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The Class Factory

Part 2 Project 2012
Luke Murray
London South Bank University | UK
The Class Factory acts as the seminal work of the University Technical Colleges, a prototype for the next generation of student academies, protruding through its surroundings, and carving its location within the urban landscape.

In much the same way the Festival of Britain was an attempt to celebrate British design, and revive morale after the devastation of World War II, the class factory aims to reinstate Britain as a leading manufacturer, through the processes of the UTC, which David Cameron portrays as the "The next great poverty busting structural change we need ... " With the class factory an acting catalyst alongside the JCB Academy, as we prepare for the copious number of other schools set to follow around 2013.

Located in the heart of Marylebone, an epicentre of London's historic wealth, renowned for its affluence and desirability. Yet we are led to believe the bourgeois no longer exist. Instead they manifest in different ways, through the ornamented facades, with this central location indicating London's huge dichotomy of wealth carving the London boroughs, establishing a stratified City, with the wealthy congregating in it's centre.

The factory will work in conjunction with the Portman Estate, Haas Automation, for the supply of CNC machinery, and Hanson for the supply of stone with the pupils bearing the logo of all three companies upon their uniforms. The school will adopt a socially responsible role regarding the importance of craftsmanship for a future of U.K. production, whilst simultaneously providing contemporary methods for engineers specialising in stone, allowing the school to understand production; operationally, socially and environmentally.

The process of stone carving is long and laborious, involving a plethora of different stages, from roughing, carving, sanding and polishing. All of which are contained in dedicated exposed and enclosed, raw workshops.

Embedding aspects of sustainable design to coincide with the actions of carving saw the emergence of, seemingly enigmatic, yet strategically implemented wind catchers as a form of passive ventilation through the production spaces. These volcanic projections explode out of the facades resembling the rugged, unfettered texture of natural stone, a sublime mountain in London's core.

Luke Murray

Tutor(s)
Ms Lilly Kudic
2012
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