Striated Street

The design draws upon the forms and spatial arrangements of a number of previous small commercial projects. This approach provides an alternative to directly referencing the immediate context—and is favoured due to the incoherence and alien character of the railway station, piazza and adjacent commercial buildings, in relation to the brick and render vernacular of the surrounding town centre. Similarly, the brief suggests a great diversity of potential functions for the spaces—and so the design strategy provides a mechanism for engendering a specific character, rather aspiring to the folly of generic and infinite flexibility. 

The continuity of the piazza paving into the spaces, and the views permitted through them, contribute to the lightweight character of the buildings. This aspect of the design can be understood as a more permanent architectural manifestation of the informality of the existing stalls on the site, and the positive attributes that its current use exhibits.