This platform provides participants with an opportunity to establish the identity of interior spaces by developing proposals in detail. The platform considers form, colour, light, material, texture, pattern, finish and structure as key to making interiors that are intelligent, beautifully crafted and, above all, respond to site context whilst creating spaces that are appropriate and useful for their users. Where appropriate the platform makes connections with practice, manufacturers and suppliers of materials, products and furniture. Projects undertaken in the platform are small scale and focused providing an opportunity to resolve an interior design proposal at scales from 1:20 through to full size.  Exploratory model making and prototyping at large scales with real materials are key to this work.

TITLE: UNDERNEATH THE ARCHES

The majority of London’s railway arches are a product of the creation of the city’s over-ground railway infrastructure. Designed in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to bring elevated railway tracks into the metropolis, these engineered structures created ‘unintentional spaces’ to their underside that can be seen as a by-product of their structural form. As such these ambiguous volumes (neither inside or outside) have been appropriated for a variety of low level uses over the past century. 

As the occupation of our cities becomes ever more concentrated these structures provide the opportunity to house stimulating and interesting proposals for their re-use.  Due to the proximity of the railway the area around and adjacent to many arches is often interesting, ambiguous and underdeveloped and, for the interior designer, the spaces offer a chance to work in an interesting singular volume that will invariably be formed from quality brickwork with layers of patina. Whilst the floor, ceiling and lateral walls are strongly defined, the open ends of the railway arch allow the designer to consider where the outside ends and the interior begins……..

This platform is concerned with developing interior design proposals in detail but this year, given the site typology, issues concerning the quality and character of existing building fabric and how existing buildings are re-used were fundamental considerations for the work. Conversation about the strategies employed for the introduction of something new into an existing place and the relationship between the existing and the new were crucial.