Memory Works: Reuse & Recall
A project grounded in community craft and remembering heritage, Memory Works transforms the demolition waste left behind by local landmarks, into meaningful acts of making. Situated on a post-industrial site, the project reclaims discarded pallet wood, old bricks and local flora, as a foundation to immersive and enriching workshops. Through a triad of linear stations, visitors engage in a sequential and interactive experience: turning pallets into charcoal sticks, honouring the Bradford Colliery; reusing old bricks to create clay, commemorating the local brickwork industries that are now out of operation; extracting dye from plants and turning them into inks, reminding visitors of the impactful textiles industries.Through an immersive and sensory journey, visitors are reminded of the significant history of their town in a fun way. Once the mediums are created, they can be used in the art studio, and the artworks can be honoured in the exhibition building, which ascends in order of the introduction of each industry.
Memory Works considers social sustainability not only through its unique programmes, but also its constructibility. The main body comprises of a glulam portal frame with timber roof and wall cassettes, cladded over with adobe brick and a standing seam metal roof panel; this is designed to be easily constructed and deconstructed on site. Through a four-phase building life, spanning several decades, the structure naturally integrates itself with the site, with a combination of the adobe brick returning to the surrounding soil, and the frame standing as a monument of memory, inviting regrowth and repopulation.
The proposal harmonises with its environment, through the crescendo of skylights. Zoning through height, the necessary lighting for detail-tasks in the workshop receive greater daylight; the studio at the end receives a soft, calming light. Passive ventilation is operable through openable skylights and brick vents hidden in the cladding.
