‘How is this made? ‘

This is the question we put to all students across the Atelier. When applied to the city as an artefact it is a question that is at once inquisitive, reflective, investigative and analytical. When applied to the students' designs that emerge week by week it is a question that is generative.

Working for a second successive year in Crewe, the partnership with the Town Council, supplemented by engagement from lead developers Capital and Centric has greatly enriched the process. This year, for all 70 students our foundational mapping of the town began with a material inventory of the place. From there the MArch 2 group were offered the unpromising hollowed-out town centre as a starting point, from which they generated four masterplans densifying and clarifying the settlement, and then a spectrum of functions to enliven the place day and night. The adaptive reuse of a 1960s low rise office building was the focus for MArch 1 and saw myriad revitalisations of an exposed concrete frame. The BA3 group once more explored interpretations of 'heritage' as they proposed a new centre for providing past manufacturing glories with a future focus.

So we observed that 'How is this made?' provokes political and social responses, as much as prompting material, technical and constructional resolution.

MArch2

Project

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Architect in Studio

Architect in Studio: Strategy (AiSS)

Architect in Studio: Strategy (AiSS)

This year, the Atelier is collaborating with the residents and local government of Crewe, Cheshire. The town originated as a direct response to the ambitious Grand Junction Railway, a national rail infrastructure project around which Crewe rapidly developed during the late nineteenth century.

The MArch 1 group has been working on the adaptive reuse of a 1960s office building on Memorial Square, beginning with a critical reappraisal of the façade and subsequently identifying an appropriate programme for the transformed structure. This project presents a unique opportunity to reimagine an otherwise anonymous and ageing building as a new landmark for Crewe—one that signals the town's ongoing regeneration and renaissance in the heart of England.

Grounded in careful observation, research, and analysis of the urban context and local heritage, the students have developed proposals guided by a central concern for craft and materiality. Their work explores materials, methods of assembly, tectonic expression, environmental strategies, and human experience. A diverse range of programmes has emerged from this process, including community spaces, galleries, and work environments, each rooted in and responding to heritage, people and place.

Tutors

External Partners

  • WPS Engineers
  • Gort Scott
Architect in Studio: Resolution (AiSR)

Architect in Studio: Resolution (AiSR)

Building on Semester 1, the AISR strategy focused on advancing proposals for the adaptive reuse of a 1960s office building on Memorial Square through rigorous engagement with precedent, tectonics, material thinking, and technical resolution. Students revisited and extended their earlier design positions, testing ideas of programme, circulation, construction, and environmental performance within a sensitive urban and heritage context.

Guided by the MSA Design Values—particularly sustainability, ethics, health, safety, affordability, and fairness—the work is increasingly centred on the relationship between design intent and construction. Detailed sections, axonometric drawings, façade studies, and room-scale investigations foregrounded the building envelope as a mediator between public and private, indoor and outdoor, atmosphere and performance.

Through iterative drawing, model-making, and carbon assessment, the projects demonstrate a confident integration of spatial imagination, technical clarity, and thoughtful making.

Tutors

External Partners

  • Jen Oliver (Civic)
  • WPS Engineers
  • Martin Gibson

Students

MArch2

John Appleseed, Ada Ardeleanu, Jessica Coapes, Harry Dodds, Nicole Durrell, Feng Fang, Luke Ferguson, Max Friedman, Rebecca Grattage, Maria Gabriela Grigore, Toby Harris, Finley Hartless, Xueying Huang, Aparna Jayanti, Patrick Moores, Rebecca Scott, Gabriel Tallara, Yiwen Wu, Yihuan Xu, Hoi Fai Yam, Tianyu Zheng