Farheen Qutub

The S.O.U.L studio   

The S.O.U.L. studio focused on designing homes and communities that are carbon neutral, citizen-centric, and an urban solution to help cities become more sustainable and resilient. The studio involves the redevelopment of the Castle college site based in Nottingham within the Castle Quarter. S.O.U.L is a mixed-use medium density housing scheme consisting of 56 residential units. One of the key elements informing the planning is the proposed public plaza which acts as a gateway to the castle. The residential block is zoned on the North to provide strategic views and privacy. The commercial and retail are zoned to the south of the site, surrounding the plaza. Finally, one of the residential blocks is selected and designed in detail, consisting of three studios and five duplex units at different levels. This project has achieved high quality, low energy residential accommodation by following Passivhaus standards to create desirable and energy-efficient homes. My scheme proposes refurbishing the existing listed warehouse buildings, retaining the embodied carbon trapped within their fired-brick facades. The James Alexander Building will become the company’s headquarters, activating the public realm with retail space and providing naturally daylit and ventilated offices overlooking landscaped gardens for employee comfort and welfare. The scheme also achieves low levels of energy usage through its passive design & high-performance fabric, with residual energy demands covered by on-site solar photovoltaics.