Block West Pavilion / Automated Architecture (AUAR) Labs

Against the backdrop of a government that underfunds affordable housing, new collaborations with research labs and community groups are reclaiming local housing production in Bristol, UK. Under the guidance of research laboratory AUAR Labs from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, citizen-led digital arts organisation Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) and social scientist Dr Claire McAndrew (The Bartlett School of Architecture), the local community in Knowle West ‘levelled up’ to reclaim the means of design technology and construction automation, by entirely co-designing, fabricating and assembling their own housing prototype. Called ‘Block West’, the housing prototype is built out of 145 discrete, lego-like timber blocks and was assembled together by the community in less than two weeks.