IAD4101 Rethink & Reuse Design Brief 2025/26 | MDX

IAD4101 Rethink & Reuse 2025/26

Perception . Investigate . Detect . Sustainability Report . Typology . Community . Genius Loci . Test Essence . Amenities . Materiality . Adaptive Reuse History . Poche . Archive . News-feed . Identity Folly . Street-scape . Collate . Concept . Gesture Taxonomy . Structure . Hierarchy . Public . the Room Reconnecting . Rethinking . Reworking . Regenerate Sequence . Liminal . Zeitgeist . Adjacencies . Space Interiority/Exteriority . Palimpsest . Superimpose Hybrid . Presentation . Group work . Sense of Place Program . Research . Agitprop . Design . Iteration Experiment . Dimensions . Enquire . Scale . Context In-betweeness . Marginal . Overlooked . Repurposing Social Empowerment . Explore . Carbon footprint Heritage . Retrofitting . Skin . Anthropocene . Culture Intersection . Flâneur . Deconstruction . Observation Profile. Composition. Opacity. Map. Finchley Central Book 1 Process and Strategy .

IAD4101 Rethink & Reuse Aims:

Rethink and Reuse is an introductory postgraduate module that challenges the student to define and advance aspirations, while setting personal and professional goals. It is an opportunity to evolve individual design interests and a personal ethos following previous study or practice.

Students will be encouraged to explore, through site analysis and detection, the interiority of the city at a scale of street, building room and detail; from the intimacy of objects and furniture to the wider urban context. We will explore by investigating an areas physical, contextual and ephemeral qualities, with the overall aim being to initiate questioning about what constitutes the interior, and how a resulting design affects human perception, emotion and experience. While the focus of study will be local, in London, the perspective will be global and from multi-cultural view-points, reflecting the international diversity of the student cohort.

The module encourages creative investigation, speculation, experimentation and design innovation in order to evolve knowledge and skills in the creation of new interior environments. The potential of the ‘interior’ is explored across a range of contemporary contexts and scales, with a particular emphasis on human experience as well as the meaning of ‘place’ and its essence. Study will include: contextual, critical and reflective analysis, interpretation through multi-media practices, and studio design workshops. The objective is to develop individually focused practice and a personal approach to the design of interior spaces and places. You will be investigating a given context, designing responses and preparing the research for your subsequent modules

Through the production of a ‘Book 1’ students will identify, apply and illustrate exploratory research techniques that challenge preconceptions and redefine what constitutes the ‘interior’. This module focuses on design process by encouraging you to rethink and reinterpret existing site contexts. You will be challenged to creatively re-imagine and critically engage with the reuse of spaces, materials and concepts. Working both individually and collaboratively, you will learn to integrate design strategies and practical insights into a well-structured and cohesive design proposal. The emphasis is on developing innovative solutions, that respond to real-world challenges, while maintaining a clear, sustainable vision.

Learning outcomes:

1. Evidence and report on a wide range of issues and processes to formulate a design proposal.
2. Determine and articulate appropriate, functional, aesthetical, contemporary and sustainable design principles which respond to your independent research.
3. Apply advanced design processes toward the development of an original interior based proposal

Start-up Project - HYBRID FUTURES, FOLLY & SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

Wandering around the city can shed light on the relation between the self and its environment. The city is explored as a field of potential correspondences and connections between walker and environment. In
situationism this ‘drifting’ was elevated to an actual method known as psychogeography. (Guy Debord with Asger Jorn, 1956).

Successful town centres need to adopt a greater focus on a genuine mix of uses, where retailing remains important, but leisure, cultural, business, and residential uses all add to the town centre’s diversification and overall offer (Regal developments, North Finchley public consultation, July 2024).

We cannot continue to extract virgin materials to construct new buildings – we must start looking around and utilise what is already here. (Katarzyna Sołtysiak and Anthony Roberts, 2024).

Overview.

Finchley, a 15minute bus ride from Middlesex University, is comprised of three town centres- Finchley Central, North Finchley and East Finchley. We will explore the first two, as we spend the academic year looking along the axis formed by Ballards Lane and Regents Park Road. You will spend the first semester exploring the area, identifying sites and collecting research, before proposing relevant design additions. Over the course of this semester we will look at Hybrid Spaces, Architectural Follies and how to support Sustainable Development

Finchley, in the Borough of Barnet is a residential suburb of London. The arrival of the Great North Railway, in 1867, initiated the rapid expansion of people wanting to live a commutable distance outside of London. The affordable homes, in a rural location, with the transport links to central London made it a popular place for families. The expansion of Finchley reached it’s height in Edwardian times (1901-1910) with many of the residential buildings we see in this area being from this period. While the high street is Barnet’s third largest town centre and has the second highest financial turnover, in recent years the area has suffered from lack of investment. The council’s recent vision for the area is to provide a ‘sustainable local alternative’, through a ‘mix of independent and established retailers’ as well as ‘high quality leisure and cultural attractions’, and to provide a ‘focus for high quality evening activities’.

Hybrid Futures hybrid noun

1.a plant or animal that has been produced from two different types of plant or animal, especially to get better characteristics:
2.something that is a combination of two different things, so it has qualities relating to both of them:
adjective
1.of mixed character; composed of different elements.

Before the start of the second semester you will have identified a host building for your own hybrid proposals. Using a strategy of Adaptive Reuse you will research a suitable part of the area, carefully selecting a site that is applicable to your identified area of interest. Your second semester proposal should be hybrid, meaning that it will have several activities which co-exist together within one overall theme.

Architectural Follies

Traditionally, a folly is a structure built primarily for aesthetic pleasure rather than utility: a ruin without a past, a tower to nowhere, a temple without worshippers. Today many architectural practices engage with the folly as a way to explore form, materials, and imagination unfettered by programmatic demands. The annual Serpentine Pavilion in London, the “Folly for a Flyover” project in Hackney as well as the many bienniales and design festivals around the world, celebrate follies as a testing ground. In a world obsessed with utility, efficiency, and sustainability, the folly’s apparent purposelessness might seem indulgent. Yet precisely because they are not bound to function, follies offer space for speculation, imagination, and critique. They invite us to consider what architecture might be when stripped of necessity. The critic Charles Jencks once remarked that “a folly is a building that has lost its reason but kept its sense of humour.” Perhaps in the twenty-first century, humour, wonder, and delight are more necessary than ever.

Sustainable Communities

A sustainable community is one designed to balance environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic resilience. It seeks to minimize ecological impact through renewable energy, green buildings, and low-carbon transport, while fostering inclusivity and well-being. Strong local networks, shared resources, and circular economies help reduce waste and strengthen resilience. Public spaces, walkability, and access to nature enhance quality of life. Importantly, sustainable communities adapt to change—climate, economic, or social—while preserving resources for future generations. As the UN notes, “Sustainable cities are engines of growth, innovation, and inclusion.” Such communities prove that sustainability is not sacrifice, but opportunity.

Your first semester at Middlesex will find you engaging with these three main themes.

How do we make spaces for people that are complex,flexible, fun and sustainable? How can a designers tackle these necessities and are they reasonable ‘asks’ when we consider the various factors and their impacts at play. The modern designer should consider Climate, Denisty, Quality vs Affordability, Compliance with Building Regulations, Technology Integration, and Societal Uncertainty and Resilience.

Perhaps the main thing a designer should consider is people—how those who use, move through, and
live around a building will experience it. Interior Design and Architecture are ultimately about shaping human environments at varying scales.

In your first six weeks you will be collecting information and creatively responding to your find- ings. You should absorb as much information as possible as you never know what will be important later. Robust site and user analysis is absolutely key for architects and designers to en- sure that a proposal is not just visually appealing, but also functional, sustainable, and connects with it’s intended user.

This brief is split into 3 Stages. By the end of Stage 3 you should have a small standalone design scheme, which will be a project for your expanding portfolio. The other main outcome for this semester is to prepare you for the IAD4201 & IAD4301 modules, which will involve the design of a more complex design scheme, within a host building, sited somewhere in Finchley. On our site visit and on your subsequent trips you should also be looking ahead for a site and/or host build- ing, of a suitable size and complexity to form the basis for your dissertation project.

Relationship between MDX Hendon campus and our site

Regeneration Framework

Numerous documents related to the proposed redevelopments around the Finchley area exist. Many of these are on our IAD4101 Module page and you should examine and digest some of this information to inform your on-going research. Recent public consultations have taken place about major proposals in North Finchley and the Pentland estate. Make yourself familiar with Finchley’s neighbourhoods and the development issues affecting the area. North Finchley recently hosted an
anti-racism protest, for example, why was that? The wider your research in the initial stages the better. Make sure you professionally record your observations and findings, present them in a thoughtful and interesting way. It is important to document your knowledge in the first of the three books you will produce on this programme. Book 1 should cover and communicate your growing understanding of the local area, potential users of the spaces and the type of brief you are starting to develop.

Community demographics

In the 2021 Census of the approximately 60,000 people living in the area defined as ‘Finchley’ just under a half stated that their country of birth was Europe:United Kingdom. The next biggest group identified their country of birth as the Middle East and Asia. One and two person households form the majority of the residential data, with most people travelling between 5 to 20km to work which would be typical for the commuter belt of London. Professional occupations was the biggest sector for employment. Further data available from: Census Data

A very brief History of Finchley

Finchley used to be called North and Church End (1462), but there were few houses until the enclosure of Finchley Common in 1816. Thomas Rawson built a windmill in 1627. By 1754 the windmill was an inn called the Swan - an early example of Adaptive Reuse! It was the only building on the road between Fallows corner and Whetstone. In 1756 Ballards Lane was extended to North End creating a new junction. In the 1820s and 30s a company called the Tally Ho Coach Company kept 16 horses near the corner, the first change of horses for the coach to Birmingham. In 1837 there was a ‘Cottagers Chapel’, which had been converted from the stables of Orchard Cottage.

In 1844 the first houses were let in Torrington Park. During the 1850s and 1860s Woodside Lane, Friern Park, Grove Road, Finsbury Road (now Finchley Park) had all been laid out. In 1872 Torrington Park Station was opened (renamed Woodside Park in 1882) on the Great Northern Railway. A church had been constructed by 1869 which was formally opened in 1870 as Christ Church. It became a new parish in 1872. By 1874 it was said that there were 350 dwellings within this ecclesiastical parish, and there were a number of new shops and inns on the High Road.

In 1905 a tramline between Highgate and Whetstone opened which was crossed by another from New Southgate to Golders Green in 1909. To facilitate this a tramway depot was opened in Woodberry Grove. Trams and motorbus services brought people from miles around and created the retail district we see today. In 1937 the Gaumont Cinema was opened. It was demolished in 1987 and replaced with Artsdepot.

Finchley (North End) in 1814

Finchley in 1950 Digimaps

Transport

The area is highly connected and well-served by public transport. The bus station on the ground floor of the Artsdepot building connects the area to Victoria in central London, as well as many destinations across North London. The 125 bus travels between Middlesex University and our site.
The nearest tube stations, are Finchley Central, West Finchley and Woodside Park the latter two of which are on the High Barnet Branch of the Northern Line. Car travel remains highly prevalent especially during rush hours.

Collaborative Agency Groups

Collaborative Agency 1
Collaborative Agency 2
Collaborative Agency 3
Collaborative Agency 4
Not yet arrived- will be assigned later

Design Brief

This brief is focused on the design of interventions, in and around our site, that will help reignite alternative use, promote public engagement in the surrounding area and help inform your continuing studies into the subsequent modules. This brief is split into 3 stages:

Stage 1: Weeks 1-6 - Observation/ Recording

To begin with, you will be placed into a Collaborative Research Agency. Working within your group each student will visit site, collate documents and collectively assist in the production of information that captures your allocated site in its entirety.

To facilitate detection, you will embark on a series of visits, that will enable you to observe and detect the possibilities of the site and building which will go on to inform your site intervention. The first trip will be accompanied by staff, afterwards it is expected that you return multiple times to understand the place and people you will be designing for and the existing structures you will be adapting and altering.

Task 1. Documentary

Each collaborative agency will produce 1 film that represents their findings. It will capture the characteristics, sounds, people, emotions and atmosphere of the building and its wider context. It should point out what you feel is valuable about the surrounding area. At this stage we want you to communicate the context, the street-scape plus any relationships found. Working as a team you should agree what is important to document and make sure that your edited film truly reflects these findings. You might be interested in, among other things:
Pathways, façades, interior/ exterior, people, activities, opportunities, things that might be missing, temporary / semi permanent / permanent, territory, atmosphere, public / private, hybridness, hostility, calm, play, interventions, materials, textures, authenticity, decay...

The film will demonstrate your analytical approach, abstract observations and help narrate the intentions identified. The length of your film should be no more than 4 minutes. Remember, films do not have to be completely live action based, they can be stop frame, animated or a combination.

10 key images (minimum), with supporting caption text, should be re-edited back into your Book 1. Perhaps some of these images could illustrate Task 6.

Task 2. Site Analysis Reports

As a group identify a series of sites that could be developed into major design projects. Aim to collect information for 2 sites per group. Barnet Council’s planning website allows you to search for architectural drawings of buildings that might have been modified, however your group might get interested in left-over space or very specific parts of bigger buildings. Which existing buildings around the area have potential for Adaptive Reuse? For each site you will need a set of information; technical drawings, photographs, maps, archive materials etc. Explain the key features, qualities, benefits, negatives and potential opportunities of each host space. Explore the close up details of the building. What have you noticed in the area and how can this relate to these sites? Look for the unusual and overlooked, examine closely before documenting these observations in your book.

Task 3. Material Assessment

Using photographs and the template provided, produce a labelled set of illustrations that record the existing fabric of buildings in the area buildings. Think about the existing structures as a store of building materials. How do you label and catalogue the various materials and how might they inspire you to design interventions. Careful sizing and profiling of at least 10 various materials, along with annotation about their existing condition will form a catalogue for reuse. Think particularly about the areas that are to be demolished as a result of the redevelopment works.

Task 4. Site Illustration

Make a site illustration which captures the essence of the spaces you have investigated. Take a photograph and carefully draw over the detail to observe the micro detail. Perhaps as a group you might decide to map a particular area, although you are free to make your own choice. How does the illustration reflect your growing understanding of the area?

Task 5. Brief

Summarise your emerging ideas into a brief and show your understanding of the user / client / customer/ community.
Who are the community you are designing for? What are they interested in, what activities? Describe the possibilities of the brief, in as broad a way as possible. Research current trends and think about the future of your subject. Describe what you want to design for this group of people. What functions best support the users?

Your brief should be supported in a series of pages within your book which systematically record:

-Typical customers, visitors, users of your intended proposal. This should be evidenced by demographic information and site mapping
-Newspaper headlines, academic quotes and online report findings about your intended focus.
-How your brief responds to the topics raised in this document.
-Have you found a building you prefer in Task 2? If so annotate the existing drawings to show how it pertains to your intended use.

** Please note: Regarding Task 2 we do NOT expect you to measure the site to the exact millimetre! Use any found existing drawings you can and your common sense. Planning drawings are pdf only. If your team agree that you need a particular building to be drawn in Cad, then you should allocate time for this, but it is more likely that you collect information and then analyse your preferred spaces in Task 5.

Regarding site conduct. Whilst visiting site, please ensure you perform your detection and survey duties with professionalism and consideration to both the people who visit and work in the buildings and the general public. Remember you are representing the university. Do not take photos of the interior of commercial building. Remember to be safe, do not visit the site late at night and at all times ensure you perform each task set with a fellow peer. Do not enter any building without permission to do so.

* Note:

Tasks 1, 2, & 3 are group-based work. Your submission will be for the entire agency. Task 4 & 5 are individual based work.

Stage 2: Weeks 6-9* - The Follies

So far you have explored Finchley, recorded its essence, surveyed the existing through, film, words and drawings, which has helped inspire your project direction. Now we want you to develop this thinking further, discovering deep knowledge and learning.

You will design a series of follies that constitute - STREET | BUILDING | ROOM | DETAIL. You are looking for 3 interventions, insertions or installations sites, each at a different scale, that best explore, exploit and describe your growing knowledge of the user /community you are designing for.

At least one of these interventions must be within the curtilage of Stephens House and Gardens. One of the interventions must include some of the Material Assessment items gathered in Stage 1.

One of your interventions can be a collaboration with someone else in your cohort or the wider university.

One of the interventions should be large scale, one small scale, with the final one somewhere in the middle of these two. Your Street intervention does not have to be the biggest, you are allowed creative freedom to design as you see fit. Think tactically about which site you choose for which scale of intervention. You should think of your intervention as an Adaptation, Insertion or Installation if this helps. You might also look at your IAD4102 case study work for possible direction.

To get you thinking we have identified the following for your consideration:

Your Street intervention might be visible from the Public Realm, perhaps something that everyone has access to. You might consider solutions that promote any of the following:
Awareness, Display, Edge, Expression, Hospitality, Promotion, Route, Temporary, Wayfinding.

Your Building intervention can be concealed, visible for the Public Realm or be flexible to allow both at different times.
You might consider solutions that promote any of the following:
Access, Beacon, Conceal, Celebration, Deletion, Protection, Puncture, Transition.

Your Room intervention might respond to the internal volumes of our existing building in some way. You could consider solutions that promote any of the following:
Assist, Conversation, Comfort, Distribute, Flexibility, Juxtapose, Performance, Privacy, Welcome.

Your Detail intervention might respond to an existing object within a room. Think about the following:
Augment, Comfort, Cut, Display, Flex, Hide, Insert, Reveal, Wrap.

The words above are intended as prompts to stimulate ideas.

Remember that an architectural folly, is a structure built primarily for aesthetic pleasure rather than utility. They can be humorous, experimental, profound, or simply frame a view. Your presentation should communicate your three ideas for interventions while addressing the concerns, ideals and issues of your User/ Community. One of your interventions will be taken forward to the final stage.

* guide time-frame only.

Key words Pitch

Try to persuade someone to buy or accept (something), to sell.

Detective
…a private investigator whose function is to obtain information and evidence…

Flâneur / Flaneuse
A man/ women who saunters around observing society.

Raconteur
A person who tells anecdotes in a skilful and amusing way.

Surveillance
…close observation.

Motive
A reason for doing something.
Reason, motivation, motivating force, rationale, grounds, cause, basis, occasion, thinking, the whys and wherefores, object, purpose, intention, design.

Intervention
to come between, interrupt, take action to improve.

Charrette
A period of intense work, typically undertaken in order to meet a deadline.
A public meeting or workshop devoted to a concerted effort to solve a problem or plan the design of something.

Parti
An organising thought or decision behind an architect’s design, presented in the form of a parti diagram, parti sketch or a simple statement.

Stage 3: Weeks 10-12 - Final Intervention Proposal

Your final proposal will be a second iteration of one of your interventions, insertions or installations, that creates an impact upon the experience, in mind and/or body, and engagement of subsequent users/ visitors of the people who occupy the space. Which of your architectural follies has the most potential?

In response to your own brief, you will be expected to refine your chosen proposal and produce a set of information to communicate your design intent.

>2x Axonometric Drawings, minimum, that clearly explains your design strategy:
-the existing
-what you intend to introduce, how it is inhabited and works with its existing context

>2 x Visuals minimum to demonstrate your interventions intent and its context.

>Technical Drawings of the proposal to include one section.

>A Physical Model of your proposal to an appropriate scale.

>A Site Illustration of your intervention in the style of Task 4 of Stage 1.

Your work should always be accompanied by text. Your final Intervention Proposal should have descriptive text under all of your imagery. In addition you should summarise the intentions of the project, describe the main thinking and ideas, as well as reflecting on the following:

>How you think your intervention went, what you could of improved and what you will take from this exercise.

>What has this process identified in terms of a cause/ project theme?

>How can you use this knowledge at the start of the next design module?

>Which building within Finchley will you choose for your next semester? Why is this a good choice? 500 words minimum.

Final Review
Digital submission to be set up on ‘Book 1’ formatted pages.

Carefully consider the graphic look of the document. You will be given 10 minutes to complete your presentation.

Assessment scheme:

(a)Formative assessment scheme

Formative assessment component:
Exploration of research relevant to masters level/theme of study and interest.
Requirement: a 10 minute presentation to evaluate and feedback on the initial Research Proposal and the methodology. See grade sheet for details.

(b)Summative assessment scheme Book 1 submission:
All tasks, as detailed in this briefing document, collated into one designed document. Drawings, images, text, diagrams and model photos will be presented, in a formatted Book, to illustrate decision-making strategies, for design proposals and identify areas for future design development
B5 size is recommended however other formats can be discussed and agreed with your tutor team.

Coursework (no examination): 100%

Learning materials:

Online reading lists can be accessed from the My Study area of MyMDX. They highlight essential and recommended reading for all modules you are registered on.

Digital Submission

ALL tasks are to be presented digitally [in PDF format] together with your 3-4 minute film via [QuickTime or similar platform]. Each task to be set up via your ‘field book’ formatted pages (B5 recommended) It is up to you how you individually format the group work. You will be given 10 minutes to complete your presentation Final Review Day Presentations.

IAD 4101 Key dates:

Introduction - Tuesday 23rd September 2025. Site context visit - Friday 26th September.

Stage1 to be completed and presented by - Tuesday 28th October.

Stage 2/3 Formative Review day. - Tuesday 2nd December.

FINAL MODULE ONLINE SUBMISSION DATE - Friday 12th December 2025.

Formative support and review

Evaluative and advisory feedback is provided continuously for the project and related work in regular tutorial sessions and at both interim and final presentation review events.

Students are expected to participate actively by self-assessment and constructively contribute to peer assessment.

Critical feedback that includes indicative grades against project assessment criteria and development guidance is provided in response to the digital submission of each project and assignment.

Summative assessment

Summative assessment is marked 100% on receipt of your Book 1 final submission at the end of the module.

Attendance

Attendance of less than 80% of all scheduled teaching sessions for a module is likely to leave you unprepared for assessment in some or all of it’s specified assignments. Attendance at
all scheduled teaching activities is monitored and recorded. Refer to the Student Programme Handbook for further details.