Ecology Of Colour
ECOLOGY OF COLOUR
Studio Weave
ARCHITECT
Studio Weave
LOCATION
Dartford, Kent, United Kingdom
CATEGORY
Temporal Installations
PHOTOGRAPHS
Jim Stephenson
PROJECT YEAR
2012
Text description provided by architect.
Ecology of Colour brings public function to a neglected corner of Dartford by acting as a jolly custodian for the re-imagined Ecology Island in Central Park. The timber structure is a community arts studio, bird-watching hide, and park shelter all rolled into one.
There is a semi- outdoor tiled classroom and storage space at ground level with an enclosed room upstairs offering views of the River Darent and surrounding trees.
On the upper floor, shutters of various sizes allow for activities ranging from hidden wildlife watching and drawing, to public events that spill out into the park.
Studio Weave's brief from Artlands was to develop designs for a meaningful educational resource through placing emphasis on community engagement.
The site is a curious rural pocket within an urban context, located at the tip of a wild, wooded peninsula in the heart of the North Kent town.
The creation of two intertwined cycles has guided the project: the process of extracting colour dyes and using them for crafts, and the wildlife these plants attract including insects and birds.
Since its completion in September 2012, the building has become a resource for visitors to explore and learn about plants, insects and birds in all their splendid colour, the process involved in extracting natural colour dyes, and the applications of dyes in craft and architecture.
