Jennifer Wilson

The garden wall 

The retrofit of the Severns House structure within the Broadmarsh masterplan presented an opportunity to address a new gateway into the main city centre. The scheme proposes a new co-housing development, focusing on a demographic of recent graduates exploring the concept of ownership within shared spaces. Through the use of informal thresholds and implied distinctions of space, the new proposal populates the site with a series of secluded pocket gardens, encased by a new approach to the protective barrier of the ‘garden wall’. The existing concrete structure is reclad in striking green and brass to mirror the neighbouring Nottingham Contemporary, whilst the intermediate new build structures echo the heavy plinth nature of the Georgian context, softening the transition to the new green gateway along Middle Hill. Studio 2 took an approach of ‘Radical Re-use’ to retrofitting with an emphasis on ‘making’, understanding how buildings are constructed and how that influences architectural expression and the atmosphere within.