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S.T.E.M-OPOLIS

Part 1 Project 2013
Jean Paul Tugirimana
Ravensbourne University London | UK
Completed in 1969, it was used as Royal Mail Sorting Office in New Oxford Street. In the mid-1990s, it was transformed into a venue of the arts and culture. The building continues to provide thousands of square meters of rental space on the ground, first and second floors. The contextual geography of the surrounding wards has an enormous abundance of academic institutions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics that have an impact on future innovation and economic growth of Britain. The site is located be- tween the Bloomsbury Area, Covent Garden, Holborn and Soho areas. These areas are characterised by specific social and economic activities. The Bloombury area has academic institutions; Covent Garden is famous for its central market with plenty of entertainment in the West End such as theatres, street performance and cafes; Holborn is famous for legal professions; Soho is an entertainment district with music, bars and nightclubs.

The proposed scheme transforms the former sorting office, now used as arts and culture venue, by adding other facilities. In addition to art and culture, the building would accommodate the National S.T.E.M. Centre (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The centre would welcome talented graduates to showcase their work, would help employers organise recruitments events, and would serve as a venue for investors, benefactors, institutions, and funded organisations interested in talented young people.

The venue will host, exhibit, and produce links in order to address issues faced by Britain such as a decreasing number of working STEM graduates and a lack of funding of STEM graduates job search. Furthermore, events such as talks, exhibitions and festivals will help create a wider network of experienced and less experienced academics. The building will expand its current activities in providing a Cultural Art Centre that would collaborate with STEM centre to attract the general public and tourists. Numerous international cultural centres have failed to bring together science, art and technology into once area of innovation, due to the fact that too much attention is focused on areas of arts and design.


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2013
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