Francesca Guarnieri - Upcycling Center

upcycle INSTITUTE

Completion: May, 2018

Site: Frome, United Kingdom

Context: University of the West of England, United Kingdom. Individual Academic Project, BA(Hons), Year 4, Architecture and Planning Graduuation Design Studio 4.

Supervisors: J. Bassindale, M. Devereaux.

Tools: AutoCad, Sketchup, Photoshop, InDesign, physical models.

Distinction: UWE Future Awards.

The Upcycle Institute proposes a succession of adaptable spaces which express the semi-industrial process of giving new life to used materials after collecting, sorting and storing them. It is a teenagers training premise aiming at drawing the pubic into the recycling process. Such fundamental concepts are integral to the facilities design resulting in designing the workshops on the ground floor looking out onto the exhibition space and opening to the surroundings to draw the locals’ attention to the re-purposing process. Furthermore, when local artists or entrepreneurs walk in, they can see how a product is designed and produced. Moreover, the finished pieces are exposed in the adjacent Sculpture Park to make the teenagers feel proud and like their work matters in the community, while enriching the landscape.

This creative hub offers a ‘skills bridge’ to harness the potential of Frome youth, where teenagers apprehend new skills and develop personal interests and hang out with peers in a safe environment created expressly for them. While the collaboration between the Upcycle Institute and the existing artist community creates job opportunities in the nearby Silk Mill and new workspaces proposed within the masterplan.

Central to the project brief are the concepts of circularity and circular economy, present in three different aspects: 1) the architectural reuse of existing industrial heritage where existing industrial buildings are partially retained and repurposed to host a semi-industrial process while demolition waste can be partially saved and sold at ‘Frome reclamation Limited’. 2) The production process for which materials are collected, selected, stored, given a new life, exposed and sold all on the same site. 3) The passing down of knowledge where local artists share their knowledge and skills with teenagers who, in part, will then train other locals.

Exterior render of the main entrance of the Institute on the public square.

Interior render of the creative spaces on the ground floor.

The masterplan of Frome city centre shaped by the enhancement of blue and green corridors punctuated by a series of public buildings.

Site plan of the Upcycle Institute within Saxonvale, former industrial brownfield adjacent to Frome city centre.

Site section showing the strategic location of the Upcycle Institute in a spot of connection between the Sculpture Park and the Silk Mill.

Environmental strategy and roof, glass wall, CLT floor system, strip foundation details.

Perspective view of the site model.

Concept model of the characteristic timber louvers facade.

Technical detail model of a fragment of the facade system showcasing the recycled timber louvers characteristic of the building envelope.

Technical detail model of a fragment of the facade system composed of a loadbearing steel frame, large sliding glass panels and recycled timber louvers.