Alexander Jones

Alexander Jones's fascination with architecture and spatial design began at a young age and has been a constant throughout his life. This passion grew throughout his childhood and young adulthood, leading him to seize the first opportunity to study architecture at college and then university. His enthusiasm for the field has deepened through his academic pursuits and personal interests. Jones frequently engages with the discipline outside of formal education by watching architectural lectures and reading architectural theory. His bookshelf includes books by prominent firms and successful architects, all of which have contributed to his comprehensive understanding of the craft. This self-directed learning has honed his architectural thinking and broadened his perspective on design.

Jones' skill set is diverse, ranging from conceptual hand drawings and paintings to detailed CAD models. His keen eye for detail and creative mind enable him to produce unique architectural proposals that emphasises spatial experiences for users. This is shown in his university projects and the competitions he enters in his spare time. Through these projects, Jones demonstrates his ability to blend his artistic vision with technical skills, creating unique spaces.

Therme Southwark is a project which uses Dilston Gallery (once a church) to create a communal heart for Southwark. Through historical and contemporary research of the church together with a macro and micro context of the area, Jones has established that this church site is an ideal location to both reflect on Southwark history as well as looking forward to a salubrious Southwark. With spiritual and historical features of the church and it being the first concrete church in London, makes it an ideal place for this project to be at the heart of Southwark. The aim of Therme Southwark, to connect the community through this building therefore giving it a second life to fulfil its role. Another building at the heart of the community at the time due to the poverty in the area was the Bermondsey Central Baths, the concept of a bath house is still relevant to contemporary living as it can create a place within the community where people can mentally reset. This concept of a contemporary bath house is what Therme Southwark aims to deliver to the community. Although the old baths had an outdated program, updating it to contemporary needs for a communal bath house should be successful for the area.

Using a variety of mediums such as oil paint, charcoal and renders, Jones created an atmosphere in which the once church can develop into a unique bathing experience. The charcoal sketch on the left shows how light can enter the building through slits to create a unique atmosphere in existing building. The painting on the left shows how light enters and diffuses when entering the church building and the proposal. The render below this shows an atmospheric view of what it would be like to be in the courtyard of the proposal.The oil painting below shows light coming through windows and interacting with steam which the hot baths produce creating atmosphere.

The diagram on the left shows historical grid lines which go directly through the church building and each of the ten points at which they converge as a starting point for each of the ten historical landmarks. This in turn created different areas which could be cut into the church building therefore giving me opportunities to play with positive and negative space. The diagrams below that show how the building will be insulated, the ventilation of the proposal and how daylight enters the building.

Views left to right: Ground Floor Plan, First Floor Plan