FILLING STATION

By Si ZUO – Kangyi SHEN

VIEW DESIGN VISUALS>>
Connection to Harringay Warehouse District

When we first saw Harringay Warehouse District and his surrounding communities on aerial picture, we were shocked by the extremely ordered urban texture of this area. Standing in the homogeneous texture constituted of residential units and gardens, Harringay Warehouse District, with his large-scaled industrial plants, looks like an island out of place. Within the district, the factories and warehouses give us a strong sense of closure and silence. So, we want to create a 24 hours open and active place for this district even for the entire area.

Proposal Outline

Since the late 1990s the Harringay Warehouse District has been occupied by self-employed artists, makers, musicians and entrepreneurs, but it seems that all the vivant activities are hided in the enormous but silent industrial buildings. So we want to create an “void” for the district, a place as accessible as possible for all the people.

IMAGE – The site of Tottenham Pavilion benefits from the prime location as an intersection of Seven Sisters Road and Eade Road with lots of visibility. As the main gateway into Tottenham, the pavilion should be a landmark, a “striking billboard” that marks the district day and night. We propose a project with the image of filling station on the highway, like Edward Hopper’s work, the Gas, in 1940, which is always open, always glowing, and always ready to offer service. What’s more, a “filling station” also reminds people the history of the site as a car park cornering Seven Sisters Road with an estimated 18,000 vehicles passing by daily.

MATERIAL – We define the site limit with a red brick wall along the Eade Road, and propose a light steel frame structure behind the wall. It’s a continuation of the materials of existing industrial buildings in this area – brick façades outside and longspan frame structure inside. The existing trees in the site are conserved. People enter the site from the angle of Seven Sisters Road and Eade Road, through an entrance formed with bricks and plants. The main buildings is hold with slender red steel frame and covered with semi-transparent rain cloth.

PROGRAM – In our project, the pavilion is open and flexible for all kinds of activities. From the longitudinal section, the pavilion that we propose is like a traditional opera – with a high volume as stage and a low but long space for audience seats. Between the existing tree belt and the audience space, we create a courtyard. The audience space is covered with rain cloth as ceiling, which is removable partly or entirely. There is no partition walls, and all the seats are removable, which means the audience space and courtyard can be joined or separated to suit different types of performance or for larger spectator numbers. In sunny days, it’s a place for all kinds of gatherings, exhibition and workshop, the rain cloth ceiling works like a sunshade; in rainy days, the rain cloth ceiling is like a huge umbrella which shelters the small concerts, speeches…; in the evenings with special events, with the ceiling removed and the lights on,the site becomes a shining landmark; in the daily night-time, the pavilion is a community center for the neighbours. No matter during daytime or at night, the pavilion serves as a background plate for all kinds of activities.