Kirkgate Craft Centre Part 1 Project 2024 Thomas Hannay University of Leeds Leeds | UK This architectural scheme proposes a sustainable arts and crafts centre, open to and promoting of, public engagement, with the purpose of providing facility, access, and education in traditional arts and crafts such as woodwork, metalwork, ceramics, digital design, and painting. The building serves a multi-disciplinary function, with public café and shop on the ground floor, as well as vertical farms which serve as a means of growing produce in-house which can be used on-site and by the local community. The centre is co-owned and operated by design studio ASSEMBLE, and local artist collective Kirkgate Arts. Assemble will use the workshops for personal projects, as well as offering public programs aimed at education in craft. Members of Kirkgate Arts will help to operate public functions, benefitting from individual private studios. The centre is tall, sitting in between Kirkgate market and the corn exchange along historic Kirkgate street in Leeds, and will become a local landmark among the public. The building incorporates biophilic design in the form of structural timber combined with rammed earth walls, providing a more sustainable alternative to concrete, making use of an abundance of local clay-rich soil in the local geographical area, creating a strong, masonry finish. Tutor(s) Justin Lunn