Patchwork Palimpsest

By tracing the waft and weft of the welfare state through time, Patchwork Palimpsest dissects how and in what form libraries have existed, and will exist in the future. The result is a proposal for a palimpsest of old components which are woven into with new interventions.

Patchwork Palimpsest strings together the disparate economic, societal and political hands that have inscribed their mark on Peterborough. The project seeks to cut through the top down, frenetic planning Peterborough has been subject to and engage with a gradual, citizen-led design process.

The proposal worked within a carbon-neutral and circular economy mindset, stripping back the existing buildings and re-using rubble as aggregate, offsetting the carbon incurred in construction through a new public park.