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Shelter Factory

Part 1 Project 2015
Benjamin Michael Pole
De Montfort University | UK
Shelter Factory draws on the history and culture of Brick Lane, to create a system for the production and distribution of emergency relief shelters within the UK and abroad. At the same time it offers a way or re-appropriating existing structures as a means of development that conserves the character of a particular area.

The project is based in the old Shoreditch Underground Station, and utilizes the existing rail infrastructure as a means of distributing the shelters manufactured on site. A siding off the mainline is re-excavated with the new factory being constructed over the void created. Light wells through the factory allow light into the space whilst also providing a visual reference to the history of the site from the new building. The old station building is preserved as a visitor centre allowing the public to engage with the process while conserving local history.

Brick Lane has a strong history of providing shelter to those in need, and this project aims to continue that tradition at a time when emergency shelter has never been needed more, whether that is in response to people displaced by natural disasters and war, or the current migrant crisis in Europe.


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2015
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