CABANON ON HARROW

This live project is developed on a vision for a hybrid programme for student living, with integrated botanic gardens, in the context of our campus, at Harrow. The concept behind phase 1 of the project, the healing gardens, is well-being through learning about and growing healing herbs and medicinal mushrooms. This idea of well-being and ‘allotments’ is transferred to phase 2, the student living. The proposal provides 36 rooms of student accommodation as well as summer/winter kitchen spaces. The spaces between the two clusters form individual ‘allotment’ gardens and outdoor dining. The architectural concept is based on analysis/research regarding self-built principles of modularity and inside out living. The three key design drives of this proposal are modularity, seasonality, and separation of spaces. The aim for the design of the living units is to achieve a clear separation of spaces. And so, the bedrooms were developed on the idea of splitting the different zones, such as ‘studying’ and ‘sleeping/resting’, to provide clear spatial separation between each activity. The construction method is based on a post-and-beam primary structure, with cladding made from recycled timber planks and polycarbonate. The external walls are of prefabricated timber panels with mycelium insulation.