034 Grafton Centre 1/11 Client Competition Entry submitted to Trafford County Council Location Trafford Budget ​ Collaborators Hometown Plus - www.hometownplus.co.uk Altrincham Open Studios Manchester School of Art - Architecture Students - www.msa.ac.uk Downloads Full submission - https://bit.ly/3l110m3 Community-led enterprises, assemble! Expanding our range to include the redevelopment of larger shopping complexes, we applied to be involved in the regeneration of the Grafton Centre, a large 1960's monolith which has been largely vacant for several years. Following on from the success of the regeneration of Altrincham's Market Quarter we proposed a community of local boutiques and spaces for local initiatives supporting everything that makes this corner of Greater Manchester one of the most liveable towns in the country. Our proposal extended the current centre vertically with a lightweight glulam timber frame into which rotating commercial/community/residential uses could be plugged in. This was coupled with a complete replan of the upper deck and significant recladding operation to blend the 19 storey hotel tower better into the local surroundings.

023 WikiShed 1/15 Client Private Client Location Southampton Budget ​ Collaborators ING Design - Structural Engineers Downloads ​ The Wiki-est Shed in the West Our first full scale test of the WikiHouse system was a project affectionately called the WikiShed. A single storey, 6-frame structure which we designed and was manufactured at a local CNC workshop in Sheffield. At only £200/m² this is very inexpensive for what is effectively the structural frame for a usable garden office type building. We look forward to completing more projects of this type in the future and using WikiHouse more widely.

The Art Gallery as a White Cube Shaun McIntosh August 2016 Article Inside the White Cube - An influential book by Brian O'Doherty lays out the fundamentals of the phenomenology of nihilism Until recently the ‘white cube’ art gallery - categorised by neutral walls, neutral floors, neutral ceilings and neutral volumes - had established itself as the modus operandi for the conception of galleries. It was first conceived that this approach would allow the art of the gallery to command sole attention in that; the lack of peripheral stimulus accentuated attention onto the art. The ‘white cube’ today, has come to symbolise associations contradicting its apparent neutrality; it has come to symbolise a closed system of values. Its environment has taken on: a sense of law, an air that is similar to the formality of the courtroom aesthetic, the sterile condition of the laboratory and the sanctity of non-secular buildings. It has evolved into a space that is intrinsically linked with the rigid values associated with how artistic society expects the visitor to perform when in the space: The white cube and its neutrality dictates that the visitor should remain silent, wary of even the most delicate of decibels that may escape via yawn or itch. The visitor must intend the art in a specific way: “true abstraction lies in the precise presence of the art”, imagery and connotations are not to be discussed for fear of imaginary cackles exclaiming ‘philistine!’ from the gluttonous smarmalade stained mouths of the artistic bourgeoisie… The actual White Cube gallery is a staple of the art industry in London and Hong It is precisely this atmosphere that dilutes how we experience artwork; as it forms expectations of how we should perceive it. The original condition of neutrality and immersion of the white cube has now been replaced by the security guard, lingering in the air. Socially, it is this closed system of values that further detaches the layman from allowing art into their life. Art portrayed in this environment is didactic and condescending in that the environment instructs people how art should be experienced and marginalises those who cannot and choose not to empathise. It is this air of objectivity that belittles people and makes them feel inferior for not sharing what is in fact only one way of experiencing the composition of: form, texture, colour, light etc… In essence, the intended pure neutrality of the white cube implies expectations that the visitor also behave neutrally and remove themselves from their own sense of self. They are to die and welcome limbo. If they wish to engage art with a unique perspective, they are not welcome. Is this the spirit of art? The white cube and its objectivity is withering, does this now mean that we can look forward to a generation of uniquely composed art galleries or have architects just temporarily run out of white paint? 1/2

Newbie takes on WikiHouse Extension Premdyl Shadan September 2023 Article ​ I often hear in my household that I’m rubbish at D-I-Y. “Fix the lamp”, “hang my pictures on the wall”, “get that pipe to stop leaking” are common phrases thrown around in the Shadan household. As a person with high-drive for accepting challenges, I recurrently accept these endeavours - attempted with the help of YouTube tutorials - but many a time I have been unsuccessful. Mum would repeatedly express that it was strange that someone in the construction industry, never mind someone who draws detail drawings on a weekly basis, could have such restricted ability with a screwdriver or hammer. Well, I’ve got news for them, I’ve recently assisted with the ultimate D-I-Y project - Charlie’s house extension (and yes, it’s still standing). I’m sure that most of you reading this have been following Architecture Unknown for a while and may have deduced that we are big fans of the WikiHouse system. In simple terms, the system is like an IKEA-like flatpack which comes with a bunch of jigsaw pieces that you smash together with a mallet to form your very own building. This building method harnesses the very essence of D-I-Y, a bunch of mates over for the weekend, get fixing and end up with your very own designer space- in this case a rear extension that was built within 48 hours. Having been part of the AU? team for a bit less than year now, I thought it was high time that I actually got my hands dirty and tested the WikiHouse system for myself, so I did the smart thing and volunteered my time to assist in any way I could. I’m not going to lie, as a general overthinker, I had many questions in the back of my head including “is it that easy?”, “how long is this going to take?” and “can someone unfit like myself actually do this?”. Little did I know, fast forward a couple of days, that we would achieve an actual rear extension. Let me break down the journey for you guys out there. ​ Rise and shine on day one - a very early start but time was of the essence as we wanted to construct this extension in good weather; lucky for us it was sunny throughout. Strategising was key for this build as we had to utilise Charlie’s drive and garden for several stations that had different purposes. Step One was to organise! We started by sorting out all the CNC cut pieces according to their respective labels and tags. It was important to correspond the number of pieces to the inventory sheet, just so that we knew if we had any missing or mislabelled pieces. Lucky for us, nothing significant was out of place (thank you Digital Woodoo for sorting us out!). Although tiresome, this first process set us up for a quicker assembly, A.K.A. Step Two of the WikiHouse build. This is where the Instruction Manual came into play, as it describes how to put your ‘jigsaw puzzle’ together. including the beams, the floor cassettes, the walls and your roof essentially by hammering the pieces together with a mallet. In the closed box sections such as the beams, it was also vital for insulation to be placed inside to avoid thermal bridging (yes, insulation is itchy so wear gloves). Although it doesn’t sound like much, I did find day one super labour intensive as we aimed to have all the pieces ready for construction the following day. In the end we did most of them which was surprising to say the least. 35 cassettes in 7 hours - not bad I guess! Then came day two, the actual construction of this extension. We had doubled the number of volunteers overnight and now included Josiah and Jane from RootedIn and Steve from Greater Manchester Community Led Homes alongside the whole AU team, which did make the construction of the extension much easier. Working our way from bottom to top, we starting with the floor joists that are connected to the columns. The structural pieces were quite heavy so it did require two to three people to place them onto the screw piles and foundation rails. For the lighter pieces, it was a very satisfying moment to be able to carry the pieces and slot them into the structure (mostly satisfying anyway, sometimes force was needed haha). What was tricky was avoiding minor shifts that misaligned the extension to the existing wall of Charlie’s house but a little pull here and there sorted itself out. Clamps did come in handy to ensure that the pieces were snuggly fitted to avoid airgaps. After an additional 9 hours on day two, we had completed Charlie’s extension and it was standing on its own! The whole process was very heart-warming I must say, as it really did bring all of us together especially since we working towards a common goal. For someone with close-to-no physical build experience, the WikiHouse system came in super handy and was not as difficult a build as I thought it would be. If I were to summarise for anyone wanting to build a WikiHouse I would say “if I can do this, you can too!”. Screenshot 2023-09-04 114853.png Screenshot 2023-09-04 115349.png Screenshot 2023-09-04 115112.png Screenshot 2023-09-04 114853.png 1/7

049 Piccadrawy 1/8 Client Playhouse Competition Location Online - www.playhouse-competition.com Budget ​ Collaborators Organised By: Carma Masson - playgrounddesignstudio.com Barney Ibbotson - www.barneyibbotson.com Ben Clark - www.benclarkdesign.co.uk Downloads Download Piccadrawy for FREE - www.bit.ly/3aEvkOD Learn what it takes to be an architect We don't often enter competitions but when we do we try and make sure its for a good cause. If you're reading this in 2022 then the whole subgenre of lockdown games will hopefully feel like a distant memory but for a few months staying inside with some exciting architectural games to play was the height of your social calendar. Our contribution to the fantastic, not-for-profit Playhouse Design Competition is a distributed game to be played either remotely with friends or within your household. Each player choses a quadrant of Piccadilly gardens to redesign with a peculiar client in mind. Use pens, pencils, glitter, glue or anything else but most importantly your imagination and see where you end up. You can get your hands on Piccadrawy for FREE in the Downloads section below.

003 Mayfield Imaginarium 1/18 Client ​ Location Manchester Budget ​ Collaborators Hometown Plus - www.hometownplus.co.uk Manchester Shield - www.facebook.com/McrShield Urbed www.urbed.coop Downloads Full Report - www.bit.ly/3kYG0MO Discovering Manchester's lost district A self-funded and produced citizen-led exploration of the impact that the current proposals for one of Manchester's most significant urban development opportunities might have on city centre communities. The redevelopment of Mayfield Station over the next 10 years will craft huge changes to the fabric of the city centre. Covering over 8% of the total area, this under-used industrial estate will be transformed into a residential behemoth. We felt it was important to open a wider discussion around Manchester City Council's SRF consultation and ran a series of workshops, games and open lectures to discuss alternative proposals the embraced user engagement.

Winter 2023 EZINE07 - Download Now Architecture Unknown February 2023 Article Welcome to the 2023 Winter EZINE! Welcome back to the Winter Edition of the Architecture Unknown Ezine where you can get all your AU News update fixes. It’s been a very chilly winter so far but that hasn’t stopped the hustle. We have some very exciting updates from various projects undergoing construction and introducing new projects in 2023. We are expanding our expertise into PassivHaus as a way to create more sustainable projects moving forward. To all our friends, clients and casual readers, as we head into 2023 we hope you had an enjoyable 2022 and hope to see you over the coming months. Follow us on our social media and website to keep up to date with our latest projects. Until next time. Daniel AU Co-Director ​ UNDER CONSTRUCTION A two storey side extension in Altrincham is under construction. It’s designed to contain a reading room with garden facing windows and a recording suite at ground floor and a private study at 1st floor. A-I-D COMPETITION As part of this year’s Global Challenge 2022-23, AU and RootedIn have submitted the Old Vicarage Youth Centre in hopes to accelerate its development. We are the only project from the UK and one of four in Europe and are short-listed! ALL DONE WITH CONSTRUCTION The Victory Room of the St. Clement’s Church in Openshaw went through some inclusive changes! A new ramp and entrance door is currently under construction for easy accessibility for visitors and goods. NEW AND UPCOMING- GLENVIEW EXTENSION A family home that is spacious and open, creating a haven that looks out into the glen at the every floor in the house. AU’S VERY OWN PASSIVE HOUSE DESIGNER AU? are proud to announce that our Co-Director, Daniel, has successfully passed the Passive House Designer course and is now officially a Passive House Certified Designer. Sustainable design is embedded at every level of the AU process and it’s increasingly something our clients are seeking us out for. It lies absolutely hand in glove with our community-led design approach. A future of scarcity is not something we want to see as it will affect every aspect of the communal life we think is so important. 1/4

Increasing Social Value Through Architecture Daniel Kelso April 2018 News Peel Park Community Centre converts an underused pavilion in a multi-functional community hub that protects the longevity of one of the area's most active charities The question of how to increase the social value of projects and to swing the priority back from ultimate economic gain towards a more balanced approach is a very difficult one and at times a fruitless endeavour. Since we have lost the affordable homes criteria the situation has got far worse. New ‘laws’ and schemes seek to address the void but are clearly inadequate and the system falls massively short on providing good integrated urban landscape. Aside from affordable housing we are clearly missing the adequate provision of valuable community assets. The provision of community assets has by and large in the past been provided by local councils and authorities but with the stripping of council assets, budgets and morale, we seem to be losing more and more of the frontline action that communities really need. So what is a community asset and why do we need them? Community assets fundamentally are land and buildings owned or managed by community organisations. These assets cover a wide spectrum and include: town halls, community centres, sports facilities, affordable housing and libraries while also encompassing services such as: drug addiction clinics, homeless shelters and youth clubs. These are spaces owned by the community to provide community services; with the community the main beneficiary. However in the eyes of the council and developers it appears that ‘community assets’ are now: boutique shops, cafes, restaurants, high street stores and copious office spaces, while we shouldn’t forget the abundance of carparks springing up around the city. This for me is a result of the imbalance between social value and economic value that is systemic in British society and especially in large scale urban developments. I would highlight that I do not deny that we need more housing, more workspaces; the growth of our cities is inevitable and must be embraced, but my concern is that without a more balanced approach, our cities will fail and the future occupants will not have the quality of life they deserve. ‘Community assets’ knit spaces, people and cities together, they are a fundamental part of the urban fabric and we must endeavour to increase these vital assets. Concept imagining of the Mayfield District Park - ownership is a huge part of defining a community asset, how privatised public spaces like this are managed is a huge determinant of their impact. How do we stop developers and those who grant the schemes from building with little regard to the urban fabric and aiming for maximum profit? I propose a possible solution that for all new schemes, 20% of the total build must create social value. I hear you say, but how do we measure social value? I see this 20% being provided in two distinct ways. Firstly, the developer must provide space (20% of overall build) to community assets; assets defined by the local council. Providing direct funding for a fixed term to a local community asset i.e. pay 50% for 6 years of the local library staff budget. Developers can offset their losses through tax breaks or a loosening of certain planning laws. This means local communities are directly affected and forces schemes to properly engage with the area. Secondly, allowing developers to offset in these ways would necessitate the creation of far tighter and more comprehensive ‘strategic framework’s’ or a ‘community asset framework’, created with the full engagement of the local community. These frameworks would set the guidelines for these 20% social value gains based on a balance of: social value, local desires and economic requirements. It would thus guarantee the communities were receiving what was needed, whilst also having an element of control over how these assets are allocated. I believe this method has the potential to benefit both parties. It would also move the responsibility of the council to provide these assets, to a more advisory role, helping reduce costs on already broke councils. Conclusion I feel it is important that we look at alternative ways to fund and develop our cities and their communities: to reduce the burden on tax payers whilst allowing the inhabitants of the city input into how their communities are comprised. We must also advocate for a strong council, who can act on these ideas and bring about change. 1/0

120 Netherwood Road netherwood.jpg 22.129.402 P1- PROPOSED ELEVATIONS - Copy.jpg 22.129.402 P1- PROPOSED ELEVATIONS - Copy (2).jpg netherwood.jpg 1/3 Client Private Client Location Northenden, Manchester Budget £250k Collaborators ​ Downloads ​ Bringing a Modern Touch to Northenden The homeowner desires to remodel and expand the residence to accommodate their evolving family needs. This includes the incorporation of accessible ground floor living spaces for a 'blue badge' holder, whose physical requirements necessitate the adaptation and extension of the property. The goal is to create a home that is both accessible and functional, allowing the individual to reside in the house comfortably for a lifetime. The house has never been modernised so along with improvements to the layout of the house, the Client wishes to modernise, improve and enhance the external facades & environment as well.

038 Silecroft Beach Front Cafe Competition - Shortlisted 1/11 Client Copeland Borough Council and Silecroft Parish Location Silecroft, Cumbria Budget £380k Collaborators ING Design - Structural Engineers Mantis Energy - Services Engineers - www.mantisenergy.co.uk Jenny Sewart - Architect Downloads ​ Beauty and the Beach Situated in the corner of the Lake District National Park, Silecroft Beach is the only bathing beach within the boundary of the Lakes and is envisioned as a premier West Lakes tourist destination. Exciting! So when a competition was announced to design a beach front cafe and tourist hub we obviously jumped at the chance... along with everyone else who saw the massive article in the Architect's Journal (https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/competitions/competition-silecroft-beach-cafe-cumbria). Out of the nearly 60 entries our proposals were one of three which were Shortlisted, though we unfortunately did not win the project in the end. Our proposals focus on reviving the vernacular form of the white harled fisherman's cottage in the area and using WikiHouse to lower the building costs and involve the local community. Utilising a material palate of white render, ceramic tiles, lightweight translucent cladding and timber our designs anchored three projecting traditional volumes to a services building which were arrayed to capture views out to sea and towards nearby Blackcombe Fell.

Co-living + Architecture - Is this the future of housing? Architecture Unknown August 2020 Podcast Is 18m² enough? Developers seem to think so! How would you describe the future of housing? Many people would say co-living is the answer but what does this really mean? An idyllic community retreat for the lonely or a "pack-'em-in-tight" developer designed skyscraper full of 18m² "apartments" and shared kitchens? Come with us on a journey to explore the realities of how co-living is being co-opted by duplicitous developers and find out why the future of housing need more thought and fewer buzzwords. Mark Zuckerberg likes co-living and if that isn't a mark of success then what is Also in the news, we instigate our own arson investigation surrounding the red tape bonfire Robert Jenrick is setting for future planning regulations and provide some positive relief by highlighting how hot-right-now scheme Nightingale in Australia is bucking the trend to deliver high quality, affordability and community values within the co-living sector. 1/13

+44 (0)789 401 2780 - Charlie +44 (0)742 764 7381 - Dan ​ info@architectureunknown.co.uk ​ Suite 1.07, The Courtyard, Royal Mill, 17 Redhill St, Manchester, M4 5BA CONTACT US FOR A CONSULTATION !Thanks for submitting Submit