Doll(ware)house

By l’atelier (team: Pierre Escobar, Ary Altman)

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Connection to Harringay Warehouse District

Harringay Warehouse District presents a unique situation where the programme of the warehouses has changed through a bottom up and community driven process, while the architecture stays as a timeless beauty.

Our proposal aims at honouring the architectural, social and urban impact of the Harringay warehouses through the Tottenham pavillon.

Proposal Outline

The big quality of industrial neighbourhoods is its honest architecture and its generous spacial porosity. It feels like buildings are randomly placed, which in turn creates a rich and interesting outdoor space. But in Harringay warehouse district there is something more: The buildings are used for living and working and their interface with the outside is expressive of a domestic activity.

Our fascination for the qualities of these new ways of living was driving the process of the project. Although these warehouses are rich and unique, they are also private. We wanted to curate a pavillon that would translate the qualities of the warehouses into a more public and accessible setting.

Our proposal, Doll(ware)house, is an open and public miniature theatre open to the city. It is a small and beautiful expression of Harringay’s vibes. The facades are an expression of the neighbouring architecture while the inside is like a toolbox for the different activities.

The pavillon is placed at the border of the site in order to create a rich interaction with the street corner (the street facade is in front of the fence, making the pavillon a new element of the series of buildings on the street). It is placed in such a way that one needs to go through a small path between the pavillon and the trees to access the main part of the site. This recreates a miniature feeling of the warehouse block.

Doll(ware)house is a compact object and a simple squared plan, where benches, tents and tables can be stored and taken out for events. The two large garage doors on the east and west facade allow for four potential types of events, while the north and south facades have a large storage element for the different activities of the pavillon.

Four potential spacial scenarios are possible:

-Both doors closed: The pavillon is 36m2 and can be used for small indoor gatherings. This format is also used when the site is closed to store and secure the furniture.
West door open: The pavillon becomes a stage, open to the main room of the site, for a theatre, live music, DJ etc…
East door is open: The warehouse is connected to the street for small outdoor events, a take away, or Corona times.
Both doors are open: The pavillon becomes part of the outdoor space and the site becomes one space.