INTER-10

Addendum for | from London

A new typology of housing that regenerates dormant hosts, glorifying their potential


As a result of the strong local currency and ensuring economic stability of the country, during the last three decades the market for housing in London has been the subject of an unprecedented number of foreign investments.

A wave of investors which have been speculating on houses and flats in an analogous way to virtual assets speculation have brought the city of London to face a reality where properties are now owned but not inhabited or in some circumstances even abandoned and left on hold for the expectancy of higher offers.

Even though this phenomenon is concentrated on Central London, it has unfortunately spread, provoking a chain reaction on all the adjacent areas, increasing the overall average price of rent, consequently pushing the less affluent segment of the citizens towards the outer zones of the city.

While the metropolitan area is growing in its diameter in order to accommodate the less wealthy sector of the population, which is now obligated to commute for longer times every day to work, houses in the inner areas are left vacant generating a paradox that sees an immeasurable potential being wasted.


In light of this current situation, this project targets a series of abandoned buildings in the area of East London to propose a solution on how to utilize their potential without damaging them in order to maintain the integrity of their value.

These dormant sites, even if in a derelict state, embody a very useful potential that in the last decade has gone wasted and should now be exploited as a valuable resource in order to provide housing in the city.

Hence, the “Addendum” in London is a systematic injection of temporary structures, which by clasping on top of dormant buildings will, for a short period of time “borrow” and exploit their potential in order to provide affordable housing units.

The addendums are autonomous structures that exist on top of the dormant buildings. They will utilise the existing infrastructures such as water, gas and electricity without interfering with the state of the properties.

Essentially the addendums will activate the dormant hosts and transform them from an obstacle to an opportunity.

The project does not aim to solve the problem of lack of housing but rather demonstrate an alternative solution to it.

The addendums are activators: temporary agents that manifest a natural reaction from the city in response to this current situation of hypocrisy. By offering a new typology of housing, they aim at sending a message to the city of London and contemporaneously, at a smaller scale, offer an alternative solution of living.

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Telegraph Pole - Tokyo

This structure symbolises the overall theory which establishes the relationship between the addendum and the host in the context of the city.

The pole is a universal platform with the capability of being specific in relation to its location.
Its substance can be reduced to two aspects: the first is the concrete pole: the “Addition" to the city, and the second one are all the different elements attached to it: the "Added Value" to the city.

It works as an enduring structure that throughout time can host variations and refinements which will improve the functioning of the city according to its needs . It works as a holder where new elements that were also not originally planned can easily be plugged in and out satisfying the needs of the citizens.

Furthermore the pole has the capability of holding different objects that connect with the urban fabric at different scales. Starting from the top high voltage cable that extend through the city for 30 miles to the cctv camera and the map at its lowest part.

One single pole is a point in the grid of the city: its a reoccurring presence that works as a network and not as a single intervention.


It is an iconic standard that has the power to regenerate and glorify its surrounding.

Designated Area For Addendum

The location for the Addenda has to be situated outside of zone 1 but still in a radius of 1km from Liverpool Street Station. The sites that have been selected in red represent dismissed buildings that have been purposely left empty by their landlords for speculation reasons. These are a clear obstacle to the lack of housing in the city of London and constrain a big potential that could be (at least temporarily) utilised.

Addenda Injection

The addenda are structures that clasp on top of dormant buildings exploiting their potential (such as location, time, infrastructures and structure) in order to offer a new typology of temporary housing units for very convenient prices in an area of London which is currently subject to an increase in the price of real estates. Furthermore the addendums will offer co-working spaces for local residents. These will regenerate the derelict buildings and transform them into a new ground for interactions between the locals and the commuters

Addendum As A Systematic Intervention

The addendum is not a single addition but rather a systematic intervention that targets the whole city. The principle of the addenda is analogous to the behaviour of telegraph poles in a city: A universal structure specific to its location. Hence the addenda will offer the same standard all across the city but their structural composition will be specific to their hosts.

Addendum As A Replicable Structure

In order to comprehend the structural ideology that stands behind the creation of the addendum, it is important to understand the actual conditions of the site(s).

The building is abandoned because the landlord is speculating upon it; therefore the span of time this will stay in this condition is uncertain but surely not long.

Due to these facts the addendum will have to be a temporary “ clasping “ structure that can easily be mounted and dismounted without conditioning the state of the host.

The materials used will mostly be off -the-shelf inexpensive components that are used in a modular system so that can be can be recycled and reused in an analogous way for other future sites.

The only real attachment between host and addendum will happen through the pipes that are tabbed into the dormant building. The addenda will utilise the existent resources avoiding the construction of any additional infrastructure or the acquisition of land.

Section Of The Dormant Host And The Addendum

From the section it is possible to notice how the addendum “hugs” the host and sits on it clasping on the most advantageous structural points ( such as the parapet and the floor beams). Furthermore it is evident how the addendum hangs of the host leaving a 3.5 meters gap from the ground in order to not interfere with the car park.

Plan Of The Dormant Host And The Addendum

The plan shows the juxtaposition of the private intimate spaces and the open public space. Furthermore it illustrates hoe the common spaces are always located on top of the host and the capsules hanging of it: Two diverse, contrasting spaces in equilibrium over the host.

Interior Perspective View Of The Living Capsule

The living unit is reduced to minimum indispensable space, which even if limited; it accommodates all the different necessary facilities and amenities.
Furthermore, the short temporality of the addendum can be noticed also through the material of the capsules, which are all composed of uncut plywood sheets. This will allow a process where the material can be recycled and re used for a future site.

Axonometric View Of The Addendum On Site

The addendum glorifies the state of the host by transforming its derelict condition by exposing the life of the building on the façade.

Collage Of Addendum On Site

The dormant building is activated by the attachment of the addendum. This intervention glorifies the existing building by transforming its derelict state into a new façade that exposes the life of the structure. This is the added value: the consequence of the attachment!