Green refuge

FINALIST of London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

+ FINALIST

London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

[20573]

Green refuge

Team

Name: Marwa Rouane

Instagram: marwa.rne

Nationality: Canadian/Moroccan 

Institution / Company: Laval University

Name: Lilas Thanh Couture

Instagram: lilaculous

Nationality: Swiss / Canadian / Vietnamese

Institution / Company: Laval University

Name: Myroslava Byba

Instagram: myroslavaab

Nationality: Ukrainian / French

Institution / Company: Laval University

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Everything begins above. A vertical void organizes the building, like an open section between street and greenhouse. In light, plants take their place and grow slowly; time stretches, and the rhythm becomes that of growth. Visible from the street, this living presence shows the building is inhabited.

Below, the building opens. Visitors enter and move through, sensing the cycle before understanding it: fragments, views, clues. Eyes rise , connections form. Production is not concealed; it belongs to daily life, integrated into the route.

At harvest, movement continues toward the processing rooms. The atmosphere changes: damp earth yields to warmth and steam. One prepares, cooks, learns. Gestures are visible and shared. What grows and what transforms remain close, readable, never abstract.

Open to the inner courtyard, the café offers a pause. The courtyard is a refuge, away from noise, where light softens. Around it, the hall stays in motion; crossings and transparencies let light, air, and gazes pass freely.

Plant life follows its cycle, from growth to plate. The visitor does too, not only consuming, but witnessing, understanding, sometimes participating. Green Refuge offers a simple place where the living cycle shapes uses, encounters, and shared time, in the heart of the city.

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Jury Comments

– David Aldana

Interesting concept but it needs to be researched further. Greenhouses are indeed a great way to produce food in harsh environments but there is a price to be paid, the light pollution it creates is overwelming and for a neighborhood it woud be very disruptive. At the same time I would have liked to see a social benefit besides the produce in the neighborhood, it could have been nice to read about horticulture courses, communal alotment gardens or a cooking school. There is potential but it needed that last extra bit.

– Josefine Fokdal

Here the building is seen as potential for urban gardening and farmers marked. Not well through through.