Having fallen upon hard times since the decline of the domestic tourism industry in the early 1970s, Margate is now one of the most deprived towns in the UK, enduring worryingly high levels of unemployment, low levels of education, and rising homelessness. The council’s hopes for revival remain pinned upon tourism and passive gentrification, neither of which truly address these pressing issues. Instead, the existing residents are being slowly pushed out of the town.

'Manual' suggests that the act of building holds value to the wider community, beyond the use of a finished architectural product. The full life cycle of a building, from conception to obsolescence, is to be harnessed as an educational tool. The project proposes a system which aims to involve the local Margate community in the reforming of a community building situated within the derelict Margate Lido. Participants can begin to design and construct their own unprogrammed space using designed architectonic components, the forms of which draw on Margate's vernacular architecture. Through the act of construction, not only are Margate's citizens able to acquire useful construction skills, but are also presented with a rare opportunity for self-determination.