World Architecture Festival 2012: architect Paul Williams of Stanton Williams tells Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs why his team designed the new campus for London art and design college Central Saint Martins as "a blank canvas" where different disciplines could "take form and ownership", in this movie we filmed at the World Architecture Festival last month.
The project won the award in the higher education and research category and brings together all the disparate faculties of the school into a single campus constructed in and around a Victorian granary and two former transit sheds at King's Cross.
Williams describes how they used unfinished materials such as raw timber and concrete for the walls and surfaces. "When you're creating an art college, the one thing you're not looking to do is impose a strong architectural identity," he says. "It's the actual disciplines that should create the identity."
An internal street runs through the centre of the buildings, creating an exhibition area between the studios of each department. "We have created much more shared space, so there is less space in ownership of departments," says Williams. "It is space that can be used by all of the disciplines."
The architect also discusses the importance of flexibility, which will allow the campus to "morph" in the future. "A lot of the areas and walls that are built are soft and they can be knocked down and reconfigured," he says. "The principle of the building is it is a stage for transformation."
Read more about the campus for Central Saint Martins in our earlier story, or see more stories about Stanton Williams, including our interview with Alan Stanton about the Stirling Prize-winning Sainsbury Laboratory.
We’ve filmed a series of interviews with award winners at the World Architecture Festival. See all the movies we’ve published so far, including our interview with architect Chris Wilkinson about the World Building of the Year.
See all our stories about WAF 2012 »
Photography is by Hufton + Crow.