home Export Scheme, Docking Station 10
Hannah Middleton, Oxford Brookes, Year 3.
The Home Export Scheme, Docking Station Ten, Walbrook Wharf was conceived under the idea of helping to reduce the current housing crisis in the UK with a particular focus on the issue in London who currently has the task of providing 3000 new homes. House prices are continuing to rise to extortionate amounts that mean people can no longer afford to buy a home but meanwhile land prices across London are staying at a more affordable prices. With then there being an 80% increase in the number of people signing up for the self-build register it lead to a project that had a focus on helping people own a home through self-building.
You mentioned in our discussion that your brief was to utilise the research from your semester one project, what did you explore in your first semester?
This brief resonated from what I covered in my semester one projects. My semester one project briefs were an expansion on my dissertation topic that looked at isolation within UK social housing tower blocks. This expanded to first looking at the process of applying for social housing in the UK which unearthed that the process is long and tedious. This continued to then looking at comparing civic and domestic and their relationship within the Guildhall, London. Currently within the social housing application process there is very little connection between the two. All this lead to my final first semester building being a proposal for a social housing application hub called ‘The Social Housing Clock’ where the whole social housing application could happen in one place and be more efficient to both the civic and public members that are integral to the process being completed. As the issue of housing in the UK isn’t small this allowed my second semester project to delve into another aspect of the issue.
Your graphic presentation is very distinct, is there anything or anybody in particular that influences your style?
Over the three years at Oxford Brookes I have tried to hone my style by trying various techniques. My style isn’t something I would say is influenced by a specific person or thing but through trial and error of finding what works best for me. Currently that style is combining hand drawing and CAD drawing and keeping things simple.
It is clear that model-making is a key component in your design process, and your models mimic that of your visual style, do you feel model-making is an essential part of the design process?
Model making to me is an important part of the process. I learnt in second year how much modelling physically and in a sketch-like manner can force to keep changing and redesigning. In this project we started off with doing 1:200 sketch models that we had to change and tweak between each tutorial before starting to draw in plan and section. The final model at 1:100 allowed me to look at the whole proposal near the end of the process but still gave chance to adjust and change moments within the proposal.
The project looks to provide a response to London’s housing crisis through the self-build process, how did your scheme provide an opportunity for self-build projects to take place?
My scheme provides opportunity for self-build projects to occur through proposing a new process for buying and selling land in the City of London or land that is owned by the City of London Corporation. The proposal is to have all available land, whether that be permanent or temporary, to be exhibited in a public estate agents located on the site. This provides a space where the council can advertise their own land and give all the other places one can look for land an opportunity to be seen. The second part of the proposal is to have all land available only to be sold at auction which would also occur on site. By doing this it gives all a fair chance in the buying process as the auctions would only be at specific times of the week. The final part of the proposal is that of a court room system where the person selling and the person buying sign a contract of recognition of the sale. The three stages of this new proposal form three key spaces on site and act also as expo spaces for the new system and for everyday housing materials.
If you could offer one piece of advice to our architecture student followers what would it be?
The one piece of advice I could offer to The Architecture Student Blog followers is see everything as a learning experience and something you can take something from whether that be a tutorial, a crit, a lecture, testing out a new way of rendering, modelling or drawing. By doing this you learn faster what your strengths are and you keep expanding on your style and who you want to be as a future architect.
Finally, where can people find out more about your project?
You can find more out about my project on my Instagram account @year.of.arch
My work will also be displayed in the Oxford Brookes Architecture End of Year Show that is held at Oxford Brookes University 26th May – 6th June 2018 and also at the London Exhibition the university organises that opens 19th Jun