# Project Description

St Silas Undercroft Commons

Natalia Marchant-Martinez

Summary

Final work

College Central Saint Martins

Course M ARCH: Architecture

Graduation year 2025

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.

Final work

Discomfort: Safety Work on the Bus

Estate Inactivity at St Silas Street North

St Silas Undercroft: 1:50 Massing Model

Research and process

Testimonial: Care Outside the Home

Share this project

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 ...

A link to this page has been added to your clipboard