Second-year students from the University of Reading’s School of Architecture collaborated in the design and build of an Urban Room, a temporary timber structure which carries the potential for enabling conversation and encounters between people and communities across Reading as a town and the University.

The Urban Room was situated on the University’s London Road campus, on the grass quad behind the School of Architecture, and open to everyone. As part of the University’s Arts Strategy, it hosted a programme of arts-based activities, stimulating thinking and conversation about the significance of place to the feeling of community and belonging.

Working with Reading arts organisation Jelly, the Urban Room hosted artist micro-residencies, with various artists invited to occupy the space over two days, providing specific moments for the general public to encounter their practice and exchange ideas.

These artists were:

Explore these photos to see how the Urban Room changed throughout its time at the University

  • Several people inside the Urban Room, a wooden structure with plastic sheeting on the top half. The people are surrounded by a variety of art and standing next to a grey bench with paper, a bottle and some digital equipment on it.
  • Wooden table with a typewriter, case, two wooden boxes of paper, a pair of glasses and a bottle. Next to the table is a black chair and a grey bench
  • Inside of the wooden Urban Room structure with plastic on the top half. There is an empty grey bench by a triangular opening with long pieces of paper attached to the structure on either side
  • Seated man, wearing a grey jumper, next to a long grey bench. Next to the man is a bag on the floor and a selection of books on the bench. The man is writing.
  • Figure sitting at a wooden table, surrounded by objects, inside the Urban Room, a wooden structure with plastic sheeting on the top half. Opposite the figure is an empty grey bench.
  • Three pieces of artwork of plants, in the corner of the Urban Room, a wooden structure with plastic at the top half
  • A man and a woman inside the Urban Room, a wooden structure with plastic on the top half. There is red string/thread across the 'room'. The man is tying something to the string and the woman is standing behind the grey bench, on which there are two bottles and some paper.

You can also watch this documentary video about the process of designing and building the structure.