MCM Partnership, shared with us their design for the Surrey Townshift Competition, for which they received the first overall prize. See more images and architect’s description after the break.
NOW. The trek to the mall; get dressed and drive. The radio acts as brain filler until you reach the mall. No conversation, no opportunity to meet friends to pause along the day’s journey.
WOW. The vision for Guildford’s intersection is to create an amazing street; SUPERBIA. By emphasizing the corners, this design proposes to act as a catalyst for a new community along 152nd Street. The design seeks to replace the desert of surface parking through the insertion of spaces – filling the gap with new rituals besides driving, exploring the relationship of the public realm above the vehicles. Neighbourhood identity is created through colour. Colour has remarkable properties in making a place; it is emotional, it has smell, it has memory, it unites people like team jerseys of their favourite sports team or country of origin.
Reacting to its location, the proposed buildings massing responds to street and site orientation like stacked logs; creating a series of courtyards at ground level and above. The massing and expression are inspired by childhood memories of what was once and what could be; courtyards for festivals and daily street markets, living beside your favourite places to meet friends; shelter from the rain; elevated walking trails; quiet places to feel the morning sun.
