Stratford Kiosks: The Famous Five

Location: Stratford, London
Client: London Borough of Newham
Status: Competition Entry September 2010
Contract Value: £220,000

Imagine cute little cubes of light, all the same in size and shape but all unique in personality and identity.

We propose a family of five kiosks, designed so that they that can all be used individually for a variety of functions but can be seen as a family of objects that belong to one whole. The five kiosks are arranged equally around the site with gaps in-between to maintain views across the site to the bus station and pedestrian routes beyond but have also been arranged to seek to create a frame to the bus station vehicle circulation space.

We also wanted to define and contribute to the sense of arrival from the Railway Station creating a sense of delight upon emerging from the entrance to the station as well as directing views and pedestrian flow towards the Shoal and the Town Centre Steps. Each kiosk opens and closes in different ways so that they are not only flexible to accommodate multiple uses and can be treated as separate entities but also that by opening different up parts of the elevation they can be effectively joined together to create one overall space.

By day the kiosks all open up playfully interacting with each other, creating canopies, seating decks, raised signage and secrete doors. By night the kiosks all fold back together again creating seamless cubes of light becoming completely secure. The kiosks button down for the night and each ones starts to glow with five different lighting designs becoming light features in their own right.

The kiosks are all 3m cubes and can be pre-fabricated off site and brought to site on the the back of a lorry. The light fittings are all protected behind high strength polycarbonate panels that is highly resistant to scratches and graffiti.

The WC Kiosk Nr.1
By day the walls of the WC kiosk open up like big doors on opposite sides of the elevations to create a sense of privacy - the layout for the WC’s can include a DDA compliant unit. At night this one glows with little halos - circular LED fittings.

The Coffee Shop Kiosk Nr. 2
By day one wall of the coffee bar kiosk folds down to create an open air deck for al fresco frappucinos. The elevation that faces the railway station folds up to create a canopy over the sales counter to grab that coffee on the go. By night the kiosk glows with LED or fluorescent batten fittings, each elevation has the lights at different angles. This kiosk could also be a bar, or sell Champagne & Oysters or Fish ‘n’ Chips! Post Olympics this kiosk can become the Bus Station Cafe.

The Info Kiosk Nr. 3
By day the info Kiosk flaps up on one side to create a canopy sheltered from any unwanted rain, and slides up to the front face completely opening up one corner of the cube. This creates an enlarged floor plan - extra space for exhibitions and information material. The info kiosk is covered with light bulbs that can be programmed to make letters and shapes. This kiosk can be configured to host exhibition material used by the London Borough of Newham
for the display of public information or for LBN’s Olympic programme. Post Olympics this kiosk can become the Surface Transportation Information Kiosk.

The Giant Display Kiosk Nr. 4
This kiosk comprises of a large format digital LED display on all four sides of the cube creating a wrap-around digital display system. We imagined it rising up and down at different times of the day, in moments of glory at winning an Olympic medal or for important news items.

The Flower Shop Kiosk Nr. 5
One side of this kiosk flaps down to create a display deck for flowers and slides up on the opposite side completely opening up the kiosk front to back. People approaching from the east side will see straight through and underneath the raised giant display kiosk to the other side. This kiosk can be configured to many other different retail configurations. At night the kiosk will appear to be
covered in hundreds of little stars by setting in led bulbs into the wall build-up.