Holly Taylor

Inhabiting Landscapes

Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA)

Project description

The Annex: A Thoughtful Dialogue Between Architecture and Place

Architecture holds the power to shape how we experience the world—not through spectacle, but through quiet integration and responsiveness. The Annex project, situated in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the largest public square in London, embraces this philosophy by prioritizing spaces that foster education, interaction, and community-building.

At the heart of this project is an approach inspired by Alberto Ponis, an architect known for his sensitivity to place. Ponis believed architecture should not impose itself on a site but instead adapt organically to its surroundings. This principle guides the Annex’s design, ensuring it harmonizes with the history and rhythm of Lincoln’s Inn Fields rather than dominating the space. Through interconnected rooms and carefully framed views, the Annex seeks to create moments of engagement where art, learning, and shared experiences unfold naturally.

FRAMING (HI)STORIES

A key element within the Annex is the Archive collection featuring Sir Frank Job Short’s drawings of London’s roofline. Short’s work, known for its simplicity and emphasis on perspective, complements Ponis’s ideals—both celebrate a deep respect for place and the subtle beauty of everyday environments. By introducing visitors to Short’s printmaking techniques and his artistic documentation of the city, the project encourages reflection on how history, art, and architecture intersect.

Through the fusion of these influences, the Annex reimagines urban integration—not as a grand architectural statement, but as a thoughtful and immersive experience. By embracing Ponis’s philosophy of unobtrusive design, the project creates a welcoming environment rooted in history, knowledge, and human connection.

Influential Artists

‘A pencil sketch view of London taken from the roof of the Victoria & Albert Museum inscribed with notes detailing the landmarks’. Sir Frank Job Short Late 19th/early 20th century

Alberto Ponis (1933), perspective and plan, Casa Scalesciani, 1977. Pencil and wash on tracing, 330 × 450 mm

Alberto Ponis (1933), working site plan, Casa Scalesciani, 1977. Pencil, black and red ink over office print on pink paper, 610 × 835 mm.

Alberto Ponis (1933), plan and site analysis, Casa Scalesciani, 1977. Pencil on tracing, 330 × 560 mm

The Proposal

Listening. Reflecting. Adapting.

Each element, GROUND, WALL, AND ROOF, works in dialogue. The final design echoes the lessons of both past and present, reinforcing the significance of unobtrusive, site-responsive architecture

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(FRAMING) Views

The Annex is shaped by its relationship to views, using framed perspectives to guide movement, interaction, and spatial experience. Openings are carefully positioned to reveal layered glimpses of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, reinforcing a sense of continuity between the built and natural environment. Inspired by Ponis’s approach to site-responsive design, the Annex does not dictate how it is perceived, it invites discovery, allowing architecture and landscape to exist in dialogue.

Exploded Elevations

Inspired by Ponis’s philosophy of unobtrusive design, its material selection ensures a deep, organic sensitivity to its surroundings. Glass dissolves boundaries, mirroring the openness of the field; timber echoes the vertical rhythm of the trees; and brick within the courtyard carries the tactile memory of organic garden walls. Each element becomes an act of recognition, reinforcing continuity between the built and the natural.