Power Station

Site: Ampthill Square Estate, Hampstead Road, Somers Town

Agenda:

To empower local migrant women and combat isolation, mental health problems and depression through education and language skills, social opportunities, development of working skills and involvement in the local community.

Provide private all-female spaces for education, socialising and childcare services for the women and public leisure facilities for the local community, which will all be managed by the women themselves, aiding integration and working skills.

Money earned from facilities open the public will fund the running of the building.

It will be close or even adjoined to the women’s homes to accommodate cultural/religious boundaries. It should be self-powered through energy/water harvesting as well as in management.Electricity is harvested from wind and solar energy as well scavenged vibrational energy from trains to and from Euston station (HS2), and movement and activity within the building.

Brief:

Self-powered community centre run by women from local new migrant communities (namely Bengali, Pakistani, Ethiopian and Somali groups), sited in and around the women’s homes.Comprised of:

Bath House: reviving the public bath as a social experience- separate private all female and public spaces

Library: with private teaching and reading spaces

Gym: private all female and public exercise spaces

Public Gardens: indoor/outdoor social spaces with care and play facilities for children and where produce is cultivated by the women and sold to the local community

Rainwater Harvesting: for baths and crop cultivation

Energy Generation: harvesting solar, wind and vibrational energy from trains

Community: Women from migrant communities to run the centre in: Construction, Management, Administration, Running of energy and water harvesting and equipment, Crop cultivation and farming, Maintenance

Other home-dwelling members of local community, such as unemployed and elderly community to participate in running of centre, and activities. Ampthill Estate community to use services and benefit from food production

Funding: Collaboration from sources of different interest:

Hs2 Compensation Scheme- compensation funding for lost land and rebuilding of community facility due to demolition for new train routesHopscotch Asian Women’s Centre- empowering, educating and integrating womenCamden Council- education and employmentEnergy Saving Trust (Government-run)- generating renewable energy locally and encouraging self-sufficiency

Material Realization: The structure should be as lightweight and adaptable as possible to be easily assembled and maintained by the Women.This could take the form of frameworks and lightweight modular or tensile structural systems

Materials could also be sourced from the local community as much as possible, such as recycled plastics, steel and fabrics from household items. Building materials can be brought in direct to site by train.