Natalia Marchant-Martinez

The agenda of exponential urban development has resulted in cities which do not reflect the needs of their inhabitants. Undeveloped spaces are precious and dwindling. We must look to rectifying our existing built fabric in order to propose new common spaces that benefit local communities.

This work speculates on the regenerative potential of underused sites, and asks how we might reclaim the subterranean and street facing undercrofts of London’s housing estates as vibrant shared infrastructures.

St Silas Undercroft Commons proposes a day-to-night café that activates the street-facing frontage of the estate, catering for Camden’s night and shift workers while providing a refuge within the city. The Commons facilitates and amplifies existing practices of care present in the St Silas community, offering gardening, craft and construction workshops.

Through skill sharing, material reuse, and circularity, the project envisions a model for urban commoning which activates the peripheral and unloved typology of the undercroft.