A big congratulations to Charlotte Vint and Aubin Torck for their nominations for the Architects’ Journal Student Prize 2020.
Charlotte Vint, Stage 3 BA (Hons) Architecture, was nominated for her project titled, ‘The Echinoid Urban Ruins Activity Centre’. Charlotte writes, “The activity centre inhabits the ruins of the Lido Complex in Margate; the Echinoid celebrates the Grade II-listed former Clifton Baths through activities that aid in alleviating the current health gap in Cliftonville West. The roof flows out onto the street front, creating an inviting threshold leading both vulnerable citizens of Margate and tourists to congregate, enhancing a unified community. By reopening the Clifton Baths to the public, an urban playground brings cultural enrichment and education of its touristic history, retelling the rise and fall by sensitively celebrating it through rejuvenation.
Sustainably repurposing the waste collected from Margate’s scrapyards through a community drop-off and rewards scheme creates a cleaner urban environment. A sense of locality is achieved through the resources, materials and construction methods, which range from on-site rammed chalk to repurposed mechanical waste used in the proposal. Additionally, addressing a deteriorating coastal complex with rising sea levels required a flood-resilient strategy, which was achieved through a controlled lockgate flood vent system.”
Aubin Torck, Stage 5 MArch, was nominated for his project titled, ‘Gothic Canterbury Source Market ‘. Aubin writes, “The fire that destroyed the roof of Notre-Dame Cathedral provoked a global outpouring of sympathy and unprecedented pledges of support. Amid immediate declarations to rebuild within five years, a wider question arose as to what is 21st-century Gothic. The Source Market takes inferences from the ruins of a citycentre church, lost in the Baedeker Raids, and two subsequent phases of post-Second World War redevelopment.
Sitting at the heart of Canterbury, this new vegetable market is also a barometer of local and national food ‘futures’. The integrated financial Futures Market allows for a regional regulation of crop prices directly linked to the daily supply and demand of the produce within. All aspects of the food cycle are integrated and exhibited, from rooftop aquaponic production, smart crop quality control and storage, to fast-toslow food restaurant, education and coworking hubs.”