Creating a social hub in the heart of Stroud to tackle the hidden issues of social isolation within rural communities.

My project aims to create a co-working office and bring delight into Stroud residents' more monotonous day-to-day activities. I intend to create a space which is fully integrated into Stroud's community by redirecting the towns primary circulation route through the centre of the site, therefore separating the building into two masses with connections taking place in the spaces between.

I also use the overlapping users in my project to create a place of movement and connections between the residents using the pockets of intrigue and delight in the form of a doggy daycare integrated into the office.

In this project I aimed to tackle the underlying issues often overlooked in rural communities, specifically addressing the mental wellbeing of residents often experiencing loneliness. Despite Stroud being voted one of the best places to live in 2022 by the times, it's community is not immune to social isolation, 7.6% of Stroud residents reported feeling lonely, possibly as a result of lack of transport links, utilities or social hubs.

I used an iterative design process to produce the final proposal for my project, creating multiple different spatial layouts that tackle the constraints of the site. These drawings along with a selection of massing models allowed me to produce a form that frames the community activities whilst allowing for the different requirements for wellbeing within the office itself.

Vertical stiff cores of rammed earth act to fragment the larger open plan offices and frame the circulation through the building, externally a visually impressive link to nature and internally acting as cosy, introspective spaces for wellbeing and privacy.

Making a space that accommodates for all my different users and their juxtaposing needs was very important in my design. I used more durable materiality's in the dog-friendly spaces such as cork and tile flooring as well as an acoustic buffer cladding at dog level.

In conclusion, I believe that this space is one that Stroud is in desperate need of. The resident's are experiencing a shift in their work/life dynamic and its community development, as a result the desire for this sort of innovate community space is increasing. Creating a hub that works at the scale of the town allows residents to connect with their surroundings through simply joys like walking their dog between the active buildings or stopping to chat while getting a coffee at work. The proposal works to gradually improve mental wellbeing in rural areas post-COVID 19.