Foyer, Birmingham
1993
Location: Birmingham, UK
Project Status: Competition
This design for the first purpose-built foyer in Britain was to be built on a canal-side site in Birmingham. Foyers, which have a long history in France, provide a nationwide residential network for young people who are not going on to higher education and require a place to live between the family home and complete independence.
The volume of the Foyer rises from the complex topography of its site to assert an urban presence that is equivalent to the warehouses and remnants of Victorian infrastructure that surround it. The stepped form which wraps tightly around the perimeter of the site refers to the skyline of the city, to the deep cut of the canal, and to the raised level of the adjacent railway viaduct. Within this tough and intense urban situation, the building forms an inner core of connected social spaces to make occupation visible and encourage engagement with the community of the foyer. The external facades are clad with green-glazed corrugated cement, and an open football pitch is located on the second floor roof.