WALKING DOWN VICTORIA STREET WHILE VIEWING THE BELVEDERE TOWER

-Belvedere Tower
A symbolic abstraction from a watching tower. In the project of ‘wellbeing’, it has been ‘transformed’ into a belvedere tower and becomes a part of perimeter wall.

-Perimeter Wall
A retained part of perimeter wall which has been interpreted in a different meaning - a heritage with its historical constrain turns into a part of memory machine, an architectural redemption for remembering. And it composes a new definition of privacy and security with the ‘watching tower’ at the end of it.

PUBLIC - WALKING THROUGH OLD ROOFSCAPE, LOOKING TO ARCADE PILOTIS

“Even ‘flowing space’ has implied being outside when inside, and inside when outside, rather than both at the same time. Such manifestations of articulation and clarity are foreign to an architecture of complexity and contradiction, which tends to include ‘both-and rather than exclude’ either-or.”
-Venturi Robert, “Complexity and contradiction in architecture”

NORTHWEST BIRDVIEW IN SUNSHOWER

A key idea of the masterplan is to create spaces that allow views out to Shrewsbury. The image shows one of the shared spaces that looks over the Market Hall clock tower.

PUBLIC - LOGGIA VIEW BRIDGE THROUGH A WING WITH THE CELLS ALONGSIDE

Architectural Uncanny, Whistling In The Dark While Walking Towards The Light!

“The contrast between a secure and homely interior and the fearful invasion of an alien presence...At the heart of anxiety provoked by such alien presences was a fundamental insecurity: that of a newly established class, not quite at home in its own home.

The uncanny habit of history to repeat itself, to return at unexpected and unwanted moments; the stubborn resistance of nature to the assimilation of human attributes and its tragic propensity to inorganic isolation, seemed, for many, to confirm the impossibility of ‘living comfortably’ in the world.”
-Anthony Vidler, “The architectural uncanny: essays in the modern unhomely”

PUBLIC - VIEW BRIDGE THROUGH A WING IN SUNSHOWER

How Deep The Light Could Reach Into A Building!

“Yet such a spatial paradigm was, as Foucault pointed out, constructed out of an initial fear, the fear of Enlightenment in the face of ‘darkened spaces, of the pall of gloom which prevents the full visibility of things, men and truths.’”
-Anthony Vidler, “The architectural uncanny: essays in the modern unhomely”

PUBLIC - VIEW FROM PROPOSED PARK,
LOOKING TO DIAGONAL CUT THROUGH FORMER MALE CELLS AT A WING

“Quintillian says, ‘when we return to a place after a considerable absence, we do not merely recognize the place itself, but remember things that we did there,’ it is possible to use this property of places to construct a kind of memory machine.”
-Anthony Vidler, “The architectural uncanny: essays in the modern unhomely”

The Voyage

Tobi Sobowale and Niall Coleman

Render of the Charles Darwin Museum situated in the East Wing. The image depicts the meandering walkway, archival exhibits, partial glazed roof and double-height space

The Voyage

Tobi Sobowale and Niall Coleman

1:100 Design showing the greenhouse sitting within the North Wing and is connected to the outdoor pavilion in the courtyard.

The walkway tapers over the existing building to highlight it as an independent structure, that sits apart from the library building

The Voyage

Niall Coleman and Tobi Sobowale

Outdoor Events Space in Courtyard - The staircase emphasises the courtyard as a key location. The council liked how this space - that is currently unused - has been transformed and integrated with the main building. It encourages visitors to get up close to the building and appreciate it from a new perspective.

Wyle Cop Community Hub

Tobi Sobowale and Niall Coleman

A playful design that encourages better well-being through design and integration of the community. Our home is designed to tackle the increasing rate of anxiety amongst young people in Shrewsbury. The 7 townhouses are designed for young people who suffer from anxiety and their families but it is not exclusive to them. The site is located on the bank of the River Severn, with flooding being a major concern, residential programmes are placed above the ground floor. Through a series of communal spaces, a shared roof garden, facing front doors and balconies, a home is created that encourages interaction between residents and the wider community. Nature, daylight and flexible spaces were used as tools to promote a healthier well-being, furthering the idea of the home as a safe haven

Approach: The following image shows the approach to the Old Town of Shrewsbury through the Bendy Bridge.

North-West elevation of the new library units.

Masterplan | Thesis: At Shrewsbury, the way what town and building are mediated is by a sophisticated manipulation of fragments. The west gate of the medieval town Shrewsbury became fragmented after 1960s urban clearance. Instead of viewing the fragments needed rectification, this project looked in and exacerbated these differences, by learning from these 'anonymous' fragments and the demolished fabric to create a series of defined artifacts with scripted characters. Meanwhile, applying ideal spaces to both open space and figures to form a taxonomy of parts, making the town as a stage and backdrop for theatrical life. The project is to find the missing forms, to reinterpret Shrewsbury and to regenerate Shrewsbury, to bridge the old and the new, and to create the dialogue with the existing, achieving continuity and renewal in architecture.

The figures define the square; the openings tell plot

Curtain House | Corner

Curtain House | The curtain reveals the stage; the square becomes the seating area

Curtain House | Light cube on the film studio

Shrewsbury Gateway | View from the Welsh Bridge

Making Shrewsbury | Collective Forms | Learning from the vernacular and urban artifacts and inspired by the films

Methodology | Town of Elevation |Town of Fragments | The west gate of the mediaeval town Shrewsbury became fragmented after 1960s urban clearance. Instead of viewing the fragments needed rectification, this project looked in and exacerbated these differences, by learning from these 'anonymous' fragments and the demolished fabric to create a series of defined artifacts with scripted characters.

Celebrating Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Film Festival | Root the Ritual into the Physical Forms | Celebrate the Temporal in the Permanent

SECTIONS

Model produced during lockdown out of coloured card and textured foam base. It is a quick experiment to test the proposed geometries for the new facade of the former Darwin Shopping Centre. The aim was to portray the triangular geometries of Shrewsbury’s traditional Tudor architecture in a contemporary way.

Understanding Shrewsbury's roofscape //

An analysis of the roof profiles surrounding the site and how the Library will respond to them whilst framing the views of surrounding urban artefacts.

The Desire Path - An alternative journey from Frankwell Footbridge to the High Street through the 70 steps. The path has been carved through the former Riverside and Darwin Shopping Centres to bring back a sense of place and improve the public realm through the site.

From concept to proposal //

Using a 1:50 model to understand the atmospheric qualities of the Libraries Mayoral Parlour.

Environmental diagram //

The Library strategically takes light through to the interiors to combat the lack of light beneath the ground.

Engaging with the town //

The book depository kiosk sits within a redundant plot in the Town centre. The form and materiality emulates the pitched roofs and board-formed concrete of the library. Inside, two mirrors placed at 45° reveal an image of the library when in the Town centre to deposit books.

View towards St Mary's Church and the historical 70 steps from the proposed university facilities located in the former Darwin Shopping Centre.

WIP image //

The image illustrates the flow of people from the town into the New Library after completing the first stage of the design process.

Exploring how water influences the thresholds into buildings.

Spatial organisation

Shared living- The sketch explores the spaces that can be shared without compromising privacy.

Sketch // A collection of key garden elements for the Quarry. Creating a visual 'language' for details to look out for in the garden.

Concept image // The Garden Museum complex is organised around a series of enclosures to accommodate the program. The glasshouse is positioned on the border between private and public functions; the location provides access to the service courtyard as well as being public facing.

Masterplan // The proposal features permanent and temporary elements as well as additions to the landscape of the Quarry. It includes a pavilion offering views to river Severn and a Garden Museum to showcase Shrewsbury's horticultural heritage.

PS2 | Shrewsbury Library | Sketch section indicating proposed circulation atrium and structural alterations to ground floor slab of the library building, as well as changes to Rigg's Hall.

PS2 | Shrewsbury Library | Early massing model of proposed scheme.

PS1 | The Wyle Cop | Visual looking into a central courtyard.

PS1 | The Wyle Cop | Sketch ground floor plan of typical house typology with a courtyard.

PS1 | The Wyle Cop | A masterplan sketch of housing development for elderly.

This Work In Progress model shows the seamless relationship between landscape and architecture. The stepping of the topography reference the rising water levels of Shrewsbury’s future predicted flood risk.

A radical remodelling of Shrewsbury’s recreational park (The Quarry) into a public place that invites, inspires and influences action against Climate change. It will accommodate large gatherings of hundreds of people who assemble to demonstrate, discuss and learn about the actions that need to take place. This will provide a platform for climate change activists to reach out to the wider community and ground an identity in Shrewsbury. The hub will need to engage with artists, performers, events and markets as it is essential for it to become a place of culture, identity and expression; one that forbids oppression and a homogenous society. We need energy, activism, and rebellion to fight for our future. With this at the forefront of design, I aim to create stimulating and narrative architecture that stresses the gravity of our global environmental crisis.

View to the square from the library cafe shows the atmosphere that I aim to create.

This model shows how the library and office buildings sit within the wider Shrewsbury landscape. A model is still in process and will later show wider area of the park.

1:50 corner model of library building. This model shows the interaction between the library spaces and public square in between the buildings

The 8 spaces are unseen interior rooms, hidden within the existing urban fabric of the shopping centres. They reveal themselves only by their protruding roofs, which engage in a dialogue between the church spires and market hall clock tower of the Shrewsbury skyline.

8 sunken spaces are injected into the hearts of these neglected buildings, each with their own spatial character and relevant functional definition. During times of high water they are flood basins, protecting the town from the frequent flooding of the nearby River Severn. During dry times they are basketball courts, theatres, gardens, playgrounds and art spaces.

Due to the rise of online shopping and closing of major retail stores, high streets across the UK are slowly dying. In order to extend the life span of the 3 shopping centres in Shrewsbury, the buildings are to be converted into a series of rational public spaces that can hold a variety of uses, and link together into one memorable experience.

'The Gap' car park located between the Pride Hill, Charles Darwin & Riverside Shopping Centres is currently an under-used area. It holds the potential to become a centre for public performances, at the heart of these three buildings.

The Riverside Mall is currently a neglected space on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, awaiting demolition. The image above provokes ideas about how the Riverside Mall could be reinterpreted to become a valuable space for the town of Shrewsbury.

Link corridor - Linking two buildings of different styles with a link corridor that ties in with both buildings with a conscious use of materials. The link corridor seems to be pulling away from both buildings to allow them to stand on their own without disappearing to the background

Ground floor plan showing the proposed development within the West End of Shrewsbury. The plan shows how a series of new blocks housing new family homes and retail amenities, will provide a new life for what was before a disorientated and unused part of the city centre. The concept behind the proposal focuses on two axial routes which both interconnect to a a series of public and private squares.

Entry sequence - Allowing visitors to come in and out of the service room using different routes to respect the sensitivity of the process.

Entry sequence - Clarifying access to the different buildings using materiality and water to lead visitors to their destination.

North-West elevation - Main entrance to the building, showing how the light beams in the contemplation spaces extrude through the roof to create a new, dynamic front to the elevation

Masterplan - Opening the building towards the river and offering new access by creating a route through a garden

The Shrewsbury Guild - Rehabilitation school of craft | Model | 1.50 Plaster cast physical model, showing the new connecting link and the West block. WIP.

The Shrewsbury Guild - Rehabilitation school of craft | Interior Visual | Visual of the communal | residential space for the homeless, exposing the existing Riggs hall structure.

The Shrewsbury Guild - Rehabilitation school of craft | Section | A section through the design showing the different spaces available. Creating a new visual connection to the West.

The Shrewsbury Guild - Rehabilitation school of craft | Concept | Completing the site creating a facility for homeless rehabilitation, incorporating accommodation, workshops, teaching and exhibition spaces.

The Shrewsbury Guild - Rehabilitation school of craft | Masterplan | A connecting link exposing the old Riggs hall and establishing a new relationship with the existing.

Construction sequence. The new circulation building occupies the courtyard creating connections between the two historic buildings without disrupting the architectural heritage.

Perspective long sections. The incorporation of a greenhouse enables the gin distillery to grow and harvest their own spices, herbs, fruits and flowers that are normally used to flavour gin. Aligned to the bottom of the parapet to ensure the floating greenhouse benefits from maximum solar gain.

Main entrance. A recessed copper entrance within the modern white block addition creates a protected threshold within a simple facade that contrast without overpowering the existing buildings.

Elevations. The lightness of the modern material palette, concrete and polycarbonate, dilutes the solidity of the massing and uplifts the heaviness of the historic stone facades.

Exterior view. At night, the gin distillery is enlivened by the restaurants and bar. The glowing greenhouse illuminates the old library to draw people in.

The Voyage
WIP Image showing botanical garden that sits in the greenhouse within the north wing of the existing building. The greenhouse has a sub-tropic climate to reference Darwin's journey to the Galapagos Islands.

The Voyage
Portfolio page showing experimentation of patterns inspired by the name carvings in the existing library building. Patterns use nature and William Morris wallpaper designs as inspiration for development.

The Voyage
Section through the museum showcasing Charles Darwin's work. The new design references the old school as it continues to be a place of education and gaining of knowledge. The elevated corten steel walkway guides users through the space

The Voyage
WIP Image showing masterplan and how journey for users begins within the landscape before continuing through the building. A corten steel structure has been placed within and outside of the existing structure to guide users through.

The Voyage
Celebrating Darwin as a botanist by promoting interaction and education of nature through a botanical garden and museum. The design takes the users on a journey through the building engaging with a variety of spaces.

Wyle Cop Community Hub
Image captures a perspective from a one-bed townhouse framing views of the river. A key concept of the design was interaction between the residents and the wider community.

Wyle Cop Community Hub
Our design focused on a series of 7 townhouses that had a communal ground floor. The ground floor consisted of a cafe, co-working space and hub for the residents. These spaces acted as a point of interaction for the residents and the wider community.

Wyle Cop Community Hub
The housing on the site is made up of a combination of townhouses, semi-detached houses and apartments. All residential spaces are raised above ground floor due to constant flooding of the site.

Wyle Cop Community Hub
Our home is designed to tackle the increasing rate of anxiety amongst young people in Shrewsbury. Designing a home that promotes better well being and healthier practices would benefit all young people and tackle this increasing problem.

Models showing the layering of Shrewsbury’s urban fabric. The urban fabric has been split into buildings-by-century, and then layered on top of each other to depict the complete plan of Shewsbury. 2D morphology is depicted in plan form while the images on the right offer a 3D representation of the historical layering.