Edinburgh has a rich architectural character. Its many facades and surfaces embody a tectonic of cold and hard materials which weigh down the urban buildings. The stone faces seemingly blend into the volcanic formations of rock that erupt from the earth, forming a labyrinth of small passages that bypass the clichéd tourist areas of the Old Town. Locked in this tension of Edinburgh's underbelly, lies spaces of contrasting ambience. The tight passageways give way to hidden courtyards, moments of sanctuary and solitude from the hive of activity outside.

 

Seeking respite from life on the street, this project seeks to create a foyer along this urban corridor to provide shelter and stability for the homeless youth that occupy the streets of Edinburgh. Identifying a moment of potential sanctuary, the ambition of the foyer seeks to extract and extend the social stability of the Edinburgh tenement. This programmatic exploration is extended to the tectonic of the Foyer, developing an architecture of an equally rich character.