Amsterdam Academy of ArchitectureGraduation Projects 2014-2015Architecture

9 King George Avenue, Leeds, LS7 4LH, West Yorkshire, U.K.+44 7539747238gilestownshend@gmail.com

Giles TownshendReimagining SheepscarTransforming a post-industrial area in Leeds into a new neighbourhood

Architecture

This project looks at the U.K. housing crisis through the lens of a proposal for the redevelopment of Sheepscar, a post-industrial neighbourhood in the city of Leeds.

Leeds like the rest of the United Kingdom is currently facing a housing crisis on two fundamental levels: demand for housing far exceeds supply and the new houses that are built do not meet the demands of the majority of the people who would inhabit them. The council currently has plans to build 70,000 new homes in the city in the next 15 years, the largest number outside London and the south east. This has the potential to shape the city for future generations but at present there isn’t a clear vision of where these new houses should be built and what form they should take.

Currently, new housing in the city falls broadly into two categories: large scale city centre apartment blocks or single family developer housing built on the outskirts of the city. As a post-industrial city which saw large scale demolition of workers housing and unused industrial buildings in the 1950s and 60s, much of the inner city neighbourhoods remain undeveloped. As an alternative to the creation of more isolated, monofunctional housing areas on the periphery, I have explored how Sheepscar, one such area located within short walking distance of the city centre could be redeveloped into a new urban neighborhood which combines opportunities for living and working in one place.

The project consists of two main elements: an urban plan and a series of sub-projects: building and landscape types which inhabit specific parts of the structure.

The approach adopted seeks to reveal the latent potential of the area, carefully uncovering its most distinctive elements and using them as the centre of the new urban structure. The central area of the neighbourhood maintains its role as the working heart through the retention and refurbishment of the most significant industrial buildings but is refined through the introduction of a series of new buildings which introduce dwellings creating a series of ensembles that combine new and old. The proposal celebrates the informality of the spaces created between these retained buildings and transforms them into a variety of public spaces. The core of the plan is framed by a new urban block structure which is carefully arranged to create a series of connections into the public spaces.

A family of building types are proposed including houses and apartments which engage with a series of specific urban conditions. The buildings share a robust formal and material language which aims to create a distinctive character for the reimagined neighbourhood.

Graduation date26 08 2015

Commission membersHans van der Heijden (mentor) Peter DefescheJob Floris

Additional members for the examinationPaul de VroomBastiaan Jongerius

Giles TownshendReimagining SheepscarTransforming a post-industrial area in Leeds into a new neighbourhood

Giles Townshend

Architecture

Context plan

Urban model

Urban strategy Existing industrial buildings to be retained and integrated into new ensembles

A sequence of neighbourhoods Sheepscar as found

Giles Townshend

New apartment building with public ground floor next to refurbished sheds: living and working placed casually next to each other

A family of types: an example of some of the new buildings introduced into the neighbourhood

Mews houses street elevation

Architecture

Bus depot ensemble

Factory ensemble

Giles Townshend

Refurbished bus depot with new extension, a dialogue between new and old.

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture

Architects, urbanists and landscape architects learn the profession at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture through an intensive combination of work and study. They work in small, partly interdisciplinary groups and are supervised by a select group of practising fellow professionals. There is a wide range of options within the programme so that students can put together their own trajectory and specialisation.With the inclusion of the course in Urbanism in 1957 and Landscape Architecture in 1972, the Academy is the only architecture school in the Netherlands to bring together the three spatial design disciplines under one roof. Some 350 guest tutors are involved in teaching every year. Each of them is a practising designer or a specific expert in his or her particular subject. The three heads of department also have design practices of their own in addition to their work for the Academy. This structure yields an enormous dynamism and energy and ensures that the courses remain closely linked to the current state of the discipline. The courses consist of projects, exercises and lectures. First-year and second-year students also engage in morphological studies. Students work on their own or in small groups. The design

projects form the backbone of the syllabus. On the basis of a specific design assignment, students develop knowledge, insight and skills. The exercises are focused on training in those skills that are essential for recognising and solving design problems, such as analytical techniques, knowledge of the repertoire, the use of materials, text analysis, and writing. Many of the exercises are linked to the design projects. The morphological studies concentrate on the making of spatial objects, with the emphasis on creative process and implementation. Students experiment with materials and media forms and gain experience in converting an idea into a creation. During the periods between the terms there are workshops, study trips in the Netherlands and abroad, and other activities. This is also the preferred moment for international exchange projects. The Academy regularly invites foreign students for the workshops and recruits wellknown designers from the Netherlands and further afield as tutors. Graduates from the Academy of Architecture are entitled to the following titles: Architect, Master of Science; Urbanist, Master of Science and Landscape Architect, Master of Science.