Refurbished modernist building to become new artistic hub: Forma HQ to launch in Southwark, London this summer
FormaHQ. Image courtesy Forma Arts & Media. Photograph by Max Creasy.
LONDON
.- Commissioned by Southwark Council in collaboration with curator Aldo Rinaldi, the newly refurbished modernist building was designed by Sanchez Benton Architects with international artist Gabriel Kuri. The light-filled structure, situated on Great Dover Street by Bricklayers roundabout in Southwark, includes Formas new offices, five affordable artist studios, a residency space for visiting international artists, an event space and room for a café and bookshop. The rooftop was converted into a new public garden further designed with celebrated horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett and will be fitted with furniture designed by Kuri.
RetroFirst Stories: Sanchez Benton on transforming a 1960s parking structure
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The latest in an AJ series looking at architects who have saved buildings from the bulldozers or given them a new lease of life
With up to 40 per cent of carbon emissions coming from the construction industry, the profession needs to find ways of adapting the type of buildings it designs, and fast.
In order to tackle the climate crisis the default – and less carbon-hungry – option for any project should be to adapt and re-use an existing building, one of the key demands of the AJ’s RetroFirst campaign.
With a small budget of £164,200, Sanchez Benton's project near London’s Elephant and Castle for an actress client focuses on thermal improvement through
AJ 40 under 40: Sanchez Benton architects
14 December 2020 By Rob Wilson, illustration by Simon Hayes
The AJ 40 under 40 practice, formed by Carlos Sanchez and Tom Benton, produces work that while deceptively low-key is materially rich
Having met at last-generation 40 under 40 practice 6a architects, where they both worked on the RIBA Stirling-Prize shortlisted Juergen Teller Studio project, Tom Benton, 34, and Carlos Sanchez, 37, set up practice together in 2017. Their combined experience also included stints at Jonathan Woolf, David Chipperfield and Dow Jones.
They ground their approach in thorough research, considering the background and ‘cultural setting’ of each project, and not just its physical context, as key. It is, they say, an effort to develop buildings that add social value to their surroundings as ‘frames for life’.