Nour Al Ali’s New Wortley tower block library project explores social housing regeneration through literacy, community space and resident agency.
The proposal inserts a library into an existing tower block setting, turning a place associated with isolation and low educational attainment into a more public, useful and imaginative part of the neighbourhood.
Project image
Project overview
The original profile introduced Nour as a master’s graduate in architecture from Leeds Beckett University, where she graduated with merit. It also noted her interior architecture background, freelance experience and interest in architectural assistant and interior design roles in Leeds.
That candidate context matters, but the project should lead. The architecture is built around a social question: how can an existing housing block support literacy, gathering and a stronger relationship with the local community?
What the project is trying to solve
- Social isolation around UK tower blocks.
- Low educational attainment and limited local learning space.
- A need for community facilities that feel visible and welcoming.
- The challenge of adding value to an existing housing structure.
- Resident agency through consultation and optional flat expansion.
The design idea
The library works like a new public layer added to the host building. Nour described this as a prosthetic architecture: a new function attached to an existing structure for the benefit of residents and the wider community.
The library is also imagined as an urban journey. Promenading, gathering, linked episodes and moments of discovery are used to stimulate literary imagination rather than treating the library as a silent room of shelves.
Why resident expansion matters
One of the more interesting ideas is that residents could expand their flats with an additional parasitic space attached to the tower facade. Done well, that makes the project less top-down and more open to local choice.
In social housing regeneration, that difference matters. The architecture should not only improve how a building looks from the outside; it should give residents more useful ways to live, learn and shape their surroundings.
Portfolio lesson
For a student portfolio, this project needs to show the social problem, the building strategy and the human benefit quickly. The strongest evidence would be drawings or diagrams that explain how the library attaches, how people move through it and how residents can adapt their homes.
Showcase a socially useful student project
Architecture Social can feature student projects where the social brief, spatial response and public value are clear.
- Explain the site problem in plain language.
- Show how the design helps a real group of users.
- Make the drawings easy to understand without a long verbal defence.
- Include tools, process and source links where they help the reader.
Source and project route
Architecture Social view
Stephen’s recruiter view is that socially driven projects can be powerful, but only when the reader can see the architectural evidence. A strong concept needs plans, sections, sequence and user benefit working together.
Next step
Explore more student projects, use the portfolio guide to sharpen your project story, or submit your own work.
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