Challenge
A 4.2-meter plot between two wooden townhouses, a neighbor who requested silence after 7pm, and a brief that forbade retail.
2024 · Oxford · Research
Quiet Tower
A room for listening in Oxford
- Year
- 2024
- Location
- Oxford, England
- Type
- Research
- Status
- Built
- Area
- 48 sq m
- Client
- Island Trust
The tower is an argument against the visitor economy. You cannot photograph the tree from the street. You have to climb, leave your shoes, and wait for the light to turn the fruit.
A four-storey cedar tower with no program except sitting, and a roof that frames a single fruit tree.
Approach
A single stair wrapping a void. Walls of charred cedar. Floors of straw-mat panels cut to a 90-centimeter module. No electricity on the upper two levels — only a paper lantern you carry up.
Outcome
Open three days a week, twelve visitors at a time. The waiting list is the project most honest drawing.
Credits
Lead
James Morrow
Joinery
North Woodworks
Paper
Valley Paper
Next project
Field Station Delta