Alec Thomson

P2 – History Library for Children

I have designed a history library for primary school aged children. The building offers children an exciting journey through a spiralling timeline of books, with ample seating space along the interesting raise platforms. The library also has a café for the parents while their kids explore the building.

 

P3 – Refugee cohousing

My brief was to design a cohousing complex with micro housing units to accommodate refugee families new to the UK alongside a group of students in Burngreaves; it mirrors a concept from a scheme in Holland called Startblok Riekerhaven to catalyse the refugees’ integration into the community and avoid isolation similar to Burngreaves Roma Slovakian refugees seen over the past few years.

The large communal space holds a shared kitchen, dining room, comfortable seating space and washing services, so I deemed micro apartments suitable. These micro units are terraced along the north of the site with a generous south-facing garden whilst the communal space is street side and will open up to the public as a community kitchen one day per week – using food to generate an atmosphere of unity in the neighbourhood.