Great Sinners, Great Cathedrals

Starting from the simple table they are named after, banks became one of the most splendid building types as they sought to reassure depositors. Today they are on the verge of disappearing altogether.

As a credit union, the project is about the collective ownership of an institutional building and acts as an architecture of exchange that questions the role of finance and institutional architecture in relation to the city. The nature of this transactional relationship emphasises institutional expression through the architecture as a series of transactional negotiations that play out across site. These exchanges are lenses for responding to paradigm shifts, engaging the public through transparency, the legacy of bank typologies, and the role of institutional architecture in the city.

Funding the city is not just a monetary figure but also how the built fabric provides spaces that are responsive to societal needs. The project reintroduces institutional architecture that funds the city for legacy while celebrating the act of the individual engaging with it. Moreover, the project explores how an institute’s legacy outlives its occupants, and that legacy is not about the longevity of a single building but rather about what that building provides for its existing and future occupancy.