Five Georgian Houses to an Alternative Rehabilitation Program

My project is called dis.assembly, re.flection and re.assembly of five Georgian houses to form an alternative rehabilitation space. The Georgian ‘Colston Parade’ terraced row of houses forms the epicentre of a socio-economic fault line that lies on the site - dividing the wealth of the north from the struggle of the people in the south. Through the initial stages of the project ideas of remembrance are being critically questioned, with the overarching theme stands as that where wealth is a powerful component in reconstructing remembrances whereas poverty means that people are left without the ability to narrate their own stories.

This is an observable reality within the community living in social housing to the south of the site in Redcliffe, Bristol which has been stigmatised for drug use without adequate help being offered to escape the vicious cycle associated with addiction.

Superficial donations earn the memorialisation within the cityscape of people whose actions were certainly harmful, such as Edward Colston who was heavily involved in the Transatlantic Slavery of the 18th century, and hence can be seen as donations to buy off a reconstructed remembrance instead of a genuine act of philanthropy. However, those left forgotten within the South of the city face real, tangible problems and are in need of a genuine act of philanthropy. Hence, the act of change of these structures in itself is significant for the symbolic gesture of giving back to the community and opening up to the South instead of the North. The scheme materialises in the form of an alternative rehabilitation program that fosters community connection, creative expression and holistic rehabilitation.

The scheme is disassembled and critically reflects on the elements presented within the Georgian architecture and whether these are beneficial to the community living in social housing south of the site, on the basis of lived experience. The proposal strips away symbols of wealth and grants access to the building to the community through architectural language.