Fragments of Belonging

Fragments of Belonging explores how architecture can create a sense of home for people arriving in London from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. The project is rooted in personal memories from my home country, Albania, especially moments of family gathering, sunlight, rain, and shared domestic life. These memories became fragments that shaped the spatial language of the project: stepping, carving, lifting, framing, and creating places where people can come together.

Set at Cringle Dock in Battersea, the proposal responds to the contrast between the site’s industrial character and the softer environmental qualities of the River Thames. The existing waste transfer site is reimagined as a place where infrastructure, housing, landscape, and community can coexist. The dwellings are designed for different forms of living, including extended families, smaller families, couples, and international students, with shared corridors, terraces, gardens, and communal spaces supporting everyday encounters.

The design uses a timber structure with hempcrete and lime render to create warm, breathable, and lower-carbon homes. Light, water, river views, and shared thresholds are used to create a sense of comfort and belonging. Rather than proposing housing as isolated units, the project imagines dwelling as a collective landscape where private homes and shared spaces work together to help people feel welcomed, connected, and rooted within the city.