All work completed with Alexander Richards.
The brief: Design a Demarco archive in Perth. This developed to incorporate a gallery and educational centre. The site analysis led us to discover an aging population and lack of further education and cultural activities within Perth. There was also a clear need for a North-South connection within the town centre.
Through discussions with our client, we established his agenda for the archive; ‘to act as an educator, not only in artistic means, but also in a social, economic and political manner’. Through integrating the Demarco archive into a complex of school and artistic residences, it allowed us to introduce a series of unique and educationally oriented buildings onto sites in need of reunification into Perth.
The final scheme proposes a gallery building and a reading room for visitors connected via the subterranean archive. In addition, the artist’s studios and photography school with associated accommodation, complete this urban intervention.
The sustainability agenda of the scheme, is to develop the community within Perth. An aging population cannot be sustainable. Through our proposal, we aim to sustain a younger population in the town centre. The introduction of the archive into Perth, will enable the town to market itself as a tourist destination in the heart of Scotland. Perth already benefits from an excellent transport network.
Through the introduction of this scheme, more people will live, work and study in the town centre. This will improve the economy of the area and benefit the existing residents.
Increasing the residents within this area, will also encourage the vacant retail units to be reoccupied. This will improve the level of employment to the local people and hence the economic future of Perth.
