LP 17 - Calverley Community Space - Client Document_Digital Report

Calverley Community Space

Sheffield School of Architecture Live Project Group 17

A report investigating the potentials of Calverley Community Space at the Calverley Old Hall

This report has been developed for The Landmark Trust, by the University of Sheffield School of Architecture. It was created by the team of Live Project Group 17: Calverley Community Space, designed by Yen Liang Ho and Sofia Sergiou, with the help of Will Tankard and Charlie Harris. Thank you to the entire team of Live Project Group 17, clients and staff who contributed to this report.

© Copyright The University of Sheffield School of Architecture, Live Project Group 17: Calverley Community Space 2022

Case Studies

Celyn Threshing

Yarmouth

Calverley Old Hall, Ho 2022

Introduction

As one of the UK’s leading building conservation charities, Landmark Trust maintains social accountability to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. Consciousness of the impact Landmark’s are having on all aspects of society, including social, environmental and cultural impacts are key in upholding the values that make the Landmark Trust an industry leader.

Landmark Trust’s overarching responsibility is the sensitive restoration of historic buildings, providing them with a new future by making them available to everyone through selfcatering holiday lets.

The introduction of community spaces in certain Landmark Trust properties highlights a drive towards social responsibility, looking beyond Landmarker’s to make the UK’s historic landscape accessible to wider audiences.

This report rationalises who “everyone” is by providing a methodology for the future provision of community spaces at Landmark Trust properties.

The proposed methodology will be evidenced through a case study, specifically focusing on the process of community provision at Calverley Old Hall.

Live Project

This report has been conducted by the University of Sheffield Live Projects Team. Live Projects are a pioneering educational initiative introduced by the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield.

Masters architecture students work in live environments with a range of clients including local community groups, charities, health organisations and regional authorities.

The collaboration between Landmark Trust and the University of Sheffield aims to establish a new methodology for the integration of communities into Landmark Trust properties.

Specifically investigating how the regeneration of Calverley Old Hall can be of most benefit to the local community, individuals and groups who might want to use it.

It is envisioned that the outcomes of the investigation at Calverley Old Hall can be employed to across the Landmark Trusts portfolio.

Live Projects are important in educating architects of the future. Too often architectural education happens in the abstract and pursues a set of ideals that are often removed from the concerns of the everyday world. In contrast, the Live Projects develop collaborative techniques and skills in communication and participatory practice.

Brief Introduction

The Landmark Trust employed the University of Sheffield Live Projects team to establish how the community elements of Landmark’s can be of most benefit to the local community, individuals and groups who might want to use it.

Calverley Old Hall

Calverley Old Hall dates to medieval times and is of great historical importance. The ancient manor house has evolved over many centuries and sits in a conservation area as the historic heart of the village.

The Landmark Trust has owned Calverley Old Hall since 1981, when it was for sale in three separate lots. It had long been divided into cottages, but under a single landlord, the Thornhill Estate. Then funded by Sir John Smith’s Manifold Trust, Landmark bought this important medieval house so that it could remain in single ownership.

In May 2022 the Landmark Trust embarked upon an 18 month program to refurbish the Old Hall into a ten person holiday let, community space and a private rental flat.

The success of the community space at Calverley Old Hall is dependent on the methodology employed in its development. Finding, engaging and maintaining community relationships from the outset is key in creating a space which is a functional resource to the community of Calverley.

Calverley Old Hall Entrance, Wang 2022

The success of the community space at Calverley Old Hall is dependent on the methodology employed in its development. Finding, engaging and maintaining community relationships from the outset is key in creating a space which is a functional resource to the community of Calverley.

Calverley Old Hall South Perspective, Ho 2022

Keld Resource Centre, The Literary Institute 2013

Case Studies

The implementation of a community space into a heritage building is a complex task. Careful consideration of space, programme and overall design are essential in ensuring that the space can act as a resource for the community as well as maintaining its historic legacy.

To ground the approach of the methodology and understand what the requirements are for a successful community space the Live Project team analysed a series of similar community orientated facilities within historic buildings. Analysing previous work from the Landmark Trust as well as projects from other organisations.

Llwyn Celyn Threshing Barn

Landmark Trust

The Threshing Barn sits within the site of Llwyn Celyn, a late-medieval house in Wales built in 1420.

The hirable space has the facility to host a maximum of 40 people and has been designed to host small gatherings, creative workshops, exhibitions, presentations and educational sessions.

Access to an external space means there is a wide variety of workshops that can be held on site. The Threshing Barn is a good example of a heritage building that utilises flexibility in a modern context, below are a selection of activities that have been hosted in the space: glass workshops, singing lessons, family gatherings, yoga classes, weddings, corporate days out.

Advantages:

• Allows for a wide variety of events both internally and externally

• Its neighboring sleeping facilities allow short stay for nonlocal tenants

Disadvantages:

• No evidence of subsidies for local residents/community groups

• Doesn’t encourage informal encounters and the creation of new social connections

• The isolated nature of the site means that it is hard to determine whether the space has been successful with regard to community provision as there isn’t an immediate local community to engage with

Ground Floor Plan, Llwyn Celyn Threshing barn 2022

Small Kitchenette, Llwyn Celyn Threshing barn 2022

Threshing Barn, Llwyn Celyn Threshing barn 2022

For Landmark Trust projects to embed themselves within the local community context, it is important that there are incentives to encourage local groups to use the space. Involvement of community groups at the outset of a project such as this offers a sense of ownership over a space and promotes participation in both completion and final use of a project.

Threshing Barn, (Llwyn Celyn Threshing barn 2022)

Lessons Learnt

As one of the Landmark Trust’s few Community orientated spaces it is important to note the successes and downfalls of the space provided at Llwyn Celyn.

Llwyn Celyn is a beautifully designed and rigorously restored heritage building. Threshing Barn sits in harmony with the rest of the site and does fulfill its role as a hirable space for the Landmark Trust, being able to accommodate a variety of activities whilst maintaining it historic legacy.

However, the space lacks the community element it could have embodied. Research has found little evidence of local community groups occupying the space. The majority of the people using the space are booking in conjunction with the bunkhouse, which implies they are coming from outside of the local area.

Threshing Barn, (Llwyn Celyn Threshing barn 2022)

Winsford Cottage Hospital

Landmark Trust

Winsford Cottage Hospital is historically entwined with the local community and serves as a unique example of an unaltered, purposebuilt Victorian cottage hospital. The Hospital’s history marks the social foundations of health care throughout the 20th century. To this day it continues to facilitate community related health care provision in innovate ways thanks to the restoration by Landmark Trust.

Its community spaces are gathered in the “Community Wing”.

With a substantial number of rooms retained for medical purposes: 2 rooms are available exclusively to local health and well-being practitioners for their practice.

A separate “flexible” room is dedicated to the local community, for meetings. There is also a museum room which houses an exhibition.

Advantages:

• Accessible to disabled: one level, wide doors

• Human scale: gives a “healing” atmosphere for its initial clinical purpose and warmth for the community

• The rooms for health practitioners are designed for specific people and uses and should therefore work well.

• Hire is kept free for charities (often people dealing with recovery)

Disadvantages:

• Local practitioners and community need to pay to use the spaces

• Each room may not be used for any other function than the one assigned to it, no shared communal space

Ground Floor Plan, (Winsford Cottage Hospital 2022)

Winsford Cottage Hospital, Winsford Cottage Hospital 2022

Winsford Cottage Hospital Sketch, thelandmarktrust, 2017

Heritage

Social Reuse

Winsford Cottage Hospital, Winsford Cottage Hospital 2022

Lessons Learnt

The practicality of the community facilities provided at Winsford Cottage Hospital are entirely appropriate, they meet the needs of local residents whilst being incredibly attached to the historical and cultural legacy associated with the building.

This project sets a benchmark for social reuse in heritage buildings. The awareness of the historic value of the building sits in balance with the buildings role for both Landmarker’s and members of the community.

One downside is the specificity of the spaces available. Although they are serving a much needed purpose within the community, the space reserved for community groups outside of the healthcare profession is small and inflexible.

Winsford Cottage Hospital, Winsford Cottage Hospital 2022

Keld Resource Centre Landmark Trust

The Keld Resource Centre is a communitybased charitable organisation working with local partners and the wider community in the remote, rural area of Upper Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales.

The organisation sits in a collective of buildings that date back to the mid 19th Century. In 1861, the Keld community opened its Literary Institute, to provide for the growing population associated with the local lead mining boom. Overtime the property fell into disrepair and was close to dereliction. Until 2016 when the space was restored to form a new events and exhibition space. The restoration restored many of the principles associated with the Literary Institute over the past 150 years, aiming to educate and facilitate local activity.

The community space can hold up to 25 people in lecturestyle format or 10 for an activity-based event. Flexibility is the overarching principle of the design, aiming to accommodate as many groups as possible that can benefit the community. The ethos of the group promotes wellness of the entire community, understanding that a healthy, well connected network of neighbours has far reaching benefits.

Completed community projects:

The Manse which was refurbished in 2009 and is now commercially let as holiday accommodation. It is also available as a venue for respite breaks for Ministers from different denominations.

The Well-being Garden – a meditative garden which was previously a patch of unkempt land in the chapel churchyard.

The Countryside and Heritage Centre which was opened in 2011 in what was a stable with adjoining carriage room, providing information about the countryside and the built and social history of Keld. An overall information point for the village.

Keld Resource Centre, Community development 2022

Calverley

Advantages:

• Flexible use - capacity: 25 lecture style/ 16 boardroom/ activity style

• Adjacent breakout & catering areas

• Fully accessible

• A sense of ownership amongst the community

• Simple booking system

• Established links with local transport, catering and accommodation businesses. Community centre promotes local economy

Disadvantages:

• Marketing approach conflicts use - seems to appeal to a corporate groups as opposed to community focus

• A focus on heritage attracts largely tourism/ temporary visitors, ultimately conflicting with the local community use of the space

• Reliant on volunteering and community funding. High risk financial strategy

• Model works well in a hyper local/rural setting, agency may not transfer into larger communities

Pasta Making Workshop, Pasta making course 2022

“Easy to book. The accommodation and catering is coordinated by the Resource Centre, with a single itemised invoice payable online”

Community Events, Keld Community Centre

Lessons Learnt

The project clearly embeds itself within the local community well. There are strong, established networks of both people and organisations that make the space attractive to hire and accessible to use. The overall ethos of the space promotes cooperative ownership and general wellbeing at a local level whilst retaining the historic legacy of the site.

The Keld Resource Centre is able to strike an effective balance between community ownership and appealing to as wide an audience as possible. This is ensured through the flexibility of the space and the simple, yet necessary, amenities available, such as:

• High Speed broadband Internet

• Wireless projector

• Screens

• Stationary

• Lift Access

• Accessible toilets

• Fully Equipped refreshment area

The process of restoration of the community space at KRC recognised that, while it was relatively straightforward to increase facilities for visitors to the area, engaging local inhabitants required greater thought. To effectively facilitate local residents within a charity/volunteer led scheme means that there must be an incentive for local groups to want to hire the space. Upon investigation there was evidence of a financially sustainable framework, that supported the subsidising of the community space for local resident groups of 50%. A system such as this emphasises the fundamental principles of the scheme which is to educate and facilitate local activity, placing local residents at the centre of the organisation.

The effectiveness of Keld Resource Centre is aided by the scale of the community it is providing for, a smaller population allows the transfer of agency that KRC has managed to achieve. The logistics of community ownership and responsibility are more navigable within smaller networks.

Keld Resource Centre, Keld Community Centre 2018

Keld Resource Centre, Keld Community Centre 2018

The overall ethos of the space promotes cooperative ownership and general wellbeing at a local level whilst retaining the historic legacy of the site.

Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust

Founded

Education, training and outreach were placed firmly at the centre of every project GYPT undertook, at every level from concept through to completion.

The proactive use of compulsory purchase powers has allowed the trust and local community to collectively define the local townscape. Strong relationships between the trust, the local authority and local residents has lead to strong record of delivering projects in the town. Resulting in:

Advantages:

• A genuinely community focused townscape that provides for local residents needs through active engagement with heritage assets

• The framework and strong relationship developed with the local authority serves as a precedent for future community developments

• Involvement with community groups at the outset of the design through to completion gives a sense of pride within the community as well as a sense of ownership over the space

• With each new project the community network strengthens

Disadvantages:

• As all of the projects are based in a single Bourgh extracting similar methodologies maybe hard for Landmark trust properties as they span the length of the United Kingdom and deal with different local authorities

• The strength of GYPT’s outreach grounds itself in the rigid networks that have evolved over decades, building this established relationship can be long and intensive

Front Perspective, Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust 2022

Landmark Trust

Lessons Learnt

The scale of this project proves that community projects can be successful with the right backing. Developing a strong relationship and framework between community groups and local authorities is key.

By providing for the larger community the project naturally manages to act as a mixed use facility, in turn making the area of interest and attracting visitors from outside of the community.

This innovative model inspires a sense of civic pride and ownership in the work, creates a highly skilled and motivated workforce, and enables effective repair and preservation of the town’s rich heritage.

Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust 2022

The Venetian Waterways & Boating Lake

Time & Tide Museum

Brett’s

King Street

St. George Theatres

Town Wall Art Trail

Scores

Landmark Trust Community Live Project

Transfer Agency Design}

Community Agency

Landmark Trust Community

Summary

Each of the case studies has shown alternative approaches to the use of heritage buildings for community groups. Individually they have all shown a rich awareness of heritage and successfully intertwined community spaces with historic legacy. This is a fundamental principle that should be maintained at Landmark’s going forward.

When cross analysing the Landmark Trust community provision with work from The Keld Resource Centre and The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust it is clear that there are different balances between community ownership.

The Community provision at Landmark sites feels as though it is supplementary to the commercial function of the properties when compared against the other organisations. This sense of hierarchy contradicts the fundamental principles of a community owned space. For a space to be an effective resource to the community there needs to be a successful transfer of agency and a sense of collective ownership.

The external case studies highlight how the transfer of agency is a possibility both in the design and construction of a space and through its ultimate management strategy. If the Landmark Trust adopted elements of the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust’s development process at the outset, using the active engagement of the local authority and the local community in the restoration and design of a space, it would begin the process of community agency early on. Ultimately making the space more efficient commercially as there is a steady evolution of local networks who are willing to use the space that evolves as the building is grows.

Local involvement throughout the process of design also generates civic pride and deeper sense of respect for a space. People are willing to take ownership if they have a personal connection to the environment they have helped to create. This ultimately makes the management strategy more efficient to run from an organisations perspective as there is a preestablished, ground up network of individuals who’ve taken agency of a space.

Financial incentives, such as the ones used by the Keld Resource Centre, would positively affirm a sense of civic pride and responsibility. It removes any negative preconceptions associated with commercial enterprise and upholds the principle that a community space is a purely social good, a resource that should be shared without financial gain.

Community Engagement Event, Wang 2022

Guide to Community Provision

The following chapter outlines a step by step guide to community provision for future Landmark Trust properties. The guide is evidenced by the processes employed by the University of Sheffield Live Projects team in the engagement and facilitation of community groups at Calverley Old Hall.

Evolution of Community Provision

To describe something as ‘alternative’, it is first necessary to define the ‘norm’. This ‘norm’ is broadly unknown in relation to engagement

because there is not currently a developed and generally accepted framework that can be applied without accompanying explanation. Using our approach as a base, we have redefined how the Landmark Trust can approach engagement in the future.

The Norm

Calverley Old Hall

Thinking Beyond Calverley Old Hall

The processes employed at Calverley Old Hall have been successful in building a network across the local community. It is envisioned that elements of this model for engagement can be extracted and applied to future Landmark Trust properties to effectively facilitate community use.

There is an awareness that all Landmark Trust properties are unique given there historic nature, therefore it is important to note that this is a flexible model. The process has been developed within a context of creative participation and is hoped that the guide can provide momentum for future projects.

a vision for the future is an activist mechanism, suggesting an alternative vision to the current model.

9 Steps Guide to Community Provision

“We save historic buildings in danger of being lost forever”

Calverley Old Hall Site Visit, Wang 2022

1. Understanding the Heritage

It is important for any community based project undertaken by the Landmark Trust to prioritise the buildings historic legacy. A detailed understanding of a site’s heritage is the primary task and should be done prior to community involvement.

The team responsible for engagement should have first hand experiences of the properties in question. Whilst the engagement team will focus on the community in the local area, it is important they take the time to recognise the rich history of a site.

The value and interest in Calverley Old Hall is demonstrated through the responses in our Calverley Community Questionnaire where 97.9% of participants confirmed that

they were aware of the Old Hall, however only 54.3% of those surveyed had actually visited the site. This shows there is a potential to engage new local audiences in the project.

When the Live Project team visited the site, they understood the creative nature of the building has been apparent throughout its history, with the family’s private gallery in the Chapel to the more recent uncovering of the Tudor Wall paintings.

Although heritage sites generate strong community interest, there is also a fragility and sensitivity that is associated with them, both physically when designing as well as emotionally for the local people.

Site Context Mapping Illustration

2. Investigating Site Context

The key to a successful engagement process is a rounded understanding of site context. When working within a rural village or town, like many of the landmarks are often situated, a sensitive approach to engaging with the fabric of these places is vital. This process involves contacting and building connections with already established communities and developing relationships alongside the building process.

The Live Project team conducted in depth desktop research as well as exploring Calverley on foot. Both approaches highlighted a wealth of information regarding the scale of the town and an initial insight into some of the facilities available to the village. The team discovered that Calverley is currently a well served village with ample meeting spaces across the Conservative Club, Methodist Church and Library.

Calverley Conservative Club

Located in the heart of Calverley Village behind Victoria Park, the Conservative Club dates back to 1901.

Calverley Library & Local History Centre

Founded in April 2013 Calverley Local History Centre is a community group run entirely by volunteers within Calverley Library on Thornhill Street, which includes a small display area and storage for our archive.

The original building was constructed in 1874. Alterations made have included installation of a lift to enable access for those with disabilities.

Calverley Parkside Primary School

Local Primary school that hosts before and after School Care. The club is based in the Community Room located at the front of the nursery annex.

Calverley Methodist Chapel

The Methodist Church is a hub that hosts many groups, including: The Royal British Legion, Calverley Horticulural Society, Wildwood Movement, etc.

Mick’s Cafe

This Cafe, which serves fresh Breakfast Lunch and outdoor catering acts as a community hotspot.

Calverley St. Wilfrid’s Parish Church

The St Wilfrid’s parish church is at the heart of the community. Vicar Rob Denton is a community leader.

Post Office

Calverley’s local village store, post office and specialty food store with pop up - bakery days, Indo-Thai.

Calverley Mechanics Institute

Photos of Live Project Group Reaching Out to Community, Wang 2022

Reaching Out to Community

The initial point of contact between the Landmark Trust and the local community is an important step that needs to be approached from multiple angles with careful consideration. This step sets the tone for the entire relationship between the Landmark Trust and the community groups it aims to facilitate.

To ensure engagement with as many members of the public as possible, a variety of outreach methods can be adopted. Each of these methods acts as a first point of contact with local residents, providing a mechanism to introduce the site, who the engagement team are and how they, as residents, can be actively involved in the development of the community space.

When working in Calverley the Live Project team used a variety of tools to reach out to local residents

These methods included:

• In person introductions at existing facilities in Calverley

• Joining local Social Media groups

• Posting introductory material about the work the Live Projects were doing

• Posting flyers throughout the ‘hotspots’ of the Calverley

• Engaging with individuals from pre-established community networks already engaged within Calverley Old Hall

Defining the Gaps

Interpreting

Through the Live Project’s initial interpretation of Calverley as well as responses from a short, anonymous questionnaire, we began to identify gaps in the community that Calverley Old Hall could work to improve while not competing with existing facilities.

Within the survey, 68.9% of community members said that they did not feel as though there were enough community spaces in Calverley. It also provided a wealth of suggestions for groups that the community wanted to see which have been mapped on the adjacent page.

Site Walk Around Calverley, Wang 2022

What is mis__ing?

“Space to help with the advertising other groups”

“Easier booking system, booking adhoc, as well as regular”

Booking + availability

“Better community in terms of restaurants, butchers, amenities like Farsley”

“A shop with local produce”

“Cafe, meeting room, a place local groups could run for reasonable cost ”

“Community projects involving arts/crafts/creative arts”

“More advertising”

“Clearer information on how spaces can be utilised”

“More community space is vital and available at the weekends with no pressure from other groups”

“Limited availability, not much character”

Technology + Facilities

“Adjustable temperature”

“Adjustable lighting”

“Sound facility”

“With character, multi function”

Character and history

“ e village has a number of historical places... promoting the history of the place over the centuries seems worthwhile. Maybe the Old Hall could be a hub for this”

Arts and crafts

“Celebration spaces with catering support ”

“An arts based space - workshop areas / gallery with a community cafe?”

Catering + Kitchen Work Space

Seasonal events

“Historical hub and wider venue for young peoples educational and leisure activities”

“ Events around certain times of the year for kids and adults too, eg Christmas markets, bon re night etc”

“More targeted activities for young children, both preschool and school age”

“Facilities for teens”

Scan the QR code for the questionnaire feedbacks from the community

Lack of areas for youth

“More facilities required for 11-16’s”

“Flexible learning spaces for groups to learn”

“A shared working space would be great”

“Inclusive activities for school age children”

“With the increase of work from home jobs a more working friendly space would be bene cial to the community”

“More collaborative work space”

“ It would be lovely to have a nice cosy space with activities for teens in the village. ere isn’t really anywhere for them to go except the park”

Conversations with the local communities

5. Facilitating Engagement

Engagement teams need to develop appropriate, creative and ethical approaches to working with stakeholder groups in order to develop design work that has relevance.

Once the gaps within the community networks have been identified and initial feedback has started to emerge, the next step is to facilitate discussions that build upon the gathered information.

The intention of the Live Project Team’s first community engagement event was to begin a conversation with the local communities about what their current facilities are like and if they feel anything is missing.

The event consisted of numerous interactive tasks that aided information gathering about existing local facilities and offered a forum for suggestions for the future function of the space. Another important factor of the workshop was the collation of contact details.

In one of the interactive tasks we invited visitors to write down potential uses for the space. We found the answers correlated to those of the questionnaire, the most popular

suggestions were yoga, painting, music lessons, homework clubs and a space to read or relax.

The engagement event also allowed the Live Project group to gather useful feedback and potential end user contacts. These included:

• A yoga and mindfulness instructor that has issues with their current facility due to the disruptive noise and lack of space.

• An arts and crafts group that think the space would be excellent for an exhibition of their work (currently situated in the Brookleigh estate).

• As well as expanding our understanding further on the facilities currently available and the groups that use them.

Key pieces of information were discovered at the event that opened new lines of enquiry. Feedback discovered that the Methodist Church is a major hub of activity and could form a collaboration rather than be a competitor.

Community Engagement Event, Wang 2022

6. Establishing Networks & Building Relationships

After taking ideas on board from individuals at initial engagement workshops, a greater level of dialogue is required.

Ideas have moved from simple questionnaire responses to a forum where individuals are free to voice their ideas. It is now important to really define who these individuals are, and specifically how they can contribute to the evolution of the space. This is achieved by utilising contact details acquired from previous stages.

Through face to face conversations, facilitated by engagement events, key community contacts are made. In the case of

Calverley Old Hall one these contacts worked for the newspaper Leeds Dispatch and was able to help spread news of our process. Other contacts included a resident who runs an art class and wanted a space to hold future exhibitions.

This new network grows quickly and organically. By inviting people into the space, conversations begin between different local attendees. This is a key part of extending networks beyond the consultant and consultee and begins to become a conversation directly within the community about the future of the space.

Halloween Workshop Event, Wang 2022

Halloween! Halloween!

7. Ideas Testing

All of the initial work with regard to contextual analysis, defining community networks and contact gathering should be to a sufficient level at this point. Each of these points of information can be collated to facilitate an event which tests the ideas generated so far. It is important that members of the community are actively engaged with the organisation and participation of the event as it is the first time in the process whereby agency is transferred from Landmark Trust to Community.

This step begins to foster the ultimate relationship that the Landmark Trust want to facilitate between people and place. The intention of the Live Project Team’s second community

engagement event was to test how the space works in relation to hosting events for specific activities. This involves testing out a proposed layout of the space that was developed to accommodate a potential activity. From this, we can determine how successful the layout is in terms of how people interact and fit within the space.

This workshop was set during school half term and was centered around Halloween festivities to provide the opportunity of maximum attendance. The activities we tested during the event were tailored toward young families while maintaining the same theme of arts and crafts (a use for the space previously highlighted through community engagement)

Defining Frameworks

After running a successful test event of the space in a community setting, it is important that the space works logistically. Local residents have to find the space easily accessible with regard to booking, financial viability and use.

An appropriate and efficient booking system should be in place. Reviews of case studies highlight that this is one of the most vital aspects when determining the success of a space. Groups will not book if they find it too complicated.

In addition, the space must be appropriately priced, using financial methods to incentivise local groups to book the space. This is an achievable model as evidenced by the Keld Resource Centre.

Appropriate, fundamental equipment must also be in place to facilitate any type of group that wants to use the space. This includes:

• Access to stable Wi-Fi

• Security Provision

• Accessible washing facilities

• Storage

In the remit of social responsibility, the Live Project Team have proposed an alternative financial model for Calverley Old Hall (This information is based of evidence from other successful community spaces. Please see appendix for this).

Proposed

Conventional

Landmark Trust = Community = Landmark Trust = Community

Landmark Trust = Community

9. Transfer Agency

The final step is making the space operate as a functional resource to the community, whereby agency of the space has been transferred from the Landmark Trust to the local community.

At this point all of the information has been obtained and analysed, the community members have actively engaged in the development of the space and the operational framework has been put in place.

This is the point at which the balance between ownership becomes more equal. If the process of engagement has been adhered to throughout the lifespan of the project then there

should be an active community network in place ready to harbour further community driven engagement. This ultimately makes the space more manageable logistically and commercially, from the Landmark Trust’s perspective.

At this stage, the Live Project Team handed the engagement project at Calverley Old Hall back to the Landmark Trust. The Team have facilitated the development of networks and relationships that will ultimately form the user base for Calverley Old Hall’s Community Space. Contacts had been established and agency is ready to be transferred, leading Calverley Old Hall into its next chapter as a resource for the people of Calverley.

Conclusion

The collaboration between the University of Sheffield Live Project Team and the Landmark Trust has proposed an adapted model of community engagement. The team employed methods of Participatory Action Research, a process where researchers and participants work together to understand a complex situation and change it for the better.

Engagement with local residents in critical dialogues and collective reflections facilitated communal reflection of the role of the Calverley Old Hall in the community. The Live Project Team has been successful in facilitating agency; demonstrating that Participatory Action Research allows change through the empowerment of others, allowing them to engage in their spatial environments in ways previously unknown or unavailable to them, opening up new freedoms and potentials as a result of reconfigured social space.

The Team approached the brief foremost as researchers, but also as a facilitators, nurturing strategic connections with key groups and local communities, so that they were capable of maintaining the projects legacy. Understanding that the actions local residents decide to take regarding the future of Calverley Old Hall are the result of the questions posed, examined, and addressed by the team. At future Landmark sites the Landmark Trust need to be conscious of their role to guarantee appropriate levels of agency, ensuring suitable networks of knowledge can materialise. They should act as facilitators and intermediaries between complex information and interpretation. Articulating data sets into physical exhibitions and art installations gives engagement a greater forum for discussion.

The methodology provided through Live Projects has not created original knowledge, it has however, highlighted that the integrative, projective nature of design research has enormous potential to facilitate complex transdisciplinary engagements between new networks of individuals. The role of agency within Landmark properties has also been highlighted in the analysis of the methodology. The Live Project Team has demonstrated that the action to engage transformatively with structure is possible, but will only be effective if individuals alert to the constraints and opportunities that the space presents.

The Team has demonstrated that engagement through the steps presented can provide an imaginative leap from a world of ‘as it is’ to a glimpse of the world ‘as it could be’, and as practitioners they have been able to determine the realities of ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’ for the local population, successfully ushering in a new, positive dynamic between the Landmark Trust and the communities they operate in.

Scan here to access the future proposal for the Calverley Room of Resource