The Sound Repository
A Community Space in Shoreditch to listen, learn and reflect
Spatial Design | Planning & Strategy | Third Places | Community and Social Spaces
The East End Women’s Museum in London is the only museum dedicated to the stories of women in England. The Sound Repository proposes a new satellite branch of the museum located in Shoreditch Town Hall to record, research and share the stories of women in the audio-story archives in the Sound Library, which, collects historical as well as contemporary recordings.
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In parallel, the Sound Repository also proposes housing the Music Academy sponsored by LMF, who may work in collaboration with the museum to provide a musical education focusing on classical music, teaching instruments like the piano, violin and cello.
Each individual story told about a woman’s past and present, is overlaid with a unique musical score produced by the students of the academy. This layered experience
is recorded and preserved in the story archives for the general public to listen to, learn from and reflect upon.
How can a cultural hub coexist as a safe space for women to record and share their stories?
The Shoreditch Town Hall
Shoreditch Town Hall is a historic landmark - a grand Grade II listed, former civic building. But more than that, it is a cultural hub with community spaces to suit different needs and stunning live-event spaces for hire​
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Site analysis and feasibility investigation diagrams and illustrations : Our brief was to choose a part of the building that could house our proposed programme for the space
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The Women Of Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an artistic, bustling and culturally diverse area in London. It has been shaped by the history of the inhabitants, their stories and narratives all creating a rich Urban Tapestry.
During the research phase, I unearthed several stories from historical accounts and families sharing stories of their mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers.
A local resident also fondly recalled a library inside Shoreditch Town Hall where she used to visit as a child.
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Looking at the more popular stories of women in the area led to the realisation that not all of them have a place to live, either in the plaques around the area or in popular history.
A Spatial Programme for Education, Culture and Storytelling
During this time, East End Women's Museum was expanding, with their first physical location under design. My programme proposed a collaboration with them and the London Music Fund for a three part programme.
The spatial concept inspired by rhythm is to create an intriguing insertion into the double-height area of the council chamber, which will be the East End Women’s Museum archive. A mysterious floating mass visible from the sound library, this will be the central element, as the rest of the programme unfolds around it.
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The Sound Repository
The Archive, the Library and the School
The Floating Archive on Level Two, a place to listen, learn from and reflect upon the stories told.
The textile industry in the area urged me to consider using waste wool and offcuts to achieve soundproofing in different zones of the proposed space. I used waste wool, felting it to create panels in the archive that were a poetic representation of the complex urban tapestry of Shoreditch.
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The Library of Sounds, open to the general public houses a collection of music records, audiobooks, audio recordings. Featuring listening booths and a borrowing service, this preserves analog equipment used to listen. Also provides access to a recording studio in the back.
The Music Academy students would create special scores to be overlaid with each story recorded in the archive, creating a listening experience that was multi-layered.
