The Nest
Tuckey Design Studio, Office Sian, Poplar HARCA, Studio Knight Stokoe, Webb Yates Engineers, Jane Derges
The Festival of Britain played a key part in reimagining London’s Poplar neighbourhood as a new, aspirational, community-first Britain that celebrated the value of homes for all. Today however, much has changed. In Tower Hamlets, the most diverse and densely populated borough in the country, space is at a premium with multi-generational families living in overcrowded homes.
The Nest addresses the limited opportunities available to young adults wishing to take a first step away from home, whilst staying close to family, friends and community. It breathes new life into well-known, yet underused, town centre follies and community buildings, doubling up as homes for young people. A new form of social tenancy is offered at Chrisp Street Market’s Clock Tower and Trussler Hall, where tenants become civic guardians, activators and energisers of these underutilised assets, championing social connectedness and community. A diversity of skillsets, ideas and ties to community are the highest forms of currency - The Nest’s residents might include a trainee doctor, boxing coach, or care worker.
In exchange, The Nest offers a unique living experience within a community-focussed, regenerative, climate-resilient landscape. Constructed using prefabricated structural cork, it upcycles a waste byproduct into lightweight modular blocks forming structure, insulation and waterproofing. Starting with Poplar, The Nest is imagined as a series of low-cost, low-carbon interventions that plug into every existing civic structure around the country, providing guardianship in exchange for low-energy homes with private, shared and public spaces, and revitalising the neighbourhood for both existing communities and future generations.
Tuckey Design Studio
Joe Murray, Architecture
Emaad Damda, Architecture
Jonathan Tuckey, Architecture
Office Sian
Gurmeet Sian, Architecture
Poplar HARCA
Alex Jeremy, Housing Association Client
Studio Knight Stokoe
Claire Stokoe, Landscape Architect/Urbanist
Martin Knight, Landscape Architect/Urbanist
Webb Yates
Steve Webb, Structural Engineering
Adam Engstrom, Building Services Engineer
Jane Derges, Sociological / Anthropological Research
