
The Gasholder
Commercial
Status
Competition Entry
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Location
United Kingdom​
“Shelter” redefines the sensory experience of the visitors through three free standing concrete shells. Gasholders have long been seen as silent industrial structures secluded from the cities and the outside world. From the emptiness of these cylindrical structures “Shelter” was born by transforming the hollowness into intimate urban spaces where the social strings of society could interact and develop.
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The endless loop now extends into concrete shells covering cultural amphitheaters, commercial spaces, and heated swimming pools. Perforations allow a subtle interaction with the exterior, that can be converted into a more intimate microcosm by closing these skylights with ETFE bubbles. Visitors can relax in these urban spaces, shop, or just pas by, developing their sensorial experience through an appealing ambience. The shells communicate with the cloudy London Skies as white and irregular free forms emerging from revitalized industrial entities. These oversized structural elements in fiber reinforced concrete, offer the visitor a visual superposition of variable volumes and heights. Multiple yet hidden entrances to the site welcome visitors from all sides, reinforcing the cylindrical character that morphed into separate urban experiences defined by a cultural amphitheater, a toroidal commercial space, and a centrifugal waterpark.
“Shelter” is now a synonym of reunion in a time where cities expand into concrete monochrome urban disintegrations.



