Beth Gavine

London’s social and cultural infrastructure is at risk and has been disappearing rapidly in recent years. The decisions around what architecture deserves value, should be protected does not often lie with the people who actually need and use these spaces. In witnessing the urban issues in Lewisham of glossy, ridged new skyscrapers that create a closed and exclusive public realm, and derelict abandoned buildings that have been left to rot, it felt that the people who lived there did not have much of a say as to how their neighbourhoods developed around them. It was in the hands of investors and developers who often show a disconnect from individuals genuine needs.

To combat this, my project looked at re-writing the RIBA stages of work to include more mandatory engagement and cyclical processes that re-center the lived experience of the locals and vulnerable individuals who need support. Architects design space but people make place. My new process for architectural production prioritised empathetic enquiry and situated knowledge of a site, iterative experimenting, collaboration and reciprocal relationships that create a feedback loop of spatial empowerment, where communities gain skills to be able to maintain and care for their spaces long after construction is complete, and can adapt and adjust the spaces to fit their needs as habitation changes.

A key part of this process was systems of circularity, not linearity. This included material use. I was dealing with an existing building, and saw it as a quarry of material to mine from, and fed that resource back into reconstruction. I prioritised reuse and repurposing over needless demolition, at times a more tedious and restrictive process, but those constraints created interesting and innovative ways of marrying the new to the existing, creating a building that is a palimpsest, prioritising memory and history.