Group Ginger - Pocket Book 02 by Group Ginger

group ginger POCKET BOOK 02

SIGN A CONTRACT WITH YOURSELF

I, the undersigned declare that having received this little book full of ideas, designs, intelligence, describing places you want to spend time; have no excuse, not to explore a projects potential with Group Ginger and find out why clients like them so much.

GROUP GINGER

before we begin 5 Four years! Four years of searching, finding, exploring, discovering and sharing. In four years we have developed a portfolio of projects, some finished, some in progress and some yet to come which demonstrate our bespoke and tailored response to every project be it large or small. Our focus has always been and will always be on our clients and their requirements. This little book illustrates our commitment to establishing a practice which is focussed on the crucial interaction between designers, project sponsors and users to deliver an architecture in the midst of life, fit for everyday use. We see our practice as a cultural activity.

delivery of projects, a number of awards and our continued commitment to diversity. We love re-invigorating, re-purposing existing spaces and creating new active environments; we are storytellers; enriching old stories and establishing new narratives of place. Over the following pages we would like to share some of these narratives with you. This little book provides an insight into our world; a snap shot of our portfolio, writings, projects and works in progress…we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!?

Simon Baker In pocket book 01 we proudly presented the diversity of our portfolio, here and now in Pocket book 02 we are able to celebrate the successful

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GROUP GINGER

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contents 1. Discovering hidden assets 12

Scarborough Market Hall Putting traders and customers centre stage.

Hartlepool Post Office Social Business Networks

East Street Arts

Urban Subversion and Mobile

Community + Arts Section Partner with Group Ginger

Cinema Studio Re-Activist; Sheffield School of Architecture

Coming Soon Victory Works Castleton Mill Blayds Yard Aire Street Studios

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. Tailored architecture

2. Weaving the city 72

122

Lichfield Friarsgate Cathedral City Centre Regeneration

Cleethorpes

A centre piece for the nature reserve

138

Masterplan and implementation strategy for Victorian resort

150

Endeavour Wharf New Neighbourhood Utility New uses for lost spaces

113

Concourse

114

Coming Soon

Leeds College of Music Rooftop Conservatoire

Yorkshire’s Offshore Renewable Centre

104

The Hide/Tophill Low

Harrogate Royal Armouries Mount St. Mary’s West Brom Leeds Victoria Phase 2

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St Peter’s Square Urban shortcut and pocket park

1 10

Discovering hidden assets

Re-invigorating, re-purposing existing spaces and creating new active environments

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Scarborough Market Hall Putting traders and customers centre stage

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Scarborough Council were looking to revitalise the original Victorian Market Hall, retaining the use of the grade two listed structure as a market and add new life and activity to the area through the investment in local independent business. The market had deteriorated through a lack of vision and investment. This two million pound project needed to repair the building fabric, add new space with the introduction of a mezzanine and improve accessibility with the inclusion of a lift and new level entrance. The efficient design organises the space to put traders and customer’s centre-stage, fostering the sense of community and theatre that people love about markets. A ﬂexible events space was introduced to allow for temporary trading, activities and entertainment, creating new opportunities for the building to reclaim its position at the heart of civic life in the town’s the existing Victorian robust structure. SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL

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Extract from The Scarborough News.

SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL

Historic photo of the market hall captures the volume of the space with low level stalls and no high level marketing signs.

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curatorial approach... The delivery of the design intent and vision for the new market hall required the team to respond to the opportunities and issues presented through the construction process. Unknown or appreciated historic and architectural features were revealed during the strip out phase; these were exposed, repaired and celebrated. Old stalls; wrought iron fenestration and more were found during construction, each piece was considered and retained in situ or sensitively removed to be reinstated as the project progressed. Group Ginger worked closely with the conservation officer to achieve a sympathetic yet modern interpretation of the existing market. The

historic market balcony balustrade was re-used in the scheme to form the new edge protection in conjunction with a new sympathetic architectural balustrade to conform to current building regulations. The design balances the ÂŁ2M budget to deliver additional space, repair the existing and improve accessibility. A curatorial approach was adopted to determine where and how to spend the budget and establish a robust design that could be implemented with a design and build contractor. Throughout the twelve months build the market remained open to preserve continuity of trade.

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New Mezzanine Level Plan

structured coherence... The existing Victorian robust structure remains the dominant feature of the design. The new steel mezzanine sits politely within the walls of the hall, respectfully subservient. The mezzanine supports new timber retail units and a dining area whilst concealing all of the services required for the perimeter food retailers below. New free standing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rooflessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; timber gondolas enable the full extent of the hall to be appreciated and preserve the view of all of the traders and activity taking place in the market. The design strictly adheres to a principle of preserving sight lines across the market but removing the usual

clutter. This curated and controlled approach has been reinforced by the Market management team and through a Branding strategy provided by Group Ginger. The original building and market occupation had lost its way with little love for the environment. The proposals bring back love, control and a rationale; a structured coherence which provides a framework but not an over-controlled restrictive environment. We wanted to create a volume and a stage a for the real actors; the traders.

SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL

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SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL

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SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL

“No one’s hidden anymore. You can see all the businesses from when you walk in and it’s a modern clean look.”

Mark Nockels: M. Nockels Butchers [Alex Richards] So this building has been here for the best part of 150 years as a marketplace for Scarborough. This essentially, at one point, was the centre of the town. The market in Scarborough started originally at Scarborough Castle, which was the first settlement in the town. And then, in the following years, it moved down to the seafront in and around the harbour and we have what is called Scarborough fair, which is a very famous festival that used to happen once a year for several weeks where everybody came and bought and sold in exchange goods and got thoroughly drunk and had a cracking time. And then by Royal Charter, this site was cleared and the market was established here some 150 plus years ago.

[Mark Nockels] Me grandfather came out the First World War, 1918/1919, worked here. The gentleman he worked for died, and he bought the business from his widow. And then he worked in the business, me father took over 1962, and I took over in 1988. So we’ve been here 98 years. I mean it’s come along at a great time for us. It needed a big investment and because it wasn’t maybe as clean or as good as it should have been, I felt a little bit reluctant to put a lot of me own money in at the time. But I’m quite prepared to invest heavily myself now as well as in the youth who come along and hopefully onwards and upwards.

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We always saw the potential for the market hall to be an event space and ensured that the central market stalls didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t detract from this opportunity. The interventions add to the theatrical quality of the space. No-one anticipated quite how successful this would be. Events bring new

people; diversifying the audience and relevance of the market. The changing dynamic of event and celebration keeps the market hall current, positive, relevant and alive. You never know quite what to expect, and we love that.

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Hartlepool Post Office Innovation and Skills Quarter

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The refurbishment and extension of the listed post office building on Whitby Street in Hartlepool is aimed at graduate capture, retaining knowledge in the city and helping to nurture new business enterprise, offering studio spaces for start-ups and small businesses. The interior quality is established by the strength of the existing fabric. Interventions and architectural alterations required to appropriate the building for its new use will be clearly articulated as new insertions. The intent is to create a conversation between new and old, where the original structure is the dominant feature. The existing building is extended by providing a fourth wing, enclosing the central area to create a common social space, which links new and old, unifying the spaces into a single facility. The proposed building is distinct, modern and clearly separate but complementary to the existing building. HARTLEPOOL POST OFFICE

Regeneration Master Plan Working directly with Cushman Wakefield and Hartlepool borough Council group ginger developed a masterplan vision for the Innovation and skills Quarter and the church street conservation area. The study identified key built assets and areas for public sector investment which resulted in successful grant applications and the refurbishment of a former GPO post office to deliver a business and innovation skills centre focussed on graduate retention and new business start-ups. The masterplan vision and asset strategy evaluated the area and key assets that could drive

regeneration. A key strategic building identified was the former GPO post office, a grade II listed building. Group ginger along with Cushman Wakefield prepared a number of feasibility options and developed a preferred proposal along with a key town centre partner, Cleveland college of art and design. The initial design appraisal developed the business case and investment strategy to demonstrate a viable and sustainable long-term use for the building which would enhance the economic regeneration and sustainability of the building and its role in the church street conservation area.

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working with the existing fabric The refurbishment and extension of the listed post office building on Whitby Street in Hartlepool provides a serviced facility offering studio spaces for start-ups and small businesses. The project complements the existing innovation district and is aimed at graduate capture, retaining knowledge in the city and helping to nurture new business enterprise. The existing building interior has previously been stripped of nearly all historic features and taken back to the structure of the building. The interior quality is established by the strength of the existing fabric. Interventions and architectural alterations required to appropriate the building

for its new use are clearly articulated as new insertions. We have considered carefully building adaptation, only intervening where completely necessary to make the building function and work seamlessly as a whole entity. This approach helps preserve a raw freshness that architecture normally edits out. As Architects of adaptation we are one of multiple authors; the original Architects, the previous occupiers, the owners, the new occupants, the visitors, and the artists. Each author contributes to the overall composition. The design approach of retention, adaptation and addition creates a conversation between new and

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old, where the original building is the dominant feature.Â The existing building is extended by providing a fourth wing, enclosing the central area to create a common social space, which links new and old buildings unifying the spaces into a single facility.

Whitby street is the main street linking into Church Street and the station. The proposed building is distinct, modern and clearly separate but complementary to the existing building.

The proposed massing of the new build extension complements the existing building by presenting a gable end elevation to Hope Street and Exeter Street. The gables are two storeys high with an inhabited attic.Â The new extension is smaller in bulk and mass to the building fronting Whitby Street and consequently deferential respecting the hierarchical arrangement of buildings where

HARTLEPOOL POST OFFICE

EXISTING BUILDING

NEW BUILD

SOCIAL SPACE

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NEW BUILD

EXISTING BUILDING

HARTLEPOOL POST OFFICE

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HARTLEPOOL POST OFFICE

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East Street Arts Partnering and co-production

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East Street Arts is a contemporary arts organisation working across the UK and Europe. Their mission is to support artists to create work that brings lasting change to our everyday lives through their activities programme, professional development and being a leading provider of temporary and permanent space to the creative community. East Street Arts work with local artists, neighbourhood communities and local authorities. Their activities facilitate and engage local communities to provide meaningful and relevant interventions specific to location. Group Ginger and East Street Arts work collaboratively.

EAST STREET ARTS

Group Ginger and East Street Arts East Street Arts have been working with Group Ginger since 2016. Group ginger are helping to deliver new studio and fabrication spaces as well as develop the design model for the arts hostel including implementing the next phase of arts hostel in Leeds at New York Studios. Working collaboratively ESA and GG are developing the feasibility for housing and artist’s studios for Homes England, Leeds City Council and a private developer / land owner. Our collaborative working relationship is one of co-production where ESA and group ginger equally contribute to the initiation and realisation of projects.

Group ginger are continuing to develop and explore; three elements of physical infrastructure with East Street Arts in their aim to support the artist community. The three main activities, studio, hostel and housing can exist in isolation or come together as a combined activity in a single location adding value to a development through the inclusion of artists to derive a locally specific and attractive identity. ESA’s continued involvement through management and operation, maintains their social purpose.

Studios Studios expose the rich diversity of artists practice, broker new relationships, collaborations and events playing a pivotal role in a city’s cultural and creative identity. ESA operate a number of bespoke venues for artists, providing studio spaces, resource areas and project spaces. Group ginger are helping ESA establish their latest studio offer; Mary’s, A Business Environment Engineering Technology and Arts Hub which will provide a mixture of studios, labs, co-production workspace, tech facilities, including event and live-in spaces for artists visiting and staying in the city for an extended period. It is unique as it addresses artists’ need for structured support outside of academic institutions and fosters an ethos of professional development. Mary’s was originally designed as a convent for the sisters Charity of St Paul, and formed part of the church estate. The upper floors of the

former convent remain largely unchanged and the previous nun’s cells are retained and re-used as artists halls of residence. The design proposals rationalise the internal spaces making them accessible and suitable for multiple different users. Group Ginger and East Street Arts are working closely to develop the proposals on a very efficient budget. The project is intentionally unfinished; a continual work in progress where the occupation and inhabitation over time of artists will populate, decorate and add to the building interior. Mary’s Studios is currently under construction and set to open its doors in mid-2019. The collaboration with artists extends further than the informal appropriation of the interior to include a commissioned external terracotta faience with the artist, Matthew Raw which is in development now and will hopefully be installed early 2020.

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Configuration 1 2 BED - SIDE BY SIDE

Configuration 4 3 BED -

Configuration 7 4 BED -

Configuration 2

Configuration 3

Configuration 5

Configuration 6

2 BED - BUNK

3 BED - BUNK

Configuration 8

Configuration 9

4 BED

5 BED

Modular Bed System

Art Hostel The art hostel model was developed by ESA as a pilot project in Kirkgate Leeds in 2016. The first social enterprise in the UK providing affordable accommodation created by artists. The hostel is more than the provision of an affordable bed it provides an access point to unique cultural experiences, through a relationship with the local artistic community. In addition to bedrooms, the hostel has its own project space hosting oneoff events, exhibitions and opportunities for guests to participate and meet other artists and performers. Following the success of the temporary pilot hostel; Group Ginger have been developing a model for the hostel which can be implemented

in other cities across Europe. A new permanent home has been found for the art hostel in Leeds. A brand new, larger-scale and permanent Art Hostel in Mabgate, completes early summer 2019. The new arts hostel will open as part of a creative complex, located next door to East Street Arts HQ, Patrick Studios and the art and tech hub. Designed and created by a new raft of artistic talent, it is set to be a fantastic spot for unique, affordable accommodation. A new Public space – “the space between” is emerging as a collaborative meanwhile public space / artwork unifying the creative complex where group ginger are operating as artists under the monocle; “The Urban Myth Factory”

EAST STREET ARTS

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EAST STREET ARTS

Live/Work East Street Arts currently manage/curate two houses (Leeds and Hull) as part of a broader project of placing artists (and their families) to live and work in different communities. The aim is to provide cultural value to society by immersing artists to live and work in a variety of community/demographic settings. They are focused on providing affordable, well-designed social housing for creative practitioners on a low income. East Street Arts are interested in the role of the home in relation to artists’ personal and professional lives. Recent socio-political readings of the housing crisis highlight that it is rooted in inequality, rather than undersupply of new housing in isolation. The ‘Paying Artists’ campaign 2014 revealed the majority of contemporary artists barely survive financially, with no or low pay the norm. In real terms, nearly three-quarters of artists are getting just 37% of the average UK salary from their practice. “We want Leeds to be the first place in the country to transform residential areas through the combination of artists’ living and work spaces.” East Street Arts Artistic Director Karen Watson

Group ginger along with other academics, artists and property professionals contributed to the first of a series of planned events, part of an ongoing exploration; trying to define affordable housing for artists; and what this model might look like, if it is to support artists’ development and the potential for them to move out of a low income existence? East street arts and group ginger are working with a private developer for a mixed use residential master plan in Leeds. The feasibility proposals are being developed with Leeds City Council and Homes England are providing feasibility grant funding. The proposals provide a mix of new build houses, apartments, artists housing and a collective artist house / free room as well as artist studios and workshops in re-purposed existing buildings on site. East Street arts will take responsibility for the studios, workshops and the dedicated artist house. The artist house is a series of artist residencies with shared facilities and a free room / exhibition space at the ground floor. A proportion of the housing and apartments will be affordable and dedicated to artists to live and work.

How it works... East street arts are an Artist and local community support agency. Their social and artist sector support aims are recognised by funding organisation and they are therefore able to leverage grant funding to support their purpose and wider regeneration aims. Group ginger

are extremely pleased to be one of many talented people collaborating with East Street Arts to develop their altruistic social aims and to exploring new and innovative models of development.

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Urban Subversion and Mobile Cinema: Leisure, Architecture and the “Kino-Cine-Bomber”

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Group ginger capture and discuss outputs from the Sheffield student studio with reﬂective and discursive essays. The following essay Urban Subversion and mobile cinema follows the activity of (re)-Activist studio in their exploration of the hidden river Sherbourne in Coventry.

60 This paper introduces our bicycle-based cinema device —the “kino-cinebomber”—as a vehicle to re-imagine disused buildings and obsolete urban infrastructure for re-activated public leisure spaces. http://www.groupginger.com/blogs/2018/01/04/ urban-subversion-and-mobile-cinema-leisure/ In Coventry, the River Sherbourne is missing; at the perimeter of Coventry’s ring road, the Sherbourne unceremoniously disappears underground; re-emerging from a tunnel near where the ring road meets Sky Blue Way. Between these points, the Sherbourne transects Coventry, but invisibly; there is no sense of the river in its dense streets and pedestrianized central district. Here the Sherbourne is lost, hidden within a culvert system constructed after World War II. This paper discusses our participation in efforts to re-expose the River Sherbourne. Our research foregrounds leisure in urban spaces and architecture as activist politics.

We collaborated with postgraduate architecture students in the (Re)Activist studio at Sheffield University to design and build a mobile bicycle cinema apparatus we call the “kino-cine-bomber”. The kino-cine-bomber consists of a Danish freight bicycle with an added wooden tower to elevate a 2000-lumen projector; a car battery powers the projector, 50-watt sound system, and radio transmitter (for anyone wishing to listen in via radio). In a series of Situationistinspired interventions (Re)Activist students pedaled the kino-cine-bomber through Coventry, first to suggest locations where the Sherbourne might be rediscovered. Then, in a second excursion, they projected architectural designs for (re)new(ed) communal spaces centralizing civic leisure spaces to counter the consumer-driven “zombification” of urban living (Lashua, 2016; Maak, 2015). The prefix kino evokes the “kino-eye” in the pioneering documentary filmmaking of Dziga Vertov (Hicks, 2007). Vertov filmed everyday life for working-class

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people, often utilizing revolutionary mobile camera work. We redeploy Vertov’s kinesthetic sensibilities through filmic (cine) projection, mobilizing cinema in “uncanny” ways to de-familiarize familiar urban spaces (Huskisson, 2016). Rather than filming, our bicycle cinema device projected films and architectural designs onto the urban fabric to highlight buildings that might be removed. That is, we engaged in “culture bombing” to re-imagine the built environment and offer alternative visions for leisure spaces. Culture bombing is a détournement, a Situationist technique that diverts or reroutes mainstream cultural conceptions.

We also use the term “bomber” metaphorically to refer to the architectural subtraction of redundant buildings from the urban environment (Easterling, 2014). We aimed use the kino-cine-bomber as a device to help identify infrastructure and buildings no longer fit for purpose that could be subtracted from the urban landscape, where segments of the River Sherbourne could be uncapped, revealed, and celebrated as urban leisure features, contributing to the social, cultural, and economic vitality of the city. The subtraction of redundant buildings and obsolete infrastructure produces two distinct urban design possibilities: (1) the amplification of a new public domain focused on the ‘’neutral’’ common land of the river corridor and (2) the densification of surrounding developable land resulting in an intensification of activity – a new vibrancy evident through two distinct and complimentary conditions. Leisure spaces are central to both possibilities. If cities are to become more densely inhabited, challenging questions remain over where, what kinds, and how much public space is given over to leisure. The concept of urban space is innately connected with public space, and urban public spaces “stand out as particularly meaningful locations of everyday life, for they provoke citizen involvement.” Gilchrist and Ravenscroft (2013) contextualized the politics of urban leisure spaces and advocate leisureas-disruption. Our project shares these methods of

disruptive leisure intervention; it adds attention to urban architecture in the production of leisure spaces. Instead of reading the city through its representation in cinema, we can use cinema to “read” the city, to understand lived urban spaces as cinematic. Koeck advocates “using film as a lens through which we look at architecture and cities” . Koeck describes this way of seeing cinematic spaces in urban architecture as “cine-scapes” in which “we should consider the use of film and cinematic principles as a natural instrument to facilitate engagement with architectural spaces”. This use of cinema to engage with architectural spaces is precisely what we set out to do with the kino-cine-bomber. In order to offer alternate leisure spaces, we introduce another concept: architecture by subtraction (Easterling, 2014). Architecture by subtraction involves the practice of renewing the urban landscape by removing redundant, disused, or over-engineered elements. It embraces negative space or deconstruction, rather than additive architecture or construction. This approach invites renewed consideration of the city as palimpsest, written, partially erased, and rewritten, many times over. The subtraction of infrastructure can densify the city and intensify cultural activity. The spaces that are created and revealed require carefully considered architectural design; although “bombing” suggests a violent and messy removal, architecture by subtraction remains architecture; it requires thoughtful design, planning and vision of what a deconstructed space may look like—and be used for. In combination with cinematic geographies and architecture by subtraction, we use the kino-cinebomber to envision possible re-use for, pocket parks and the re-instatement of Pool Meadow in Coventry. These are not only revealed spaces, but also re-activated spaces. Correspondingly, we make conceptual links to “zombie spaces”—dead spaces brought back to life—re-activated specifically through new communal leisure spaces (Lashua, 2015; Maak, 2015). (Re)Activist students traced a hidden river in a

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derive on December 7th 2016 by cycling through Coventry, stopping to project films upon walls and buildings, speaking with passers-by, and observing infrastructure that could be removed. Later, potential sites for architecture by subtraction were plotted against a map of the River Sherbourne’s underground route. Sites identified during the derive that aligned with the hidden river were then used to produce new architectural plans—design manifestos— for communal leisure spaces centered on river daylighting and pocket parks. A second kino-cine-bomber sortie took place January 24th 2017. This detournement developed another Situationist approach: “constructed situations.” These situations include performances and other innovative demonstrations that shift peoples’ interpretation of the world away from complacency,

conformity and acceptance. Debord argued that unexpected, situated disruptions could reach people on an emotional (sensual) level and create spaces for critique and social cohesion (Gilman-Opalsky, 2008). In constructed situations with the kino-cine-bomber, architectural designs and images were projected onto derelict buildings in Coventry that could be removed, showcasing what might be there instead. These designs centralized potential communal leisure spaces to resist the zombification of urban space. One manifesto (Kutbi, 2017) designed an experimental open-air theatre space delineating a pocket park leading to the daylighted river. This space “literally rips out the stage from the heart of the theatre and relocates the production around it” allowing an “urban landscape of open accessibility allowing all to join into its entertainment and leisure”

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Nearby, would be a center for civic activism—“the Political Platform”—for citizens to mobilize public protests (Taylor, 2017). Another manifesto (CraigThompson, 2017) envisioned an “Institute for Transient Workers”—a civic institution for Coventry’s flexible workers to address the precariousness of the gig-economy; this would be a leisure space for: socializing, exchange of ideas, place to shelter, and shared resources. The Institute becomes a civic heart for Coventry, reaffirming the intertwining of urban economic and social praxes. Also (re)occupying space adjacent to Taylor’s and Craig-Thompson’s political spaces, Jones (2017) designed a “make-space” for citizen broadcast media. The derelict Co-Operative Society department store would become “a place of creation and innovation: Coventry Independent Broadcast Co-Operative”. It offers: a platform for independent broadcast in the center of Coventry. Neither institutional, nor fringe, this center offers

a living experience - exhibition halls, big tables and project spaces, alongside a print house and homegrown radio station; traditional, local, media is made relevant again in an age of globalized ‘fake news’. (Jones, 2017, p. 5) Two manifestos moved beyond pocket parks to imagine broader daylighting schemes. Chee (2017) provided radical plans to restore Pool Meadow (currently Coventry’s central bus station) to urban wetland and open “free space” (Chee, 2017), where free space falls outside defined planning classifications (sui generis) and users can freely design the space for cultural activities. Noting Coventry is among places farthest from a beach in England, Wong (2017), envisioned an “Urban Beach Corridor” as an alternative to Coventry’s City Council’s ambition of building a city center waterpark. As a related set of plans for pocket parks and river daylighting areas in Coventry, these

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design proposals share playfully (de)constructive aims of subtraction, re-imaging and re-activating the city center through spaces for communal, public leisure. The kino-cine-bomber was used to project a different vision, offer a catalyst for conversations, and to think through, and with, the city as something “other.”

1. 2.

Conclusion: “Sous les pavés, la plage!”

(Beneath the streets, the beach!)

5. 6.

A manifesto for urban leisure spaces 8. During the radical protests that swept through Paris in 1968, graffiti around the city declared: “Sous les pavés, la plage!”—beneath the streets, the beach! The phrase was an imaginative invitation to tear down the existing order and build a new one. In this phrase, we recognize architecture by subtraction, leisure and activist politics, and a call for change reverberating through the design manifestos by (Re)Activist architecture students. Henri Lefebvre articulated this re-activation: An existing space may outlive its original purpose which determines its forms, functions and structures; it may thus, in a sense, become vacant and susceptible to being diverted, re-appropriated, and put to a use quite different from its initial one. Like an obsolete building that becomes a pubic cinema space with the kino-cine-bomber, or a former department store that may become a center for citizen media-making, such playful re-imaginings of obsolete architecture afford new spaces for communal leisure.

9. 10. 11.

To foreground leisure and to background architecture; To resist the zombification of city centers through public arts, participatory and activist leisure praxes; To amplify existing creative activities by celebrating individual and collective actions in urban space; To challenge obsolete physical and political infrastructure; To exploit useless, redundant and wasted space; To embrace opportunities for surprise and wonder; To be publicly erotic: encountering the uncanny, unfamiliar and strange, in pleasurable and sensuous urban spaces; To develop spaces of meaningful social contact and respect for differences; To advocate for denser urban fabric without standing spaces for leisure; To add new narratives to the urban palimpsest; To collaborate, share and make ideas freely available to others.

Acknowledgements The kino-cine-bomber was funded through an interdisciplinary research cluster project award (Creativity, Protest and the City) from Leeds Beckett University. We’re grateful to Sheffield University (Re) Activist Studio students: Yee Hua Chee, Alexander Craig-Thompson, Abdulbari Kutbi, Chris Jones, Emma Taylor, and Wanqing Wong.

In this paper, we have argued that the relationships between leisure and architecture are under-explored. In keeping with the Situationists, we close with a manifesto for urban leisure spaces:

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Victory Works The project provides 400m2 of office accommodation in one of the many historic buildings within the Leeds Dock and Southbank area. The proposed layout amplifies the spaces within the existing fabric as well as provides support space in a refurbished and reconfigured side addition.

The efficient design of support spaces maximises the internal usable areas and creates large open office studios. The existing roof structure will be revealed and left exposed to maximise the height within the upper floor.

The side addition provides kitchens, toilets, showers, and social amenities to meet the requirements expected of a healthy place of work.

COMING SOON

Castleton Mill Built in 1836, Castleton Mill is one of three remaining mills of its type in the UK. The Grade II listed original flax mill has been successfully repurposed as a collection of creative work spaces and studios that are high quality and affordable; attracting creative businesses drawn to the highspec facilities, inspiring setting, shared space and the focus on its creative community. Throughout the renovation of the mill, the key aim has been to restore and enhance the

original features, as well as promote the cultural significance of the building â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both past and present. The annex extension directly adjacent to the Mill and with a Canal side setting seeks to further the success of the original phase by offering additional larger suites with their own access. New spaces will continue to retain the industrial raw aesthetic balanced with new insertions to provide modern facilities and versatile / flexible studio space.

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Blayds Yard The proposal converts two redundant office buildings, into seven one bedroom, three storey Mews houses. The buildings central location hidden behind existing retail and entertainment venues makes them a perfect location for small urban living.

making it a significantly more attractive place. The design proposal is considerate of the c.1800 historic setting and aims to improve the context of the three adjoining Grade II listed structures which were originally three houses and workshops.

Each three-storey mews house has its own front door and a protected entrance area to encourages residents to take ownership and inhabit the mews. The inclusion of homes into the mews will dramatically alter its appearance

COMING SOON

Aire Street Studios Aire Street Workshops has a fantastic central location, on a major desire line between the Station and the expanding business district. The proposals seek to maximise the opportunities of maintaining the existing multi-tenant workspaces and creative businesses whilst upgrading the accommodation and future proofing the facilities by making several improvements and enhancements to the setting of the building and the social amenities available to tenants. A new glazed entrance to Aire Street Workshops within the existing archway creates a new reception

space with clear wayfinding through to individual units on each floor. A new landscaped courtyard provides a social space for the community of Aire Street Workshops. The introduction of a retail space operating as a cafe provides the occupants with a space for informal meetings and the addition of lettable meeting rooms improves the communal spaces promoting collaboration between occupants, building a greater sense of community.

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Weaving the city

Enriching old stories and establishing new narratives of place

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Lichfield Friarsgate Cathedral City Centre Regeneration

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In partnership with Lichfield District Council weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re creating a natural extension to Lichfield town centre to encourage shoppers to spend more time in this historic town. The design demonstrates how we are able to introduce contemporary architecture into a sensitive setting whilst maintaining the support of the community, retailers and the local authority. High street retailing is a recreational rather than a practical exercise and the balance of town centre development needs to focus on the leisure experience. The city grain of Lichfield is made up of a number of streets that run west â&#x20AC;&#x201C; east and tie into two north south streets, forming a ladder diagram, established by Roger de Clinton in the 12th century and which survives today. We have approached the site with a proposal that can be delivered incrementally over time, securing the developer and the city early certainty and a city centre scheme that can continue to grow and develop over time. LICHFIELD FRIARSGATE

Townhous

Car Parking

Residential Apartments

Anchor Retail Bus Station

Train Station

LICHFIELD FRIARSGATE

Cinema Townhouses

Car Parking

Public Space

Shopping Street

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response to context ... A design principle that runs throughout is to try and deliver modern retail units that attract new retailers to Lichfield without losing the character of the city centre. The shopping street should feel like an extension of the existing urban grain. The design should be confident and distinct but also respectful to its context and the rich architectural heritage of Lichfield. We have looked at the context of the city, the scale of buildings and the number of individual

characters that make up each shopping street. These studies have informed the massing, repetition and complexity in the proposals. Elevations step and rise to accentuate the topography of the site. Buildings are broken into villas and terraces with pitch roofs, gables and parapets. The design strikes a balance between contemporary architecture liked by retailers and a conservative approach which is sensitive to the historic city and allows the two to sit comfortably together.

Street scape around Market Square, St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church accessible to the public

Historic building massing based on a 60m span

LICHFIELD FRIARSGATE

The Heart of the City, four different distinct characters to the building block

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DEBENHAMS CINEMA

IAIL

RESI

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MULTI-STOREY CAR PARK

AD RO

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The existing collection of different buildings types and characters provides an indication of the architectural complexity required to achieve a quality contextual response appropriate for the city. Whist there is a clear east west north south pattern to the existing streets the alignment is axial but relaxed. Each street undulates and to some degree taper, widening towards public spaces and narrowing the further away from the public heart you go. The design seeks to emulate this idiosyncrasy and richness.

establish an enhanced public realm which would re-enforce the north south links from Market Square, St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s through to the Station via the Garrick and through the new retail development this includes improving the connection into the Three Spires Shopping Centre.

It is possible to improve the connections through and across the site. New design proposals can

LICHFIELD FRIARSGATE

town houses ... Eleven individual four storey, three-bedroom town houses with concealed parking repair the street pattern and provide an active ground floor with individual entrances directly from the street. The townhouses establish a new terrace. Two different internal configurations of the houses allow for different ways to occupy and live, these subtle variations in plan are made manifest on the faรงade to provide character and avoid monotonous repetition.

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home ... The apartment buildings are expressed as separate villas. Each villa adheres to the historic building line and has a raised ground floor similar to existing premises found in the historic centre. This allows for stepped access to the raised ground units with street side individual front doors animating the ground floor and providing defensible space. The shared semi-private space to the rear provides level communal access the apartments providing accessible apartments for more than eighty percent of the scheme above ground. The apartment design avoids long central internal corridors by providing multiple access cores, providing a social arrangement for the apartments with five units sharing common parts.

The St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital building opposite has a strong vertical emphasis with eight overtly expressed chimneys. The new terrace opposite holds the street line, is of similar length to St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital and has expressed double storey dormer windows reflecting the vertical emphasis of the chimneys. St John Street is one edge of the urban ladder plan. The roads which form the rungs of the ladder end on St John Street and consequently the Street is expressed as a number of small terraces with multiple corner buildings. The ends of the new apartment buildings turn the corner and have roof terraces to reduce the bulk to each corner and a return mansard roof to ensure consistency.

LICHFIELD FRIARSGATE

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Cleethorpes Masterplan and implementation strategy for Victorian resort

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Cleethorpes Resort North will become a leading year-round resort destination which celebrates a reanimated Victorian seaside heritage. It will relive its 19th Century success to provide an inclusive and quality environment for working, living, visiting and playing and provide a key gateway to the wider town and resort. The focus will be on tourism and leisure-based activities set within a high-quality physical environment as a location of choice to visit and enjoy. Group Ginger and Cushman Wakefield have developed a masterplan that redefines the heart of the resort through an enhanced public realm and placemaking strategy, which extends the Green Victorian Park Corridor. Heritage assets are to be restored to uplift the quality of place. A new multi-modal sustainable public transport interchange is proposed to include a more efficient and better-connected long stay car/coach parking facility. The differing uses will rebalance the promenade offer to drive footfall from north to south. CLEETHORPES

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PARK

MEMORIAL GARDENS

LEISURE

NEW RETAIL/ LEISURE

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PAVILION

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• • •

•

STATION QUARTER

SEA ROAD

The masterplan objectives; •

STATION NORTH RESIDENTIAL

redefine the heart of the resort through enhanced public realm and placemaking extend and Continue the Green Corridor and enhance the heritage assets uplift the quality of the visitor offer by enhancing the physical setting of the resort Deliver a heritage led regeneration of the station to enhance the arrival experience and provide a multi-modal sustainable public transport interchange provide a more efficient and better connected long stay car/coach parking facility provide new and high-quality resort living opportunities to meet a wide range of

•

demographic demands enhance and safeguard the heritage environment and provide new opportunities to better connect the resort to the town centre rebalance the promenade offer to drive footfall from north to south

The study area is split into a series of distinct character areas: Sea Road; connects the town centre to the beach and pier. This central access is key to the first impressions of the resort. The area is currently dominated by transport and highways. The Victorian promenade gardens have been diluted with development and incoherent buildings

CLEETHORPES

LONG STAY CAR PARKING

NORTH PROMENADE

NORTH SHORE

established over time. The masterplan re-enforces the original gardens as the buffer between town and resort. Reducing the impact of highways infrastructure, enhancing the gardens and providing a public facility establishes a clear and coherent transition from the town to the resort. Memorial Gardens; continue the park land transition from the town to the resort. Both the memorial gardens and the Former O’Neil’s public house are both strong existing assets that should be preserved and enhanced. Leisure Arcade; and retail uses are appropriate to this setting, new development should consider adjacent amenities such as the train station and promenade. Scale and massing should not

obstruct views to the sea and pier from the town centre. The building footprint could pull back from the station buildings allowing the listed character of the station to be appreciated. There is an opportunity to establish a clear public space in front of the station to provide an arrival and orientation space. The retail kiosks and building on the sea front can be reconsidered so that the shore line is visible. Station Quarter; The station is currently crowded by adjacent development and doesn’t benefit from any meaningful public space. The listed character of the Victorian station can be significantly enhanced to provide a quality welcome to visitors arriving by train. The connection between different modes of transport

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can be rationalised to establish a coherent transport interchange and the creation of a new arrival square from which it is possible for visitors to orientate themselves and determine where they want go; sea front resort or town centre via the extended promenade gardens. Rationalising the station buildings and surrounding public realm enable better links and connections for pedestrians from the station to the wider areas including the long stay car park. Long stay car parking The long stay car park and coach park can be better connected to the station quarter with improved pedestrian links to and from the renewed station quarter, arrival square.

Station North Residential; has the potential to provide new quality resort accommodation. As an island site it needs to carefully consider the broader context and how its development can work with the surroundings to establish a legible and coherent public realm. The site is a strong location for residential accommodation. Scale and massing are important considerations as this is a highly visible site. North Promenade; can be considered as two quite distinct character areas; North Promenade and North Shore. The existing view from the station and train approach to the north shore and promenade is obscured by a number of disparate buildings. These would be retained and refurbished to improve the views for visitors

CLEETHORPES

HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PAVILION

Junctions improvements/ reconfiguration at either end of Sea Road

LEISURE

New high quality multi-functional Pavilion on the sea front to incorporate beach safety, tourist information, changing facilities/ public conveniences, retail kiosks

New A3 restaurant/café/ leisure building on the sea front

KEY VIE

WS TO

THE P

IER

KEY VIEWS TO THE PIER

TRANSPORT

Removal of bus stops in the longer term

SEA ROAD

Traffic enhancements/ reconfigurations to provide a narrowed carriageway which is more pedestrian friendly with enhanced pedestrian and cyclist crossing facilities

arriving by train and to provide a positive impression of the resort and the attractiveness of North promenade. North promenade; could be significantly enhanced with a purposefully designed public realm, incorporating a necklace of retail kiosks for beach visitors and improved access to and from the beach with steps and ramps. The improved and enhanced existing buildings could support a number of small independent businesses focussed on leisure activities. Parking is rationalised and moved from the beach side public promenade. This is a controlled and articulated public promenade with lighting and beach visitor amenities.

PUBLIC REALM

New hard landscaping/ public realm

PARK

Green zone between sea and town. potential for ad hoc events

North Shore; continues the line of the north promenade and connects into the coastal path and cycle way that links to Grimsby. A public surface car park and public convenience terminate the promenade and formal highway. From this point on the character is to become more natural and less reliant on built infrastructure to establish the character and amenity of the place. The north shore promenade becomes a natural coast path corridor leading out of the resort with a natural coastal park land focussed on wildlife.

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Whitby Abbey

Endeavour Wharf

River Esk

hitby bbey

Endeavour Wharf Yorkshireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Offshore Renewable Centre

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Following a competitive design process Group Ginger were appointed to design Yorkshire’s premier offshore, renewable centre. In the centre of historic Whitby, the new building will establish Dalby Off-shore’s Headquarters and act as a combined centre for Operations and Maintenance, Marine Control, Training and a Public Exhibition Centre. This development is the largest undertaking in the centre of Whitby in recent times. The site is part of the working harbour environment. The design complements the townscape and the conservation area to reinforce the waterfront. Group Ginger engaged the local interested community with the design proposals and the development. Early consultation informed the competition entry and responded to key feedback, to create a centre piece for Whitby, a design that followed wharf traditions to deliver a building that wasn’t ‘dull’. ENDEAVOUR WHARF

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ENDEAVOUR WHARF

historic precedent ... Waterfronts have historically presented the most valuable frontage. This has led to local distinctive massing and building forms. The wharf buildings traditionally have narrow gables fronting the river and extend back from the front to maximise value and efficiency. The fishing net huts in Hastings are also an expression of value manifest in architecture.

sea to go underneath, however more shingle has built up and the sea no longer reaches the huts. We have followed this historical precedent to articulate the building form and make it appropriate to the historic context of Whitby. The varied gables and heights articulate the building in a way that reflects the incremental growth of Whitby over time.

The Net Shops are tall black wooden sheds which were built to provide a weather-proof store for the fishing gear made from natural materials to prevent them from rotting in wet weather. The sheds were originally built on posts to allow the

The historic character of Whitby has been generated over time and reflected in the scale of individual properties, ownerships, uses and position relative to the water front.

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looking for distinction ... Our design is orientated towards the key harbour frontage where materials and services will be loaded on and off the support vessels. This creates an active and varied massing fronting the harbour and reflects the complexity and variation on the opposite bank. The concept articulates the massing to reflect the different programmes but is carefully orchestrated to enable large single floor plates internally that can be space planned to allow for flexible arrangements and inter-department working.

techniques. We propose using a rain-screen faĂ§ade where the external facing material is decorative and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t provide the water and weather tight envelope. The facing materials can then be finely detailed avoiding large flashings and complicated detailing to resolve the geometric forms. The facing material of treated timber will provide material uniformity to enhance the composition of elements. A concrete flood defence building perimeter ensures that the ground floors risk of future flooding is minimised. This plinth is incorporated into the buildings design to raise floor levels.

We are using traditional materials common to harbour side environments but in a modern interpretation and utilising modern construction

Exploration of massing through modelmaking, as well as an excellent tool to communicate to the client.

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New Neighbourhood Utility: New future for lost spaces

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Introduction Group Ginger architects were approached by a land owner to come forward with a number of ideas demonstrating potential solutions for a series of sites in the residential area of Harehills, Leeds. The parcels of land available were associated with the back to back housing typology. Previously used for washing areas, toilets and refuse areas, the land became redundant as plumbing and drainage became integrated into the neighbouring houses. Our approach looked at how these spaces might once again be utilised as a community benefit, a New Neighbourhood Utility. This paper investigates just one of the potential proposals; the pilot project addresses the future of the food axis.

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;food axisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a principal structure about which food related spaces are arranged. It describes the complex network we have created to purchase, consume and dispose of food. Today this axis is almost entirely contained within the family home but historically it was a vivid element of the neighbourhood. Food offers a togetherness that is more inclusive than any other activity. It is something we all share providing a natural centre for the community. Our evolving relationship with food and a renewed environmental awareness and responsibility to waste will inform the new public health paradigm. Considering the future of the food axis we ask; can collective action transform waste and waste space into a valuable resource, adding to the quality of life of the neighbourhood, establishing a sense of community/shared activity and contributing to health benefits, food knowledge and general well-being?

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Evolution With the population of cities increasing through the 19th century, the densification of the city heightened issues of health. Housing was recognised for its detrimental impact on the British working class. The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 and 1900 acknowledged the government’s responsibility. “The planning of a workman’s cottage is of paramount importance to the health and well-being of the community as a whole.” For many working families minimal domestic cooking and washing facilities within the home forced reliance on neighbourhood amenities; utilising the local bakehouse, public baths and washhouses. The back to back housing typology benefitted from shared spaces which provided a number of utility functions including toilets, washing and drying areas and latterly refuse areas. This meant that people spent more time outside of the home, maximising opportunity for social interaction with neighbours on a regular basis. The Victorian health movement represents a preventative attitude towards healthcare where investment in the design of the home, the neighbourhood and the city could create a healthier environment to nurture a healthier community therefore reducing the number of people requiring curative healthcare in the future. The planning of the garden city recognised food as a vital and influential design element. The communities within Meadow Way Green and Homesgarth at Letchworth shared communal kitchens and common gardens for food production; described by Parham as “socialised food features”; utilising the land for the benefit of the whole rather than the individual. At the turn of the 20th century, early modernist writings questioned whether the kitchen belonged within the domestic sphere of the home, pointing

towards a new communal. In A Modern Utopia, first published in 1905, H G Wells projects a future vision of the home “…the ordinary utopian would no more think of a special private kitchen for his dinners than he would think of a private flour mill or dairy farm.” The drive for independence dominates late 20th century design and the home became a private space for the nuclear family, a departure from the household as a community. Two opposing developments in the food axis became clear. The availability of convenience foods removed the necessity of cooking, transforming it into an activity of leisure, entertainment and performance. On the other hand, the complexity of cooking is reduced through the proliferation of convenience foods leading to a disconnection between people and where our food comes from. This meant the kitchen was transformed into a symbol of wealth, devoid of almost all function. Maak speaks of the dining table as a relic of the communal household with each house owning a table surrounded by empty chairs for all but a few moments each year.

The Current Chronic Condition Food has been divorced from the routine of everyday. Food has become leisure. The impact on health is of increasing obesity, nutrition deprivation, and pressure on the National Health Service at the end of the cycle. Many of the shared community facilities provided as part of the public health initiatives of the Victorians have been personalised, and moved into the private domain of the home. The home has come to encompass everything; cooking, washing and even shopping delivered to the

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doorstep. The sense of neighbourhood is reduced to post code real estate. The advancements in technology which have allowed for this convenient lifestyle have unwittingly contributed to social isolation. At the same time cities are intensifying, with increasing numbers of people seeking to live in the city, there is increasing pressure on space in cities. In 2012 New York City turned to Micro units in an attempt to solve the housing shortage and accommodate the increasing number of singles. Developers in London are prototyping micro living. This reduction squeezes existing space standards and acknowledges only essential use. This vision responds to the drive for independence and rejects the benefits of sharing amenities as a collective.

A Future Neighbour-hood Model The increasing pressure on space in cities is leading to a new communal. Combining private retreat with considered communal space, the new neighbourhood model returns to working together. Our future model seeks to reintegrate the food axis into daily ritual by looking at how some spaces that have retreated into the privacy of the home could be replicated with generosity in the common shared domain. Not as a replacement but offering a choice, in essence providing Maakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dining table as a symbol of the new communal neighbourhood. Each home will have access to a table surrounded by chairs occupied by a changing community of actors working collectively. Our study engages with an area of 96 back to

back terraces in Harehills, an inner-city area approximately one mile north east of Leeds City Centre. The twelve streets once benefitted from twelve communal areas, provided for washing and toilets. As plumbing has moved inside the home these spaces have become redundant and privatised. These spaces have become anti-social, health hazards; ripe for miss-use. The twelve sites are unfit for conventional development due to the property values in Harehills. We have explored what common purpose these spaces might provide which would benefit the community and offer something that is not sustainable in a private context but which collectively can be justified. We believe that collective action can transform waste and wasted space into a valuable resource, offering environmental, health, economic and social benefits to a deprived neighbourhood. This pilot scheme for the new neighbourhood utility combines waste disposal, energy generation and food production. This combination can provide the full closed-loop food to-energy-to-food cycle. At the same time providing a new social centre for the neighbourhood where interaction is based on production rather than consumption. In this case the New Neighbourhood Utility will provide an anaerobic digester to process organic waste, creating a nutrient rich fertiliser and bio gas. The fertilizer can be used in the green house and adjacent allotments, providing the potential to grow food all year round, increasing community access to healthy organic produce. Growing food locally is an important educational tool to increase food knowledge and health awareness of diet and nutrition. Biogas is released during anaerobic digestion and captured for use as a clean fuel which can be used to power CHP (combined heat and power) units, which generates electricity and heat. Energy production could be enhanced with Photovoltaic panels in the green house roof to provide a further source of electrical power. This power could be sold

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20 Bin stores owned for development

94 back to back terraced houses

Proposed neighborhood utilitity

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Proposed alotment site

£736 CAPITAL COSTS

0.7KG/HOUSE HOLD PER DAY

94 HOMES

60% WASTE COMPOSTABLE

0.42KG PER HOUSEHOLD PER DAY

1 ANAEROBIC DIGESTOR

40KG/DAY REQUIRED FOR DIGESTOR

NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD UTILITY

£1,905 OPERATING COSTS

£2,922 ANNUAL COSTS

£2,874 ANNUAL PROFIT

£5,796 ANNUAL INCOME

6.4 YEARS INVEST PAYBACK

£5,730 ENERGY POWER GRID

£66 FERTILISER DIGESTATE

*Some costs have been annualised

NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD UTILITY HEAT ENERGY

DIGESTATE

Grant Funding

Private Finance

Capital investment through government funding through social enterprise

inc om

PR OD UC E

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group ginger

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capital cost Private investment for financial return

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CHARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

PILOT SCHEME

# 1 ANAEROBIC DIGESTOR

# 2 GREENHOUSE

# 3 COMMUNITY ROOM

# 4 COMMUNITY HOTEL

# 1 ANAEROBIC DIGESTOR

# 5 POCKET GARDEN

# 6 WORKSHOP

# 7 GYM

# 8 URBAN FARM

# 2 GREENHOUSE

# 9 BATHHOUSE

# 10 LIBRARY

#11 BIKE LIBRARY

# 12 SHOP

#17 COMMUNITY KITCHEN

# 13 CO-OP BAKERY

# 14 BASKETBALL COURT

# 15 ELECTRIC CAR CLUB

# 16 HOUSE

# 15 ELECTRIC CAR CLUB

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back to the national grid to offset energy bills of those community members that are part of the cooperative group. This power can be utilised to charge an electric car made available to the community via a community car club scheme. By sharing the use of a sustainable electric vehicle, overall car ownership and costs of living can be reduced. There are few areas where the community can come together to help each other, the community room would provide a space for group activities, such as after school clubs, crèche, music clubs etc.

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The State will endorse the NNU model on the basis that; the Community demonstrate the ability to organise, manage and operate.

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The Food Axis and other communal public health initiatives are included in the Planning of Cities and supported in development policy

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The State incentivises community infrastructure

This proposal builds on the work of LEAP (Local Energy Adventure Partnership) micro AD, a cross sector partnership developing micro anaerobic digestion. Their pilot system at Camley Street Natural Park near Kings Cross demonstrates a vision of sustainability and community wellbeing.

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There is a Choice to participate – an opportunity to share in the collective, become an active citizen – this is not exclusive but neither is it an obligation

Conclusion / Manifesto Change is born of crisis. The state intervened to provide housing and town planning policies when slum conditions could no longer be ignored. The National Health Service was introduced after World War II to address the needs of the nation. Today the NHS is overburdened and heading towards crisis. There is an urgent need to pursue a more sustainable form of living for all, not just the privileged. This can be secured through design and policy strategies determined to prevent health issues rather than provide medication for the symptoms which result from neglect. Built Environment professionals have a role to play. We hope to influence and envisage a future where;

“How can architects step out of the passive role of actors who sit around like private detectives waiting for a client to come through the door, and become active city builders” Our response is to engage in non-violent direct action to change material conditions directly rather than through local governmental politics, which are perceived to have been inadequate. Direct action is a valuable methodology in social movements where people work together, where all share responsibility for future wellbeing. Examples include; Reclaim the Streets and Incredible edible, radical community building in action. As such The New Neighbourhood Utility for Harehills Leeds is a pilot project, with a maverick client, a sympathetic architect and an unsuspecting community; who knows where this will end?

Full paper delivered at; Health: The Design, Planning and Politics of How and Where We Live AMPS, Architecture_MPS; University of the West of England 25-26 January, 2018

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Concourse - what makes a healthy city A healthy city is defined by a process, not an outcome. The Healthy Cities approach recognizes the determinants of health and the need to work in collaboration across public, private, voluntary and community sector organizations. This way of working and thinking includes involving local people in decision-making, requires political commitment and organizational & community development. It recognizes the process to be as important as the outcomes.

Group Ginger worked with Concourse to deliver a series of breakfast talks Health and the City Symposium. Developers, Architects, Urbanists, Council members and professionals met for a series of breakfast talks on 16th May 2018. SPEAKERS: Dr Ian Cameron - Director of Public Health, LCC Jenny Fisher - Principal Urban Designer, LCC Michael Chang - Town and Country Planning Association & Design Council Kate Nicholson - Group Ginger Aisling Ramshaw- Commercial Estates Group

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Harrogate Conference Center In collaboration with Cushman and Wakefield, Gardiner and Theobold, ARUP and IPW. Group Ginger has developed a strategic vision for the future of Harrogate conference and exhibition centre, owned and operated by the local authority; Harrogate district Council. Group Ginger have reviewed the existing estate and assets to determine the consolidation of the current estate; future proofing the conference and exhibition provision as well as identifying the potential for additional uses , new public spaces and an integrated solution which improves the

connectivity of the facilities to complement the existing town centre. The masterplan vision demonstrates how this large-scale use can be retained and integrated in the town centre. Through the concentration and re-provision of the exhibition halls valuable and developable sites can be released to introduce new uses and public spaces which better integrate the facilities and enhance the setting for the Royal hall.

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Royal Armouries The museum has the potential to become one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most exciting museums through a compelling and relevant narrative on world and British history offered through the lens of arms and armour. Group Ginger working with ARUP are helping to establish a long-term plan for the future of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds with the aim of transforming the museum into a sustainable and forward-thinking institution that encourages exploration, fascination and pleasure.

The study identifies ways for the museum to become the focus for learning, study and research of arms and armour; to earn recognition as an internationally important destination which is attractive to diverse audiences. The preparation of a masterplan rationalises the development potential of the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s estate and assets to ensure the museum has a sustainable future which provides an environment for the encouragement of learning and appreciation of the collection in an exemplary modern museum environment.

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West Brom, Sandwell Market Group Ginger are developing a flagship regeneration proposal for a new market, commercial space, cultural and leisure uses and a substantial number of affordable homes. The study will define an exemplary market experience. The variety balance and mix of uses will be determined by their potential to deliver a vibrant and viable mixed-use development which will extend activity and animation into the evening and enhance the night time economy of West Bromwich centre. The ambition of the

project is to celebrate the uniqueness of the mix of uses and to establish a key destination with genuine distinction which is relevant to West Bromwich and its residents. We see this project as a as a catalyst for the future vibrancy of West Bromwich centre. We are working with West Brom City Council and Quarterbridge, market specialists to review the future of West Brom’s indoor market. Following a strategic assessment of the market and its

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future in the city centre a mixed-use proposal inclusive of a new market, business incubation space, entertainment space and residential has been developed. Group ginger have developed a series of strategic options. These studies included retention and refurbishment as well as re-development. Following an analysis of the beneficial impact provided by each option the council decided to invest in the further design progression of the new build mixed-use proposal. Group ginger and Quarterbridge continue to

develop the proposals which include a wider strategic appraisal of the adjacent shopping areas and former Morrisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s super market. Public consultation and trader consultation has been facilitated to investigate the appetite of existing retailers and traders for the new scheme with an overwhelming level of support for inward investment and an appetite to see other uses incorporated into the proposals.

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Leeds Victoria Phase 2 Leeds Victoria gate phase one has delivered a high-quality retail environment which extends the established shopping quarter of Leeds; anchored with a John Lewis department store which has moved from its previous out of town location back into the heart of the city. The original masterplan proposal proposed a continuation and further extension of the shopping district with additional uses including city centre residential. The changing market conditions and impact to retailer confidence

requires a re-appraisal of the second phase of the Victoria gate proposals. Working with Hammerson, the developer and ACME the masterplan architects; Group Ginger have been invited to join Hammersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team to explore alternative uses and a revised phase two masterplan exploring the balance and mix of uses which isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t reliant on retail as the main use to deliver the regeneration benefits to this part of the city centre.

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Group Ginger have been reviewing the current existing building assets within the masterplan area notably, National Deposit house and Lyons Works and their potential conversion to offices, or hotel. The new approach explores the potential to develop a masterplan that can be delivered in a series of incremental phases delivered over time. The existing building assets have the potential to bring forward development in the short-term adding value and confidence to the remaining and wider masterplan area. These Key projects

are being progressed in advance of other areas to secure inward investment. The team are working closely with the local authority and specifically the Economic Development team responsible for bringing forward the delivery framework for the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inclusive Growth Strategy.

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Tailored architecture

Bespoke solution to create a new destination

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The Hide Tophill Low Nature Reserve

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Yorkshire Water were keen to improve the visitor experience and broaden visitor diversity by providing a new reception Bird Hide as a centre piece to the reserve offering spectacular views over the main reservoir and opportunities for interpretation and education. The hide combines classroom facilities, overlooking the new dipping pond, a public viewing gallery with large picture windows to view the extensive reservoir and a twentyfour hour twitcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hide for the dedicated bird watchers wanting to catch migratory birds on their last stop in the country before departing to warmer climes. Working with the team on site to articulate the landscape has maximised the impact of the building for it ÂŁ500k budget. The steel frame building is articulated as two interlocking volumes, the upper timber clad volume ďŹ&#x201A;oats with a dramatic cantilever over the cementitious base which is embedded into the landscape. THE HIDE / TOPHILL LOW

Wate Access Road

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an exceptional site... Tophill Low has a regional reputation over 50 years for its rare and abundant wildlife; recognised by English Nature in 1988 when the reservoirs were designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Subsequently Yorkshire Water Services invested and opened it as a nature reserve in 1993, and has continually improved it ever since, winning repeated awards from the British Trust for Ornithology. The combined economic value of this reserve and others in East Yorkshire has been recognised by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust as key in its Nature Tourism Triangle which aims to enhance the local economy through eco-tourism, a project also supported by East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

The concept was to develop a clearer visitor journey. Through the re-organisation of existing facilities and the improvement of way finding, with buildings acting as strategic markers, the overall site becomes clearer to navigate and ultimately more enjoyable for both regular and new visitors as well as staff members. Working with the reserve manager and volunteers a new landscape setting has been created. Excavation established the new dipping ponds and controlled the potential flood risk. The removed earth was used to shield the car park area and create sloping access through the trees up to an elevated terrace and the reception hide which sits at the same level as the reservoir.

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different spaces for different folk ... Visitor numbers are projected to rise to 15,000 in 2020 averaging 50 to 60 visitors per weekend/ bank holiday. When a rare bird is on site, peak visitor numbers can be in excess of 200+. The design responds to the variety of users who are drawn to the nature reserve, each with their own interests/requirements. The mix of twitchers, school groups, families and walkers coexist in this complex, multifaceted building, while adopting a modest footprint.

educational facilities will only be open during office hours with the warden located at the new warden building at the entrance to the site. Hands on education and learning through discovery is at the heart of Tophill lowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hide. School groups and children are encouraged to interact with the surrounding woodlands by the orientation of the classroom and the approach of the surrounding landscape.

The new 24hr hide provides unlimited access for members and great vistas across D reservoir for the paying public. The viewing gallery and

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“[The Hide] has only been open to the public for a couple of months but already you can see the change in the atmosphere on the reserve. We’ve got lots and lots of positive feedback.”

Richard Hampshire: Reserve Warden/Yorkshire Water RIBA Yorkshire Client of the Year 2018 Tophill Low has got a great reputation with local natural history enthusiasts. We’re not far from the sea, so for a lot of birds migrating up and down the East Coast of the UK, it’s a very important migration stop off. The big reservoirs here are both designated as sites of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England for the hundreds and thousands of wild fowl which spend all winter out on the reservoirs every night from September to March. We have thousands of roosting gulls which are massed on the reservoirs too and we get quite a few rarities. We’ve had firsts for Britain like the Falcon back in 2008. And today since 1959 we’re at two hundred and sixty nine species of bird recorded. If you don’t know Tophill Low it’s a very hard site to get to grips with at first impression. Big manmade site, concrete reservoirs, it has a very industrial feel and that hadn’t been softened by any extent on your arrival at the nature reserve. [The Hide] has only been open to the public for a couple of months but already you can see the

change in the atmosphere on the reserve. We’ve got lots and lots of positive feedback. Previously we were used to getting moans and groans about muddy path and dingy hides and not being able to see anything. Now we’re getting consistent good feedback from the site here. It’s a great reception point. It’s a bit of a social hub. There’s an atmosphere to the building that people can come here. They can swap their wildlife sightings on the reserve here, say what they’ve seen both here and on the other sites and then dissipate out into the nature reserve from this point having been fed with information by the remote cameras, via the telescopes, the views over the reservoir. They feel they’ve got something from the visit before they’ve even started whereas before we were fighting an uphill struggle all the way. Now the scene is set and it doesn’t really matter what happens from this point onwards. They already know that there’s lots of wildlife here, there’s lots to see and that sets the tone for their visit.

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Leeds College of Music Rooftop Conservatoire

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Leeds College of Music is the largest conservatoire outside of London. The College wanted to create an inspiring welcome to all visitors and customers to one of the city’s most important concert venues. The 350 capacity auditorium is located above the BBC in an adjacent building to the main college. The design competition sought ideas to improve the visitor experience by providing new foyer facilities, to accommodate the venue’s audience as well as extend the college’s outreach programme with conferencing and teaching space. The proposal consists of a full rooftop extension and refurbishment of the third ﬂoor. The rooftop extension creates a single large space which can be subdivided into three extendible spaces for conference and teaching activities. A full height theatrical curtain provides informal control of space, light and acoustics internally. This was a complicated and delicate build. LEEDS COLLEGE OF MUSIC

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“The panel universally chose Group Ginger... The design ethos captured the conservatoire’s personality traits of being progressive, creative and challenging.”

David Warren: Director of Operational Services, L.C.O. M. This rooftop extension is something that’s been in the making for about 15 years. It was something that was originally value engineered out of the scheme. Since it was opened in 2002, the concert hall - The Venue, has been a very successful space that can accommodate a range of musical activities and conferencing for up to 350 visitors plus performers. The significant failing of this major city centre concert hall has been that the entrance, visitor access, bar and backstage areas were not of the same quality as the auditorium. These poor support spaces let down the visitor experience and the opportunity to realise ancillary income from concert attendees and delegates. The capacity existed to increase this space three fold providing for more break-out facilities, catering provision and a designated performance space for amplified music. Together with the landlord of the building, we created a brief to address these deficiencies and invited a short list of respected architectural practices to pitch for the project. The panel universally chose the submission by Group Ginger. Not only did the vision for the space meet all our requirements, the design ethos captured the conservatoire’s personality traits of being progressive, creative and challenging. Building at height in a restricted city centre site alongside the short window to complete the project were known risks at the start of the programme.

Achieving this whilst the concert hall was often in use and the BBC continued to broadcast below became constant obstacles to overcome. We are delighted with the outcome and it’s been recognised by the many customers who enjoy and participate in the conservatoire’s artistic output. This space has been adopted quite quickly by a number of cultural organisations with which to host events or launch events from. Because it’s on the cultural quarter, because its at height and overlooks the city, it’s got that vista. And equally in the early days of those events, people didn’t want to leave the space. People want to stay here. Its a relaxing environment. They want to stay and enjoy the ambience of what Group Ginger and the College have created. We didnt expect that. It’s difficult to provide an assessment of the impact of this investment for the wider public benefit but it’s apparent that another iconic and welcoming building has found a natural home in this city’s impressive cultural quarter. I think what this institution is doing is driving a cultural industry and a reason for students, when they graduate, to stay here. There is work available in the city because of the students who love, populate and live here and they’re making their own way, if you like, they’re creating those opportunities.

Facing page; Third Floor Plan illustrating relationship between rooftop extension and existing auditorium.

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St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Square Urban short cut and pocket park

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The new pocket park draws on themes of performance, prominent in the Quarry Hill cultural quarter, to create a playful public space. The design reďŹ&#x201A;ects the musical heritage of Leeds College of Music, as well as the artistic and performance-led culture of its neighbours - the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Yorkshire Dance, BBC Yorkshire, Munro House, the Wardrobe and Northern Ballet.

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The new stage provides a platform for organised or impromptu outdoor performance. Take to the stage and the responsive lights come on; you become the key actor in the space. An urban short cut acknowledges the familiar Abbey Road or if you prefer references The White Stripes, celebrating an everyday occurrence of crossing the city. It literally puts a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

Seating is provided through stacked structural timbers on which you can sit, stand or jump. This is a space in which your presence and activity in addition to those of others is encouraged and not controlled. Illuminated after dark like a garden party the celebratory permissive themes continue through all hours of the day and night. The space is now the front door to this cultural quarter; it is inviting, permissive and fun. Feel free to come and play.

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“Effective consultation at the early stages of proposals improves schemes and creates value.” - RTPI

Engagement Engagement is a two-way process of openly sharing and exchanging information, understanding different views, listening and responding to suggestions, developing trust and dialogue to support effective working relationships to the mutual benefit of all involved We have designed and delivered a number of projects in very sensitive areas where the public feel passionate about their place, the environment and have a number of preconceived ideas about what an appropriate design should be. We are very keen to understand these points of view and are willing to engage in a public participation and engagement strategies that solicit these views early in the process so that they can be considered in the design. We use this early consultation as source material which informs the design process. Consultation has been very influential with our work with a town centre regeneration scheme in Lichfield, the market at Scarborough and the Yorkshire renewables centre in Whitby. We are skilled enablers and able to facilitate consultation and engagement meetings with the public and stakeholder groups so that they engage with the process and appreciate the objectives to be achieved, the constraints and how this will benefit the user. We are very skilled at preparing visual presentation material that demonstrates how the design has evolved to meet the business objectives and how these will benefit the public and users of the facility, whist addressing key constraints presented by the site.

On previous projects such as Lichfield, Whitby and Scarborough market we have contributed to the consultation and engagement strategy as well as leading the preparation of material and its presentation. In Lichfield we initially hosted small stakeholder meetings where design workshops engaged participants in the design process and the consideration of options. This information was included in a more formal twoweek exhibition where the team were available to address questions and explain the proposals to the general public. Comments and feedback received were recorded and considered before the detailed planning application was finalised and submitted. Group ginger prepared an interactive model of the scheme so that people could interact directly with a three-dimensional model of the proposals on their tablet or smart phone. At Scarborough we needed to engage with market traders to understand their specific requirements and overall objectives for the market that they had invested in for many years. The information provided in-valuable input to the design and ensured a cohesive design and strategy which secured support from all participants. Whitby is notorious for the expressed views of its residents and traders; we were able to listen to resident concerns, as well as advocate the benefits of the scheme and the appropriateness of the design to secure local support.

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We are proud of our working relationships; large corporate clients, local authorities, charitable organisations and individuals, all project opportunities are treated equally reflecting the

importance of the project to the client with whom we share a dialogue to develop their aims.

ARUP All Property Management Allenheads Estate Castleton Mill Children of Hope Commercial Estates Group Cushman Wakefield Dalby Offshore Doncaster City Council East Street Arts Hammerson Harrogate Borough Council Hartlepool Borough Council Henry Davidson Developments Igloo IPW... Kirkstall Brewery Leeds City Council Leeds College Of Music Leeds Music Hub Lichfield District Council

North East Lincolnshire Council Quarterbridge Royal Armouries Museum Rushbond Scarborough Borough Council Smithy Farm The Brunswick The Grand Arcade The Tetley U and I Urban Splash West Bromwich City Council Whitby Town Council York City Council Yorkshire Air Ambulance Yorkshire Design Group Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Wildlife Trust + You ?

Recognition Most important is that the finished project delivers and surpasses the client’s objectives and expectations set at the outset of the project. Whilst we don’t actively pursue awards it is always nice to receive acknowledgment following the completion of a project. The RIBA regional awards provided the opportunity to visit our most recent completed buildings with nationally recognised and respected piers. Discussing initial project objectives, their delivery and the substantive transformational change achieved through each project was a confirming and generous moment for which we are grateful.

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BD Small Project Architect of the Year 2018 BD Young Architect of the Year Finalist 2018 RIBA Yorkshire Winner - Scarborough Market RIBA Yorkshire Winner - The Hide/Tophill Low RIBA Yorkshire Client of the Year -Richard Hampshire, The Hide/Tophill Low BUILD Magazine; Most Client-Focused Architect 2018 BUILD magazine; Best UK Rooftop Extension/ Refurbishment: Leeds College of Music

Securing two shortlisted nominations at the BD architect of the year awards; young architect and small project architect and then winning best small project architect of the year demonstrates a consistent commitment to our portfolio and to all our clients. Each and every project is of equal importance and we strive to find ways in which to celebrate the distinction of each. We do good work for good clients.

Small Project Architect of the Year Winner

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NOTES

Get in touch, come and see us; Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll put the coffee on ... & have a conversation

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