Neil Hodgkin was seeking support for his organisation’s vision of constructing 50 Straw Bale houses as part of an environmentally friendly, semi-rural eco-community in the heart of the city.  The scheme is potentially the largest social housing developing project in England.   Through OPUN he engaged Farida Makki, OPUN Design Support Enabler and architect, to help create vision and a visual representation of the scheme as an advocacy and development tool.  He was in need of creative support to develop his vision into something that would inspire yet also reassure statutory agencies and funding bodies that this innovative approach is a viable method of construction and of creating a community.  Neil has received plaudits and support from central government and the Homes and Communities Agencies. The benefits of creative input in particular gave Neil a new confidence to discuss his plans with built environment professionals ‘on an even footing’.  He has been able to confidently engage Leicester’s universities in developing technical building issues.  The creative visualisation is able to start development discussions with groups hitherto unengaged and is confident of securing significant funding for the project.

CDPStrawbale Bungalow – plan

CDPstrawbale site layout

OPUN enabled the Academy and photographer/digital artist Paula Moss to plan the use of new space resulting from the restoration of the 1907 octagonal gallery and surrounding courtyard.  Paula supported the students to engage the architect, local and international arts organisations as well as the local community to develop programming and curatorial vision for the new gallery space. Students are using these links to review and curate contemporary exhibitions in the gallery as part of their Silver Arts Award and feel that their experiences have been greatly enhance through working with an artist in this setting.  They felt that working with an artist was a hugely positive experience, encouraging them to think in new ways, allowing them to make their own decisions, take risks and learn more about the real world.  It also gave them valuable insights into their own skills and how teams work best by utilising specialisms.  The school view the outcomes to be transformative and lasting.  They find that they are engaging more people from the local community in the life of the school as a result of the effects of the project.

OPUN enabled artist Walter Jack and students at Lady Manners School to design a new outdoor space.  This was achieved through a series of workshops with the students who created a specification for Walter to design.  The school subsequently raised £19k to make this concept design a reality. Walter worked with the students themselves and with the school’s construction company to complete the prototype and build the piece.  Walter helped delivered this shared vision, by creating a beautiful structure which is also a practical seating area for the students.

All those involved noted significant changes in how they approach problems, think in new ways, make decisions, work collaboratively and continually adjust expectations.  All agreed that the quality of the design and the build stage was made appreciatively better due to the genuine engagement of the students in the process.  The design was much more creative than they had anticipated and has inspired the school to work in this way again.  From the artist’s perspective significant learning was gained both in technical and material terms and opened up a whole new field of creative practice working with young people.

Session One, on the foundations of placemaking, featured presentations and discussion relating to urban design fundamentals. Workshop sessions applied these principles to schemes through the use of design checklists.

Session Two began to unpick the design process, from choosing a site through to developing a vision and then on to detailed design. Delegates were shown the design process undertaken prior to its submission to the planning process. Workshops focussed on site appraisal and understanding how the conditions on the ground support design decision making.

Session Three brought it all together, with delegates developing their own scheme from visioning through to design. This was then presented, ‘Dragons Den’ style, for critical review. This format ensured that participants had a strong rationale for each design decision made, ensuring that each could be justified for the overall scheme.

The strong feedback received shows this format of learning worked extremely well, and we look forward to working with ELDC again the near future.

Over the past few years Sneinton has seen a range of different development proposals put forward in the area including the redevelopment of Sneinton Market and Sneinton Square and the larger Eastside and Waterside Regeneration Zone projects.

The local community has always been active in the many consultations around these schemes and is keen to have more of a say in how the wider area can be enhanced, connected and regenerated. This grant provides an opportunity for OPUN through enabling activity led by Farida Makki to work alongside Sneinton Alchemy to help the community articulate their views in the form of a Neighbourhood Design Vision based on the ideas and vision of the people, groups and businesses of the area.

https://www.sites.google.com/a/sneinton-alchemy.com/www/WhatWeDo/sneinton-vision

For more information contact dharmista@opun.org.uk.

On 26 January 2012, Amber Valley Borough Council appointed OPUN Design Enabler Heather Emery to lead on the development of a Character Appraisal for a site in a historic part of Belper, Derbyshire. The Character Appraisal exercise, supported by English Heritage,  had the aim of examining how the area has evolved to identify key elements of the quality and character of this historic area to understand the character of this part of Belper Conservation Area and inform the drafting of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) Issues & Options Report.

The Character Appraisal report will analyse what is positive and what is negative in the area, identify opportunities for beneficial change, highlight where additional protection or restraint might be required, guide the form and content of new development and guide future regeneration and enhancement schemes. The exercise used community involvement and site visits to inform the capture of information on the Buildings, Views, Greenery and landscape features, other senses such as noise, smell and spirit of the place onto a scoring template. After site visits, information was captured to assist in the identification of what is special in the area, and in so doing will help inform what is known about historic development, and help identify the problems, pressures and where change could take place.

Contact Julie@opun.org.uk for more information.

OPUN recently appointed by Amber Valley Borough Council and East Midlands Councils planning consultants to support the preparation of a Supplementary Planning Document for a mixed use development site in Belper, Derbyshire. The work involves a strong element of community engagement on a site in a Conservation Area.

Helen Metcalfe led a community consultation event held on 29 November 2011 to gather evidence from community representatives in Belper. Heather Emery, OPUN Design Support Enabler , and Julie Tanner provided expert design advice and guidance.

We teamed up with Phil Jones, OPUN Panel Member to deliver a training session on Manual for Streets 1 & 2. The event was held at De Montfort University and included workshops and a design exercise on a live local scheme where the Council are looking for ideas to improve the local environment.

Manual for Streets, published in 2007, emphasises that streets should be places in which people want to live and spend time in, and are not just transport corridors. In particular, it aims to reduce the impact of vehicles on residential streets by asking practitioners to plan street design intelligently and proactively, and gives a high priority to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport.

Manual for Streets 2 was published in 2010 and builds on the philosophies set out in Manual for Streets and demonstrates through guidance and case studies how they can be extended beyond residential streets to encompass both urban and rural situations. It fills the perceived gap in design advice that lies between Manual for Streets and the design standards for trunk roads as set out in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. It is designed to everyone involved in the planning, construction and improvement of our streets to deliver more contextually sensitive designs. You can download them both here.

New development is good for the economy and vitality of our towns and cities. But how do we deal with new development in existing places, especially when they are of historic and architectural importance?

Building in Context is a training programme that gives decision makers the tools to recognise how projects can respond well to their surroundings. Aimed at local authority Design Champions and Heritage Champions, the training programme is being offered to Local Authorities in all of England’s regions.

OPUN and English Heritage teamed up to deliver Building in Context training in Chesterfield. The event was fantastically well attended and the feedback was uniformly positive. We will be adding presentations here soon.