PAPERHOUSE

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London approached the studio with the idea of replacing some of the borough’s existing newspaper kiosks. Observing newspaper sellers at work, the studio appreciated the strenuous work involved in shifting heavy piles of newspapers and magazines to rebuild the dis-play each morning, which sometimes took more than an hour. By night the kiosks were dead, uninteresting objects, sealed with shutters to protect them but with flat surfaces which seemed to invite defacement. The studio set itself the task of designing a newspaper kiosk that could be set up in ten minutes instead of an hour. It also wanted the kiosk to be a positive presence on the street even when closed and looked for a way to make it secure without using conventional flat shutters or hinged panels. Tiered shelving for the magazines and newspapers inside gives the kiosk its stepped form and instead of an obvious door or shutter, the curved walls at each end rotate open with the magazines in place. The kiosk sits on a recessed plinth so that it almost floats above the pavement and the impact of any street-level grime is minimised. A clerestory brings daylight in while at night, when lit, the little building feels like a nightlight for the street.