Thesis: A renewal plan for reggae’s birthplace

Trench Town, a neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica, is famous as the birthplace of reggae music. It’s where the legendary Bob Marley once lived, the Wailers were formed, and No Woman No Cry was written.

The Jamaican government built Trench Town as a public housing scheme in the 1930s to accommodate rural migrants. Dwellings arranged around communal yards were designed with gabled roofs and verandahs. Today, Trench Town is plagued by derelict buildings, crime, and poverty.

Squatting is commonplace, as Jamaica has continued to urbanize without a sufficient supply of adequate and affordable housing, especially for low-income households.

Kimberley Wint’s master’s thesis is titled Preserving the Heartbeat of Trench Town: A Vision for Urban Renewal.

“My heart was in this place.”

Kimberley Wint, a Master of Architecture student at Carleton University, was drawn to the neighbourhood, with its rich architectural, social, and cultural history, for her master’s thesis: Preserving the Heartbeat of Trench Town: A Vision for Urban Renewal.

“My parents are Jamaican,” says Wint, 25. “I wanted to make this thesis project as personal as possible. If I’m going to work on something for eight months, it has to be something I'll be passionate about. My heart was in this place.”

Drawing and collage of the project site by Kimberley Wint

Inspired by TV show

When she was a teenager, Wint was fascinated by a TV series, Building a Difference, about people and organizations that rebuilt homes for families in need.

“Someone had 10 kids in a small home, or a father diagnosed with a disease and in a wheelchair, and the house was not accessible,” she recalls. “The architect and contractor would visit this family and envision their home in a different way.”

She enjoyed seeing the results and how the design and construction team rallied the community around a cause.

“I thought, ‘I want to do that. I want to use my skill set to give whatever I can to the community.’”

Born and raised in Toronto, Wint decided to study architecture. She loved drawing and was good at math. In 2014, she entered the undergraduate program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto, where she majored in design with a minor in urban studies and visual studies.

During her undergraduate years, she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. “Hammering things and putting in drywall was an amazing experience. Seeing this family come into their new home moved me.”

However, after graduating in 2018, Wint wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue with architecture. She was also concerned that her undergraduate degree did not fully prepare her for graduate studies.

“I had not taken any building technology courses,” she explains. “I did not comprehend the way in which buildings are put together.”

Thesis work by Kimberley Wint

STUDIO FIRST

In summer 2018, Went took the STUDIO FIRST program at Carleton University to help her decide.

During the five-week summer program, she reconnected with her interest in architecture as a way of building community. One of her projects explored the different types of buildings and streets that made up the Glebe, an Ottawa neighbourhood. 

At the final critique, she met Associate Professor Ozayr Saloojee, then Associate Director of Graduate Programs at Carleton’s architecture school. “He was excited about my work and encouraged me to apply to the graduate program.”

With material from STUDIO FIRST added to her portfolio, Wint applied and was accepted into the three-year Master of Architecture program starting In September 2018.

“STUDIO FIRST was a deciding factor in pursuing a Master of Architecture and a career in architecture,” she says. “The skills developed at STUDIO FIRST enhanced the ones I gained from U of T. I was familiar with the studio environment but was introduced to a new way of thinking about design through a creative lens.”

House designs for thesis by Kimberley Wint

Flexible house designs

Now in her final year, Wint will be completing her thesis, which proposes a redevelopment strategy for a six-block section of Trench Town. Her plan involves offering residents the opportunity to own their own homes.

The small houses she has designed are flexible. They can be easily expanded to accommodate changes in household size, composition, and financial circumstances. They also provide spaces for business. 

“Everyone has some kind of side hustle,” she explains. “The front part of your home can be rented out or used for a retail space, barbershop, or workshop.

“The one-bedroom starter home can become a four-to-five bedroom home, based on how many people are living with you, for example aunts and uncles. If you pull money together, you can grow your home over time.”

Renderings by Kimberley Wint

Climate, culture, community

During her research, Wint has been in discussion with Jamaican architect Christopher Whyms-Stone, the director and curator of the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, located in Bob Marley's former home.

She has also received encouragement from a fellow architecture student at Carleton. Otmar Melhado was previously the Director of Estates at the Jamaica National Heritage Trust and has visited Trench Town.

“I thought that the place could do well with a fresh perspective on how to preserve and reuse the place outside of just tourism,” says Melhado. “Kimberley’s project is doing just that. 

“She has made accommodation for climate, culture, and community variations that is very much needed when designing in tropical architectural regions,” he says. “The proposal also caterers for flexible design solutions to fit the needs of each resident, giving them respect in acknowledging that one size doesn't fit all.

“An approach like this is the opposite of gentrification, possibly encouraging well-to-do to do or former residents to consider the place as a new home,” he adds.

Block layouts from thesis work by Kimberley Wint

“I’m in the right field”

Wint hopes that her project will spark interest within Jamaica. She says that increasing the supply and quality of housing and providing income-generating spaces can be a catalyst for community change. It could reduce crime, stimulate business, and expand tourism.

“Kim’s thesis work enabled her to explore the role architecture and urban design might play in stabilizing a dynamic but vulnerable community,” says Associate Professor Benjamin Gianni, her thesis supervisor. 

“The thesis offered the opportunity to explore issues that are important to herself and her family through the lens of her evolving professional expertise,” he says. “It was both an opportunity to grow and to reconnect with the past.”

Wint has enjoyed speaking to her family members about the project and getting their opinions. It has brought them closer.

“I feel like I’m in the right field,” she says. “I’m so excited. It’s about helping people. Everyone deserves good architecture.”

Urban plan from thesis work by Kimberley Wint