Femke Burley

Margate Winter Gardens: Reimagined is a project that explores the boundary between the community within Margate and the tourism industry. This project follows on from a personal undergraduate project, that stemmed motivations to understand how design could contribute towards a more sustainable tourism industry through local, culturally motivated travel know as Slow Tourism.

Taking on the seaside town of Margate, the aspiration of this project was to understand the importance of the tourism industry and how that could be revitalised and reimagined post pandemic, whilst also supporting the community. Located on the coast, Margate Winter Gardens was a space that once upheld the idea of bringing the community together for events, but now the space lays abandoned, thus making it the ideal space to bring life back to the community.

Reimagining the space, the proposed design explored the balance of private and public in a Grade II listed building, exploring the possibilities of a space both for residents and visitors of the town. Core spaces within the proposed design focused primarily on how a new town centre within Margate could be established, with better public access and green spaces. Additional spaces also provided and prompted the regeneration of the “Margate Tourism Experience” with water sports, creative workshops run by local creatives and the restoration and redevelopment of the main theatre space.