Material Cultures and Studio Gil use biomaterials for London community hub

Design studio Material Cultures and architecture practice Studio Gil have used a mix of local, bio-based and recycled materials to create a home for a community food-growing hub in London.

A trio of structures were completed for the Wolves Lane Centre in Wood Green, Haringey, on a site used for horticultural activities since the 17th century, which had fallen into a state of disrepair.

Today, the site is home to a consortium of organisations, including African diaspora-led social enterprise Ubele Initiative, Black-led growing project Black Rootz and vegetable-growing cooperative OrganicLea.

Reviving the semi-derelict site, home to an existing series of 1970s greenhouses, Material Cultures and Studio Gil worked closely with this consortium to design three buildings, constructed from locally-sourced natural materials as well as rubble left on the site.

Material Cultures led the design of an office, classrooms and workshop for Ubele Initiative and a communal distribution building and food store.

Meanwhile, Studio Gil was responsible for the design of a hall hosting communal kitchens, workshops and events.

"The centre was running an increasingly ambitious and complex programme of educational and community activities all within the existing greenhouses, which are boiling hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter," explained Material Cultures founder Paloma Gormley.

"This project allowed key members of the consortium to have a permanent home there, creating an incredibly direct and active relationship and presence on the site which had just not been possible before," she continued.

"This all combines as a statement for inner city people, specifically young people of colour, that they have access to and empowerment through growing spaces," added Studio Gil founder Pedro Gil.

All of the new structures at Wolves Lane Centre were constructed from a palette of local, natural materials alongside recovered materials and waste left over from the previous structures on the site.

Material Cultures developed an overall construction strategy, which made use of rubble trench foundations and brick plinths that support timber frames infilled with straw bales from a local farm.

Externally, the buildings have been finished with slatted timber screens and renders that were created using clay extracted on-site.

These renders have been carried through to the interiors, where they appear alongside the exposed timber frame and timber panelling.

"The project is a living example of how bio-regional materials can be applied to an urban site," said Gormley.

"Plant-based materials sequester and store carbon and, together with minerals such as clay, can ultimately be returned to the ground at the end of their life," she added.

On the buildings are oversized roofs of corrugated metal, described by Gil as a "nod to agricultural architecture", which incorporate solar panels and help to give the centre a street presence.

Wolves Lane Centre's resident groups, as well as local schools and people, were all engaged in a participatory construction process to create the buildings.

"Community participation is at the core of the project, which took place during the design, construction and legacy aspects of the project," said Gil. "It has provided jobs and will support the future of Ubele and OrganicLea, as well as creating education opportunities."

"It was about disseminating the knowledge that the project generated as far as possible – using the site as a classroom," added Gormley.

The completion of the three buildings at Wolves Lane Centre marks the first phase of the project that, subject to further funding, will be expanded with additional elements, including an entrance canopy.

Previous projects by Material Cultures include the transformation of woodland waste into alternatives to plywood and OSB and a timber and reed pavilion designed with Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari.

The photography is by Luke O'Donovan unless stated otherwise. 

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