Nine Meals from Anarchy: A New Public House for East Tilbury

East Tilbury, a former Bata shoe company town, is typical of many parts of suburbia and rural England that are falling into a disrepair, defaulting to “commuter towns” and foregoing their own identity. In response to the erosion of a close-knit community, current residents aim to reinstate the lost shared elements and consciously build social value. Local decision making runs parallel with communal tasks such as, swimming, crafting, and preparing food. Through a new production, residents start to take ownership over their locality, causing the domestic to spill into the public. This project aims to redefine the public house as a community infrastructure that facilitates the coming together of residents. Taking cues from the masonry stove and the centrality of the chimney to living functions, the scheme examines the hearth as a potential space for cohesive social praxis.