SHOP/3 Syke St.

The project is a self-build collaboration between Baxendale and NWDC and seeks to retain the former Charity Shop Rwanda as a place within the heart of the city that offers something of value to the people of Preston. Lockdown caused the closure of the charity shop but provided a unique opportunity to utilise the building as a resource for Preston's creative community. The building has received limited maintenance over the previous 20 year period so it was entirely gutted and remade internally but with minimum intervention to the exterior. The internal reconfiguration saw the relocation of the stair to ensure that the ground floor space could operate independently of the new architecture studio proposed for the 1st floor. The main design strategy was to introduce a new vertical, sculptural timber object that then organised circulation, space and storage; maximising efficiency and also allowing the existing chracter of the building to be revealed internally as well as externally. The ground floor event space is offered free of charge to anyone with an interesting proposal for its use; as long as that use is accessible and experimental in some way. Preston has previously suffered from a lack of public, affordable creative spaces and it is very much the aim of Baxendale and NWDC that this project goes some way to meeting that need.