Maker’s Den

Maker's Den transforms an abandoned factory on Gillender Street into a unique maker’s community by introducing a new material circulation that reutilizes the industrial legacy in East London.

It reshapes our living world and invites new design methods for reuse through the activities occurring in the metal and wood workshops, storage space, lecture hall, work stations, and public areas.

ROLE

Interior Design MA 2024

TOOLS

Rhino, Enscape, Photoshop, Illustrator, Laser cutting

Site Analysis

East London was built on the foundation of making by the Huguenots. These French immigrants sold their trades through weaving silk and other consumer goods to the rich English in West London. By the 1930s, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets developed a 170,000 square feet part-Victorian, part ‘30’s modernist warehouse on Gillender Street. Throughout the years, this building experienced being a flour mill, a WWII equipment factory, a storage unit, to now an abandoned lot. As the neighboring communities continue to attract artists and creatives, this building has the potential to bring back the livelihood of making.

Material Storage Strategy

With all the construction and new developments happening around East London, construction waste and material pollution have been particularly apparent in and around River Lea and River Thames. In order to develop an approach that encourages reuse and public education of construction waste, the factory aims to circulate and recycle materials by providing resources for makers to create and the public the enjoy.