A productive high street for Chepstow

Many small elements and themes were built together to make up and contribute to my final design. I was greatly inspired by Ebury Edge Community Centre, Jan Kattein, for its courtyard space, colour, and tiling, and The Blue Market, Hayatsu Architects, for its materiality, signage and central, historical-inspired tower. Arguably the strongest part to my proposal, I aimed to introduce a new courtyard space into Beaufort Square. I focused on creating an enclosed and almost hidden space that people had to walk into to experience, in contrast to the very open space currently.

. I felt creating a separation from the surroundings and main street was essential in sparking a more dynamic environment and the kind of atmosphere I wanted to achieve. In the previous regeneration the curved walls were designedto symbolize the port walll, I intended to replicate the concept of enclosing as done so historically to the medieval borough. I also looked into the courtyards at Chepstow castle and the irregularity of the outer walls, later mirrored in my design. A rowof buildings was demolished to enlargee the road along the high street adjacent to the site.

I hoped to bring back the sense of this lost mass to achieve the proposed courtyard space and also making the road narrower again, producing a tighter and more dynamic atmosphere. I also looked at the surrounding buildings and how they imposed on the space, and experimented with adding floors onto a various lower buildings. A large elm tree used to dominate the square in the 17th century. I proposed to bring back this focal tree to the square at the heart of the new courtyard and market space. Another key aspect was colour and signage. I would be introducing colour through painted timber tiles, giving a livelier and playful character. A Focal Tower, signage and arrows leading to the market square would also be introduced, attracting people to the site. Each stall would have its own post extended outwards as seen in old photographs. Looking at the layout of the current market stalls at the current market gave way to the form of my building.

There would be an almost growth of the current market stalls into my proposed structure, i.e. the height of the structures increase along the high street to the main proposed building with a peak at the tower, located at the centre of the square. This would mean the proposed building is more integrated with the surroundings and follows a more gradual incline. On the ground floor would be the space for the market stalls, hireable community rooms/office space on the first floor and a viewing platform/rooftop terrace on the second floor.