Maximilian Chandra Master

This project begins on the road...

Over the summer of 2021 I worked as a delivery driver throughout the Greater London area. Three months and about 3000 miles spent tracing and retracing the orbital and arterial roads that sustain the city. This was the first time I spent any prolonged period of time within the landscape of the motorway.

Realm3 describes this landscape, belonging neither to the countryside or the city, a travellers territory typified by speed and alienation.

The ADS1 brief was concerned initially with the legacy and contemporary adaptation of the architecture of the 80’s. A decade defined by the individualisation and financialisation of our societies. Throughout this time the road network of the U.K expanded rapidly, as a result of government legislation such as Thatcher’s famous ‘roads for prosperity’ whitepaper. The role of the road as a tool for shaping and controlling societies was well understood and indeed Thatcher was explicit in her rationale.

‘politics is the method…the goal is to change the soul’

This initial research topic led me to my site, Thurrock services, which lies on the eastern fringe of London’s 117 mile orbital M25 motorway. The M25, completed under Thatcher’s premiership manifests the cultural shift of the 80’s an infrastructural declaration of intent aimed at oiling the wheels of seamless capital flow.

Thurrock service station lies at the junction of the A13 and M25, the A13 being one of London’s primary arterial trade routes, linking the deep water ports of the Thames estuary with the traditional industrial heart of London’s east end. The site’s location at the intersection of two key trade routes which funnel goods from London’s three primary ports inextricably link it to these themes of logistics and distribution. 

My final proposal, The Mardyke Switch is a piece of infrastructure which seamlessly connects to the existing road network facilitating the exchange of goods from incoming HGV’s arriving from London’s ports to smaller ‘final mile carriers.Final mile delivery is one of the most complex, expensive and important pieces of the entire supply chain. Whilst it is possible to maximise efficiency within the tableau rasa of the warehouse, the chaotic reality of the city is less easy to tame.

What I am proposing is a fully automated open access logistics centre where hauliers are able to rent shelf space to deposit goods which can then be collected by any number of freelance London based couriers.