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Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —
Certified B Corporation — Adaptive Retrofit — Humanising Infrastructure — Making better places — Architecture — Public Realm — Spatial Strategy — Creative Reuse — Urban Transformation — Decarbonisation —

Industrial Colocation and Intensification— Research

London has lost a quarter of its industrial floorspace to other uses in the last 20 years, creating a problem for a city that increasingly needs to make things: to recycle, repair and exchange. 5th Studio has been working with both the public and private sector to investigate new strategies and typologies that can ensure space for industry and making is safeguarded.

Resilient cities require a rich mix of uses. To secure the continued presence of manufacturing and industry in London as a legitimate, visible part of the urban mix, intensified, co-located typologies need to emerge to prove the concept and address market failure to innovate. While post-war planning of the city sought to zone industry to stand apart from other uses, future planning will need to accept closer integration, made possible and practical by better design to reduce potential nuisance and conflict. By intensifying existing industrial sites it can be possible for land to be released for other uses, but careful design is required to ensure neighbourly relationships that mitigate noise and servicing of industrial uses.

The pandemic revealed how an upheaval in working culture exposes a city dependent on logistics, on dark kitchens andthe ability for rapid transformation. Space for manufacturing is now at a premium. Our project with Bloqs, a social enterprise in Enfield, exposed how an industry too fragmented into ‘white-van’ individualism benefits from access to clean,safe, well-lit facilities. Intensification can also build a cross-investment micro-economy and a ‘commonwealth’ of co-supporting firms. The use of high-tech shared machinery and the creation of a commonwealth of know-how and supportbrings significant productivity benefits and the ability to skill up and scale up. It also opens a male-dominated economy to greater diversity, creating a safe space for women to work in manufacturing.

BLOQS / The conversion and extension of a redundant vehicle testing station to form a new home for Bloqs, London’s biggest makerspace for profossionals providing workshops for metal and wood, fabric and paint studios, CNC and textiles.
Illustration from our research into typologies / Considering how common shared spaces can provide cultural benefits to both industrial tenants and local residents, providing a positive threshold where the area's businesses and communities can collaborate.

Our recent projects have included a pilot industrial intensification project for the GLA, exploring how to intensify industry and co-locate with other uses on an inner-city site next to a transport hub and a thriving High Street. The strategy development focussed on the importance of retention of both CAZ critical uses and local businesses and SMEs, through detailed phasing and engaging key stakeholders in the design process.

5th Studio developed a comprehensive area strategy and vision for the site which demonstrates the long-term benefits of investment in its productive spaces that support a diverse and inclusive local economy. Intrinsic to this success has been our rigorous approach to critical site analysis, including understanding the existing operational sensitivities and employment typologies. This proved key to safeguarding the retention of employment uses, improving access for industrial and logistics,and identifying areas for optimisation to unlock space for added value – both in terms of development and interms of social value.

Intelligent but robust design solutions for industrial intensification – responding to the local physical and economic contexts – were viability tested with operators and commercial consultants. This provided the justifications for the adoption of emerging industrial models such as stacked workspaces, unlocking space for new homes, with no-net-loss of industrial space. These proposals have supported the development and testing of local and London-wide planning policies, shaping development site designations, urban design frameworks and metrics for assessing site development potential.

Illustration from our research into typologies / Servicing to industrial uses is key to their viability, with adequate provision of common and private loading bays, goods lifts and adaptable building fabric fundamental to providing long-term flexibility of use.

CONTACT

studio@5thstudio.co.uk

recruitment@5thstudio.co.uk

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