George James

SAPAB Headquarters

INTRA CHATHAM

Chatham Intra Highstreet Action Zone (CIHAZ)

Research concerning the future of Chatham Intra led by the

Kent School of Architecture and Planning, University of Kent

In association with Medway Council and Historic England

Biography

I completed my bachelor's degree in architecture at Oxford Brookes, where I split my time between rowing and architecture. My studies focussed on generating culturally sympathetic and beneficial projects, shaped by the requirements of local communities and the heritage of their context. This focus has continued through my Part II course at the University of Kent. I have worked as a designer in a variety of roles and industries. I am fascinated by the way design and art shape every facet of our lives. This impact shapes my approach to design. With my projects aiming to blend between installation and architecture, my project narratives are derived from a critical theoretical base seeking to explore the tension between an idea and a place.    Following the completion of my part II, I intend to work both in residential practice and as a tutor in a school of architecture. Balancing these two roles will allow me to both utilise my technical skills and to continue theoretical explorations of the role of architecture in the world at large.  

SAPAB Headquarters

Synopsis

The proposal is a headquarters and archive for a fictional organisation who’s role is to prevent projects which use a retained facade, instead transporting the facade to the site where it is recorded, exhibited and treated in a more dignified manner than becoming an example of facadism. The project engages with the historic brick making industry of intra offering a conclusion to the building materials life before recycling by bringing it back to its point of origin. The project engages with the contemporary nature of intra by acting as a museum , developing public interest in the necessity of low carbon design and architectural heritage. The process of the building also incorporates a public exhibition of a facade as a temporary installation into the high street, this aims to have people engage with the beauty of the built environment and to drive people to interact with the site to better understand why the face of the high street changes.

Site Location




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