NTU Architecture Subject Group

Atelier 4

“Yes We Can”

If the COVID 19 Pandemic has taught us anything – it showed us that for a few brief glorious weeks that there was a different way of doing things. The traffic came to a halt, the skies cleared, the air felt clean, people got on their bikes, communities came together and the Government paid for it all!! There is a magic money tree after all.

Using the magic money tree and the assets and aspirations of the community, I want you to design a building that makes a difference. The building is to be partly funded by public subscription and crowd funding and will attempt to bridge the gaps in public, voluntary and community sector provision in the city. It will also provide a social space for everyone.

This building is to be an exemplar for community facilities in the UK, delivering a unique one-stop shop for citizens looking for advice, training, cultural and educational activities. The facility will also enable citizens to learn about and access a greener lifestyle, as it will incorporate a green transport hub including mass bicycle storage and electric bike and scooter hire and recharging facilities.

The project will also need to be an exemplary piece of sustainable design and achieve at least zero carbon in its sourcing of materials, construction and energy usage. The idea of the project is to provide a twenty-first century version of civic architecture that supports the widest possible community in Nottingham. The building can be a reimagined version of the Miner’s Welfare institutes, or a community version of the Royal Festival Hall in London, or a city version of the student’s union. The project will also build on the legacy of the great philanthropic building projects that provided better conditions for workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Port Sunlight, Bourneville, the Carnegie libraries, etc.

The building will be an exemplary carbon zero building that helps Nottingham meet its obligations to reduce carbon emissions by the year 2050. The building will be as sustainable as possible, incorporating high levels of insulation and green materials. The design of the building needs to understand and reflect the culture and history of Nottingham.

Design Lead Tutor
Steve Banks
Guest Reviewer
Paul Crosby
Technology Tutor
Je-Uk Kim
Theory Tutor
Andrew Langley

Projects