Located on Grafton Street, Manchester, my final year project: The Feminist Archive sits between two distinct campuses of the city: the University and Royal Infirmary Hospital. On the site of the former home of Emmeline Pankhurst, the archive sympathetically responds to the existing narrative of the area and builds upon the exhibition and civic programmes of the Pankhurst Centre to become a claimable space for the local community. The archive design stems from foundational theories of Feminist Urban planning and is part of a larger scheme to re-route and re-map Upper Brook street - a dangerous corridor road into the city centre west of the archive.
The archive features three internal programmes of crèche, cafe and archive exhibit to create a space that provides refuge, relaxation and learning in Ardwick, a disregarded suburb of Manchester. A central courtyard space ties the new addition to its historic counterpart and provides a garden for local residents who may not have one; bringing together generations of the community.
I have implemented a cradle-to-cradle ideology in which carbon usage is minimised at all stages of the building’s lifetime and it is designed to be easily adapted or taken apart and recycled if it should outgrow its purpose. The top floor innovatively uses polycarbonate to both, protect the fragile documents inside and also serve as a 'lighthouse' on Grafton Street improving its existing unsafe and underlit connotations.
Throughout my studies, I have taken a particular interest in conservation and heritage schemes and take a sympathetic and thoughtful approach to design and this is something I wish to continue to pursue in practice. Outside of academic work, I have participated in several global competitions that have broadened my perspective on architectural design and aided in cultivating and maturing my own personal style of thinking and presenting.
