Places for Making: East Tilbury Part 1 Project 2011 Andrew Gibbs University of Cambridge | UK East Tilbury sits on the Thames gateway, a product of the visionary BataShoe Corporation. At the point of its conception, the town’s existencewas one of symbiotic exchange: a fluid model of industrial productivity inexchange for space, fresh air and a range of social infrastructures andleisure provisions. With Bata’s subsequent abandonment, such have falleninto disrepair and disuse; what now presides is an overwhelming state ofdeflated optimism. While minor growth of the industrial estate has beenwitnessed since the 1950s, the occupancy scenario remains chaotic; withoutspecialised focus and isolated from the consciousness of the settlement’sresiding population.The proposal’s main function is the fabrication of stage sets, providinga purpose built arena for set assembly. Deep catwalks facilitate popupworkshops to establish themselves as the set grows, overcoming theissues faced by inner city fabricators. The building is posited as a workingbackstage, exploring the shifting nature of these transient spaces and thechaotic worlds that occupy them.In addition, the project provides young people with comprehensive trainingin theatre-based trades, gaining experience working on live projects. Suchallows the opportunity for the wider settlement to witness and engage withthe estate’s productivity, forging links between younger generations and theestate, for whom the nostalgia of Bata has little significance. In similar terms,the proposal negotiates the delicate junction between settlement and estate,looking to extend the public realm of the town centre and remove the hostilebarriers that culminated in the estate’s introversion.The project explores how building character changes with varied occupancy,understanding the theatrical workshop as a den of ambitious creation,exhibiting a layering of themes over time. As a result, such environments,caked in raw material and construction, are arenas of exhilaratingatmosphere. Here, construction takes place in a steel matrix, subdivided byconcrete and timber partitions; elements of set that compartmentalise thebuilding volume, exploring the concept of the stage set and its allusions toambiguous spaces that lie beyond the realm of immediate performance. Tutor(s)Mr Jay Gort