Innovative Windrush project earns Adobe recognition for Sarah
Architecture student Sarah Bradshaw has earned national recognition for her innovative thesis that drew upon her own family’s experiences as part of the Windrush Generation.
Sarah’s project, called ‘The Expedition’, saw her named as one of the runners-up in the Adobe Digital Edge Awards, making her just one of a very small number to be whittled down from applicants all over the UK.
The Adobe awards recognise students who put the company’s range of software like Photoshop or Illustrator to innovative use.
She designed a building that, had it been built from 1948 onwards, could have helped people arriving in London from the Caribbean settle into their new surroundings. Sarah’s grandparents and Mum made that journey from Jamaica, and while she says her Mum was shocked by her plans for her project, she is proud of her daughter’s empowering and powerful project.
Study architecture at the University of Huddersfield
Sarah drew up plans for a building in Camden, where many of the initial Windrush Generation lived for a time, and factored in her desire to make social justice integral to her project.
“It represents the journey of the arrival from the Caribbean to the UK, as well as something that reflects some of the history of the journey and their experiences when they arrived,” says Sarah.
An internal view of Sarah's Windrush buildingDiscover more about Sarah's project
“The project shows what could have been if there had been such a building for people after they had arrived, while a walk through the building would have been an historical and psychological journey.
But I did not want to create a museum, I wanted to create something practical. It is also a historical reflection of what actually happened, and not the sanitised version of what everyone thinks the journey of the Windrush Generation was
Sarah Bradshaw
Moving through Sarah’s building represents a journey where tight corridors, cold open spaces and also community-focused sections for shops and barbers all represent aspects of the journey and arrival of the Windrush Generation in the UK.
A bridge to a proposed learning centre also represents the possibility of better prospects after the challenges of the initial journey and arrival.
“It shows that if they had these kinds of centres at the time, the Windrush Generation would have been better prepared for the journey they had embarked on in the UK,” Sarah adds. “It is also a reflection on the journey that they undertook. The bridge is lit up to show ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel’.
Watch Sarah's compelling monologue about inequality
Sarah’s research also revealed how a seemingly multi-cultural area like Camden is not quite how it is often perceived.
“Camden has a reputation as a multi-cultural area, but there is nothing that represents the black community throughout the year,” she adds. “There is nothing that represents history, and a lot of the black community lives further out in Camden, on its fringes rather than area around the tube station that is so popular with other Londoners and tourists.”
Sarah’s recognition by Adobe follows a year after she was a regional winner of the Women In Property National Students awards, but in addition to the honours going her way, she is proud at being able to channel part of her heritage into her career.
“I have really enjoyed the experience as it has been such a different way to educate people about my history,” says Sarah, currently on a placement year at Brewster Bye Architects as part of her MArch.
“To educate people about a piece of British history has been really exciting, although I was a little sad I had to finish it. I wanted to carry it on, hopefully that will be next or I can look at other times in history and come up with solutions for problems even into the current day.
Sarah is spending a year on placement with architects Brewster Bye in Leeds.“It was good for my Dad – who is British – to show him the integration and change that has happened , and also there was an impact for me and my brother as we are of the mixed-race generation. I think my family were proud and excited that I managed to create something so unique – and not ‘architectural’.”
Bea Martin, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Technology, adds, "Sarah excelled in a tenacious determination throughout her BAA journey. At a time when so much about architecture is in question, she has endeavoured to get to the heart of what a building could be about.
"Her final project is the culmination of an audacious design proposition of grand poetic expression. It is thoughtful, piercing, and unapologetic.
“Understanding the many faces of architecture as a powerful and creative tool, Sarah enthusiastically put historical pieces back together into a material vision of what she believes would be an unprejudiced future for Camden and beyond."
Sarah's bridge that shows there is light at the end of the tunnel around the journey of the Windrush Generation