Charlie James Williams
This year, my design and research focussed on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, highlighting the invaluable, and sometimes overlooked, tangible and intangible qualities of built heritage.
This year, my design and research focussed on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, highlighting the invaluable, and sometimes overlooked, tangible and intangible qualities of built heritage.
There is an increasing need to support children with SEND. This project took an empathetic approach to design, guided by The Autism ASPECTTS Design Index. Gradual transition, in sensory stimulation, social activity and physical scale, reduces the chance of overwhelming a child with autism. Retreat cocoons, with fresh air and diffuse daylight, present a small child a space to escape to. Care was taken to retain the site’s characterful existing built fabric to create a new building that was already rooted and belonging in its place in time.
The adaptive reuse of an abandoned sardine canning factory provides a vocational education in traditional craft skills, such as stonemasonry and carpentry. The building is an emporium of Galician architectural curiosities comprising of artefacts reclaimed from heritage sites and study pieces made by students, to be used in conservation and adaptive reuse projects across Galicia. The craft work of the students is celebrated, gradually being interwoven into the physical fabric of the existing building.
