News

Gamlingay Eco Hub: Community's dream is realised

Submitted by Vera Hale

On  Friday, 23rd March, The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, Secretary of State for Health and South Cambridgeshire's MP, officially opened the newly refurbished Gamlingay Eco Hub. The new community centre is one of the early projects to receive support from The Glass-House, and throughout its development has been a true community led project. It is also a truly sustainable building designed by civic Architects Ltd – sustainable on an environmental, social and economical level. 

First and foremost is the social aspect. It was a project devised, led and managed by the community. As all of those involved acknowledge, the key figure was Bridget Smith. She rallied around to get the whole community on board to realise the £2m refurbishment of the original community centre. 

Together with their architects (civic Architects led by Dan Jones) they established the right brief to help regenerate the building and give it a new lease of life. The new functions added to the centre are the council offices, library and extra multi-purpose spaces to enhance the potential of the building and to increase the use and opening hours of the centre. These features have made the centre a real asset for the surrounding community, but also make it a viable investment, using it to its full potential. 

The building has a new welcoming entrance that leads onto a library area and to the council offices on the mezzanine floor. From there the spaces flow into one another. With daylight entering most of the building, it leads you effortlessly from room to room. But all spaces can be separated to suit the requirements of the events. The original main hall is retained as it was cheaper to refurbish it than to build a new. At the rear, there is new square space with a beautiful timber roof and overall the whole building has a nice contemporary finish with great detailing. 

Great energy saving technology is also employed in the building which will save the community money in future maintenance costs. It is kitted out with a ground source heat pump, which generates the heat for the underfloor heating in the new extensions. Photovoltaic panels on the roof generate the electrics to run the pump and other electrics in the building, with the surplus sold back to the grid. There is a rainwater harvesting tank installed that supplies the toilet cisterns and a solar thermal to supply the changing rooms with warm showers. The whole building is super insulated and creates a high level of comfort for the interior. During the build only two skips left the site according to architect Andrew Siddalll. Re-using as many of the materials as possible and with good detailing, waste was minimal.

It was a long journey to get the project realised. The initial contractor went bust and they had to be very resourceful to get all the funding together. But through sheer tenacity and community collaboration, they created a fantastic community centre which they can be proud of.

Watch a video of the opening of the Eco Hub here.

Vera Hale is a co-founder of the Cave co-operative and is undertaking a collaborative PhD at Sheffield University with The Glass-House and bureau - design + research, investigating the merits of Community Led Design. 

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The National Planning Policy Framework and Community Led Design

Submitted by Sophia de Sousa

Yesterday, the final version of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was released. I would like to draw attention to three very simple points that Minister Greg Clark makes in his foreword to the document:

1.    Our standards of design can be so much higher.

2.    Planning must be a creative exercise in finding ways to enhance and improve the way we live our lives.

3.    This should be a collective exercise.

Community led design aims to do all of this, and the support that The Glass-House has given communities leading built environment projects over the past decade has been founded on these principles. We firmly believe that a participatory design process that places local people at the heart of changes to their neighbourhoods can lead to neighbourhoods that are more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. With the right support, community led design and planning can lead to more creative and better informed solutions to local problems, and to places that are both functional and delightful.

However, let us be under no illusion that this is a quick simple process. In order to achieve great placemaking, the emerging neighbourhood plans will have to grapple with urban design principles and planning legislation, feeding them into an inclusive and participatory design and planning process. They will need to consider the social, economic and environmental impact of their plans in the short and long term. Their community will need to include those who live, work, study and play in the area.  It will need to consider and include local residents, businesses and government, as well as those who manage, maintain and service the area.  Each neighbourhood plan will have to fully understand and respond to issues around land ownership and to the local (social, historical, economic, environmental etc.) context. It must also consider how the neighbourhood links to and complements the neighbourhoods around it. Neighbourhood plans must begin with a thorough understanding of place, a collective vision for change and an informed and aspirational brief.

So Minister Clark, we agree with your declaration of the importance of design quality, achieved through a creative and collaborative process, as a means of improving quality of life. We hope that the application of this new National Planning Policy Framework, and in particular the presumption in favour of sustainable development, creates the space for inspired and inspiring design and planning by, with and for communities. And we hope that adequate time, resources and practical support will be made available to help make this happen.*

Read the whole National Planning Policy Framework document here


*The Department for Communities and Local Government made a commitment to providing up to £50 million until March 2015 to help make neighbourhood planning a success. As one of the organisations delivering the 'Supporting Communities and Neighbourhoods in Planning' programme this year we look forward to hearing more about how government intends to carry forward this commitment and to exploring how The Glass-House can work with DCLG and other partners to continue to support community led design and planning within our new National Planning Policy Framework.

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The Glass-House Debate Series 2011/2012: London

Submitted by Louise Dredge

Our final Glass-House Debate of the 2011/2012 series was held earlier this week with our partner Design Council Cabe providing the venue for a discussion on the topic ‘Community Led Design: what is it and does it work?’. With four dynamic and diverse speakers and an engaged audience the evening took us through the many issues and perspectives involved in any community led process.

Dave Smith of London CITIZENS and East London Community Land Trust (ELCLT) outlined his concept of community led design which he summarised as creation (not placation), ownership and management. The priority of ELCLT is to provide affordable housing the residents of East London, a massive challenge in the context of a major global city.  Agreeing with the difficulties faced by the ELCLT, property developer David Roberts of Igloo Regeneration injected what he declared was a “dose of realism” to proceedings, with the hypothesis that community led design is not viable. Roberts qualified this with an addendum that it cannot be a reality on publicly owned land in London because this is prime land that will always sell quickly (where there is a high return on investment with no long term approach).

Should we be despondent? A slide from Dave Smith's presentation.

Johanna Gibbons, a landscape architect who has long practiced deliberative planning in her work as part of the firm J & L Gibbons, gave numerous examples of green infrastructure projects she has been involved in where communities and their health and wellbeing have been at the heart of the whole process. As a key member of Southwark Council’s Planning Department, Alistair Huggett discussed some of the creative engagement techniques employed by planners, while acknowledging that their approach is largely community responsive design, as opposed to community led design.

Alistair Huggett, Framework & Implementation Manager with Southwark Council

 
Chair and Glass-House Chief Executive Sophia de Sousa was keen to explore the business case for community led design, questioning developer David Roberts and a developer audience member about why it makes good business sense for them to engage with communities in the design and planning process. David Roberts asserted that working with the community generates more value. Igloo Regeneration, according to David Roberts, takes a long term view of their investments and engaging with the community deals issues such as security concerns and identifies the right kind of development to carry out in the first place to ensure a sustainable, viable place emerges from the process.

Thoughts from audience members

The advent of Localism could not help but pervade the entire discussion with one audience member enquiring as to what each speaker hoped or desired from the Localism Act. Unsurprisingly, the issue of funding was raised as a key barrier to real community generated and community led processes. Johanna Gibbons pointed out that while new planning policy demands demonstrable community engagement there is no zone of funding allocated for this to occur, with Alistair giving the example of his own borough, where residents of Camberwell aspire to develop a neighbourhood plan but there are no funds available to support this. David Roberts also cautioned that community led design doesn’t fit the legal processes that we have at present in the UK.

Overall, the theory of Localism was welcomed but as one audience member affirmed, we will need a massive cultural change among local authorities, developers and communities that may take twenty years or more to occur. The following advice seems appropriate:

“As an organizer I start where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be — it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be.”

(From the book ‘Rules for Radicals’ by Saul Alinsky as quoted by Dave Smith)

Accepting our present reality, how can we collectively transform our future?

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Guest Blog: Building Consensus in Oxford on Leap Day!

Submitted by Stephen Smith

The Glass-House marked Leap-Day with a workshop at Cutteslowe Community Centre in Oxford. Chief Executive Sophia de Sousa was joined by Glass-House Enabler Stephen Smith of Wright & Wright Architects and research partners from the Open University.

Located at a seemingly commonplace residential edge; several complex contextual emerged – the sense of a gateway building to a Primary School and Children’s Centre; an expanse of parkland both adjacent to it and beyond the bypass footbridge to allotments; and the proximity of the site of some nationally significant cartographic scars – the spike-topped Cutteslowe Walls – that previously divided streets between Council Houses and Private Ownership.

The group were engaged in a series of activities to begin to evolve a project vision for the transformation of the Centre. Discussion was animated and thoughts were articulated about creating a warmer and welcoming threshold, cross generational activity and planning and an understanding about further outreach and engagement.

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Glass-House Debate - Newcastle

Submitted by Rebecca Maguire

Once again the topic – Community Led Design: what is it and does it work? – was tackled in the latest Glass-House Debate, held on 21^st February. The event was hosted by partners, Northern Architecture, at the Bond Centre in central Newcastle. Sophia de Sousa, Glass-House Chief Executive, introduced the theme and said how glad she was to return to Newcastle, where there is always such a lively response to Glass-House Debates. 

As with all the Glass-House Debates, there were contrasting experiences from speakers of very different backgrounds. The first speaker was David Stewart, of the Allendale Community Housing (ACH), a community company, which is run as if it were a Community Land Trust. He spoke about the process of developing Allen Gardens - 1 family house and 2 apartments - for much needed social housing in Allendale, a small town of 3500 people in Northumberland.

Time, effort and the right skills were contributed at all levels from within the community, from the ACH Board to the developer to those working on all aspects of the project. It was possible to not only create housing with high environmental standards, meaning they cost very little to run for the tenants, but to employ local companies in the construction process too – thus ensuring that financial benefits circulated locally too.

The project was driven by clear evidence of need within the community, and allowed for lots of engagement and empowerment of the community, with open meetings throughout. There was too, a ‘mysterious ingredient’ – the passion and commitment, which helped the project complete in such a successful way.

Image courtesy: ACH

Carinna Gebhard, of space_architecture, continued the evening with her account of two projects that she had been involved with designing. Both were educational buildings, though for and with very different communities. The first example was the Evenwood Surestart and Community Centre, in a small mining town in County Durham – with high unemployment, especially amongst the young male population, many of whom were also carers. Although Teesdale Surestart was the client, the whole community was recognised as having a stake in the centre and were involved in workshops, organised so that many people could have a say in the whole building, not just the Surestart part of it. Carinna reflected that, although young people became, on completion and opening of the Centre, very proud and protective of the new centre – a higher level of involvement throughout the process could have made for fewer broken windows during the construction phase.

Her second example was a Special Educational Needs school. There was real engagement with all staff, many of the pupils and their families and carers, the medical community and wider community, as well as the client -  Knowesley Council. They listened and learnt from one another and continually reviewed and discussed the design. Collectively, the children, the wider stakeholders, client and designers, were able to come up with a beautiful and successful building designed very specifically for the range of needs of the user group –  the children themselves. 

Image courtesy of space_architecture

Last but not least, Nigel Brewer, of Places for people, talked about the engagement with existing and new communities. As one of the largest property management, development and regeneration companies in the UK – with assets in excess of over £3 billion, Places for People (PfP) still believe that every place requires a unique approach to design, and needs more than just houses to thrive – it needs schools, jobs and training opportunities, shops and leisure facilities too. For each development project they engage with both existing and future stakeholders in neighbourhood  and project planning and design. Mixing aspirations with realism, Nigel felt the process is creative and engaging. But PfP also pride themselves in providing local employment opportunities as a result of the developments  The immense social benefits of community led design, he felt, were greater ownership and respect, which in itself leads to safer communities; the raising of aspirations amongst local people and an enhanced environment for all.

Sadly, our last scheduled speaker Phil Jones from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council was unable to attend due to poor health, but he contributed his reflections on developing a neighbourhood plan as one of the pilot Front Runners. He felt that whilst it will continue to be challenging, he felt that they had made some good progress and that in genuine partnership and collaborative effort, plans and aspirations could be achieved.

      Image The Glass-House                  

The debate that followed was passionate and heated at times. The audience was unusually ‘professional’ – usually there are many more community members in attendance. We debated the difference of scale that had been highlighted by the speakers and the impact that this had on community involvement; the different types of ‘communities’ that might be involved as users and clients, and indeed the differing nature of involvement and ownership. Once more, the breadth and importance of community involvement in the design process was eloquently emphasised by our speakers and audience.

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Building Community at Eden's Core

Submitted by Louise Dredge

Earlier this month we joined our Building Community partners - Eden Project, Locality and communityplanning.net - at the awe-inspiring Eden Project in Cornwall for the Building Community Planning Camp, an event which aimed to help communities get their heads around neighbourhood planning.

Groups from all over the country came along to participate in three days of creativity, skills development and experience sharing.

The Glass-House ran a number of workshops and we were delighted to meet so many passionate, engaged and dynamic individuals working towards positive neighbourhood change!

Here's a sneak peek of what we got up to:

What a sight on arrival! The marvel of Eden..

Visual Minutes at work

Jargon busting session - with cake!

A site visit to a proposed Eco Town site near St. Austell in Cornwall

Dinnertime!

Developing a shared vision at The Glass-House 'Design by Consensus' workshop

Participants get some hot tips and tricks on architectural drawings from The Glass-House team

A quick look inside the Mediterranean biome before departure!

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The Value of Community Led Design - another success!

Submitted by Rebecca Maguire

Great news! The Glass-House and partners - the Open University and Architecture Centre Network - have been successful in gaining another grant of £40,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Counci (AHRC) to carry out a piece of action research into The Value of Community Led Design.

This piece of research will use creative and collaborative methods to collect and share the many examples of good practice, aiming to articulate the benefits of community-led design for dissemination to the wider public. The research will also explore and assess ways to measure the impact of community-led design and understand the barriers to wider acceptability of community-led design, and how these can be overcome.

As supporters of the Glass-House will know - community led design goes beyond the one-dimensional process of consultation, helping involve people in decision-making throughout the design process, from visioning to implementation. We contend that there are many benefits from this approach, from improving civic participation and ensuring more democratic outcomes, to creating a strong sense of community and strengthening people’s attachment to their place and to each other, to producing more sustainable solutions.

However, 50 years after the first community-led design initiatives (and although the practice of professionals and organisations involved has matured and spread) community-led design is still far from being mainstream in design and planning practice.

Grappling with this problem is of special relevance at this particular time, with the emerging Localism agenda and the National Planning Policy Framework, which acknowledges an increased need for early and meaningful engagement and collaboration with communities.

Participants during our 'Design by Consensus' workshop at the recent Building Community Planning Camp

At the recent Building Community* Planning Camp at Eden Project in Cornwall, with a large group of neighbourhood groups from across England working on neighbourhood plans, a demand was expressed to be able to share and understand what was going on across the country and learn from one another – this piece of work should be a significant step towards achieving this request!

The project is funded under the Connected Communities strand connecting all research councils. We are thrilled to be part of this wider and holistic network of creative industries, communities and academics working alongside one another.


* Building Community is the 1-year Department of Communities and Local Government funded project that The Glass-House has been delivering on this year (with partners Eden Project, communityplanning.net and Locality) to support communities to take a more active role in place-shaping and the development of plans at a local level to ensure they reflect local needs and aspirations.

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Season's Greetings from The Glass-House Community Led Design!

Submitted by Louise Dredge

  
We'd like to wish all of our supporters and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our office will close from Friday 23 December 2011 until Tuesday 3 January 2012.

In the meantime, check out some of the events we have coming up in the New Year on our Training and Events page!

Best wishes,

The Glass-House Team

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Groups gain design confidence in Basingstoke

Submitted by Imogen Willetts

On a chilly December morning, the Glass-House team arrived at a frosty Basingstoke for our first Neighbourhoods by Design training course this year. Despite a brief hiccup involving a faulty projector and a fruitless trip to ‘Computer Exchange’, we had a really great 2 days and were so impressed with the imaginative and coherent designs the groups produced. 

We had a great range of groups, from large scale projects involving whole towns to design panels working on an individual regeneration scheme at a retirement home. All had clear aims and objectives and thought about the practical ways to achieve these ambitions – be it for a retirement home to have an ‘old peoples playground’ (think University campus for the over 60s – amazing!) to make it a livelier place, or to create better transport links with neighbouring Chichester for another group.  

The two days gave succinct introductions to various design concepts and urban planning thanks to engaging presentations from our Glass-House Enablers, architects Alex and Matthew. The field trip to Oakridge village gave us a chance to chart the narrative of a project, from funding, to design, to buildings maintenance and community involvement. This gave a useful overview of how similar projects work from start to finish, reminding us of how little steps can contribute to the overall goal. Oakridge also participated previously in Glass-House design training, so it was really inspiring for us to see how the project has developed since its early stages.

 Matthew gave an impressive presentation on the Community Land Trust in Albuquerque that has successfully built and maintained affordable housing with intelligently designed community spaces, that I think got everyone thinking about the possibilities of their projects. He really highlighted the importance of well-designed public spaces – in terms of community hubs and linking walkway, reminding us how simple design choices such as planting flowers and shrubbery along a pavement can transform the feel of a neighbourhood. 

The groups also were able to spend plenty of time sketching out a design brief – so all left with something they could show to their architects and council members. These were done with the help of some impressive plasticine models – and of course motivated by Matthew’s impromptu piano playing!

* Imogen Willetts has been volunteering with The Glass-House since September 2011

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Exploring the Neighbourhoods of Stroud and Bristol

Submitted by Hannah Gibbs

Last Thursday we led a group of local community members and support workers on a Neighbourhoods Study Tour around Stroud and Bristol.

The aim of the day was for groups to witness first hand how local people have made a positive and lasting impact on their neighbourhoods: physically, socially, environmentally and economically.

We visited two  co-housing schemes, Springhill and Ashley Vale, and learnt about the work of Stroud Common Wealth (SCW), a social enterprise group who are gradually regenerating parts of Stroud by revitalising old buildings and setting up Community Land Trusts.

At each site, we were guided by a community member who had been involved in the project. We heard about the challenges encountered by groups and how they were overcome. It was so inspiring to meet people who have designed and built their own homes, and to find out how an unconventional approach has had such a positive impact on the lives of people living in these neighbourhoods.

The groups who came along on the tour left feeling motivated and inspired by our hosts and by each other!

We have three more Study Tours coming up before the end of March 2012 (see www.theglasshouse.org.uk/training-and-events for more info). The Glass-House can also create a tailored tour to suit your groups’ needs.

Get in touch if you’re interested.

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The Community Led Design Debate continues in Bristol

Submitted by Louise Dredge

From the concrete jungle on arrival in Bristol to the thriving regenerated docklands and to the home of our hosts and partner Architecture Centre Bristol, we gathered in the ground floor gallery for the second debate of the 2011/2012 Glass-House Debate Series. A tightly packed group of thirty community led design enthusiasts ready to hear and discuss the practice and realities of community led design in the UK today.

The four enlightening presentations had a common heart – people. None more so than Sandra Manson, a Youth Media Coordinator from Knowle West Media Centre who spoke of how a group of young people became the fearless drivers of a new community facility for their local area. Sandra demonstrated to us how the process of community led design brings far more transformative effects than the designed outcome. Her stories revealed that these young people developed a confidence from their engagement in this process that has propelled them in their personal and professional lives, while the wider community developed a pride of place that has had an impact far beyond the boundaries of the new building.

As a design professional Greg White admitted that the designer doesn’t always know best, as he has been shown on many occasions of involvement in community led design projects. Embedding a sense of ownership and pride in one’s area was key to the success of a project and Greg included an evocative example from Glasgow, where two parks were linked by a series of trees, each one planted with a ceremony of its own in memory of a young person who had died in that community.

Oona Goldsworthy, CEO of Bristol Community Housing Federation gave her reflections on community led design after over thirty years of being involved in such processes. She insisted that honesty, feedback, respect and listening be at the heart of any process, while she cautioned design professionals to be cognisant of scale and function, to ensure that the smallest details are considered and that every space designed has a function (the latter point relating to ongoing issues of management which cause problems long after the built project is completed).

Cleo Newcombe-Jones from Bath & North East Somerset Council revealed the changing nature of community engagement by local authorities, which has seen planners become involved more and more in enabling work. And the tide is turning for the local action groups as Cleo revealed how groups once set up to oppose the decisions of the local authority were now working in partnership with them, and with other groups who they may have been (or still are!) ideologically opposed to.

This theme of shared support pervaded the experience of all of the speakers and many of the audience members who discussed their own experiences of community engagement in the built environment. Community led design is a collective responsibility – to be inclusive, accessible, to communicate clearly and constantly. As put simply by Oona Goldsworthy, “It’s not ‘other’, it’s us”.

A clear definition of ‘community led design’ may once again have eluded us in Bristol but it was an audience member who reminded us of our ultimate responsibility to all in society - to inspire.

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The Glass-House Debate Series 2011/12: Glasgow

Submitted by Louise Dredge

'What is Community Led Design and does it work?'

Yesterday evening, on a crisp October evening in Glasgow over 40 guests gathered at The Lighthouse venue (a former newspaper office designed by Glasgow’s master architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh), to explore the mixed perceptions of community led design and what it really means in practice. Four distinct stakeholders  - a resident, a design professional, a local authority planner and a developer - presented their own personal views and experiences of community engagement in the design and planning process.

Speaking as a resident, Anna Stuart, Chair of Cassiltoun Trust, charted decades of community engagement in urban regeneration, outlining the path from protest against, to collaboration with, the local authorities. Anna discussed the transformation of a community asset, Castlemilk Stables, an inspiring example of how community led projects can deliver the best in design quality and bring about economic and social regeneration.

Matt Bridgestock, an architect, planner and urban designer (55 North Architecture Ltd) shared much of his practical experience of working with communities in the design of places and spaces, emphasising the need for the community to participate as an equal stakeholder (something which planners can ensure) and as an expert in their own right. Transparency is key and as one Tweeter observed, communication must be delivered in a language that communities can understand and respond to.

All of the speakers were convinced of the need for community engagement in the design and planning process, with Ron Smith of Glasgow City Council unpicking the degrees of engagement from the point of view of the local authority. Ron’s presentation showed the disparate attitudes of different local authorities to community engagement in design and planning processes, highlighting the lack of leadership on community engagement in local, regional and national planning policy.

Jonathan Strassberg of the Ethical Property Company pointed to a lack of understanding among developers of what community led design is, admitting his own ignorance of its practice until relatively recently. He highlighted the realities of the developer’s priorities and the financial risk and unpredictability wrought by community involvement (in the minds of financiers). Jonathan referred with disdain to the developer’s view that they can bring ‘community’ to their development, as if they were delivering a pizza, which raised the question of how to engage with communities where there are none?

While none of the speakers directly answered the question, ‘What is Community Led Design?’ it was already clear when Chair, Glass-House Chief Executive Sophia de Sousa asked the audience to think about the three words that made up the theme of the debate – ‘Community’, ‘Led’ and ‘Design’ – that they were each loaded with meaning and that reaching consensus on their definitions is a challenge in itself.

Perhaps Anna’s reminder to us that buildings and the spaces around them are to be used and enjoyed was what left most of us convinced of the importance of the active and full participation of communities in the design process to deliver the needs of local people.

Plenty of food for thought!

We invite you to continue this discussion and share your views and experiences with us below.

* The Glass-House Debate Series 2011/12 continues in Bristol in November, and in Newcastle and London in the New Year. Click here to find out more.

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The Secret Life of Buildings

Submitted by Sophia de Sousa

The Glass-House was really pleased to be a part of the first episode of The Secret Life of Buildings last night. It was fantastic to see Tom Dyckhoff looking at how our buildings and spaces affect us and challenging us all to be more demanding about the environments in which we live. Design does matter, and though there will always be a strong element of subjectivity about what we like and don’t like, we must work harder and more collaboratively to create places where people feel happy, safe, confident and inspired. We look forward to watching the next episode.

If you missed last night's episode, watch it on 4OD  

We’re keen to hear more about how your home is affecting your quality of life. Send us your comments.

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Upcoming events

Submitted by Jaina Tochia

The Glass-House and partner organisations are holding a series of lively and informative events all exploring the built environment from various perspectives. Below is a bitesize overview of each one with link to book your place. 

The Glass-House and Architecture Centre Network (ACN):

Community Engagement: Quality Design or Design Compromise?

A debate which discusses and explores the different approaches to ensuring design quality, and the importance of listening to responding to the community voice. There will be presentations from:

• The Glass-House
• The Building Exploratory
• The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment

with a chance to discuss key points and raise your queries after the presentations.

Where: The Gallery, 77 Cowcross St, London, EC1M 6EL

When: Tuesday 21 June 2011

Time: Refreshments from 6.30pm, debate 7-8pm

Cost: £5/£3 for students inc a glass of wine

More info: Event flyer

To book: www.eventelephant.com/communityengagement21june

A Planning in London Conference in association with The Glass-House

Community and Planning, The New Relationship

Communities are being empowered to shape and direct the future of their neighbourhoods. How will property and built environment professionals, local authorities work with communities to achieve the best outcomes?

This special one-day conference is designed to create opportunities for debate and discussion about how communities and professionals can engage collaboratively with neighbourhood planning, to create new Neighbourhood Plans.

Join us to debate the key issues with developers, architects, planners, local government authorities, politicians and community organisations.

Where: The Royal College of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE

When: Thursday 7 July 2011

Time: 8.30 to 5.30pm with evening drinks reception

Cost: Standard ticket price £239.00 + VAT

NEW: If you are part of a community group/ organisation cost per person £20.00

More info: Programme

To book: Community and Planning, The New Relationship website 

The Glass-House and Design Council CABE  

Design Planning Workshop - Community Engagement

The Localism Bill presents a new role for urban planners as facilitators of neighbourhood plans. This half-day workshop will highlight the challenges and opportunities for planners and communities to prioritise design in the new planning system. The session will discuss the links to core strategies as well as local practical projects. Speakers will present a series of approaches to community planning through inspiring case studies. A practical exercise will help you develop a new approach to talking to local communities about the value of good design in the context of neighbourhood plans.

The workshop will be an opportunity for you to question our expert panel, who have years of experience on community planning projects. We will also encourage you to discuss your experiences with other local authorities, to discuss common problems and solutions.

Confirmed speakers:

• Paul Watson – Paul, Strategic Director for Regeneration and Development
• Shankari Raj – Shankari is a community activist from Bristol
• Sophia de Sousa – Sophia, Chief Executive of The Glass-House

Where: Design Council CABE, 34 Bow Street, London WC2E 7DL

When: Wednesday 13 July 2011

Who: Local authority planners

Time: 10am-1pm followed by lunch

Cost: Free

More info and to book: Design in Planning booking info and booking  

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Glass-House and University of Sheffield AHRC Collaborative PhD Studentship in community led design

Submitted by Rebecca Maguire

Great news! The Glass-House and Bureau – Design + Research (a research unit within the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield) have been successful in securing an Arts and Humanities Research Council (www.ahrc.ac.uk) funded Collaborative Doctoral Award. The topic of this research will be community led design. It will investigate, within the context of community involvement in the design process across the UK and Europe, the practice and projects of The Glass-House since its inception.

The award:

• funds the UK/EU tuition fees and a maintenance stipend of approx. £14k for one person to undertake a 3 year PhD 
• both the University of Sheffield and The Glass-House will oversee the research collaboratively

What we are looking for: 

A person with a passion for community inclusion in the design process. The candidate could come from a range of fields – you might be a sociologist, an architect, urban designer, a cultural geographer, or have other knowledge and experience.

You will be creative and passionate about the future, as well as the history and impact of, community led design, and feel that this is the right time for you to commit to the research over the next couple of years

Now more than ever, with the ‘Localism’ Bill currently going through parliament, communities are potentially being given the opportunity to play an active role in the physical and social regeneration of their neighbourhoods. However, far too many development and regeneration projects still fail to really include the community or develop an effective brief that draws on the aspirations and potential of local people. 

It is now well recognised that allowing the public to have a say in the shaping of their environment leads not only to better physical outcomes, but also to empowered communities that are active in enlivening and managing their regenerated places and spaces. Indirect benefits can also include increased employability, improved physical and mental health and more cohesive communities. Surprisingly, very little study into this field has been undertaken at this level. 

The collaborating partners are keen that the research should produce a tangible resource to support design practitioners in their work with communities, as well as informing future policy and practice. 

Application info:

If you are interested in applying for the PhD studentship please apply via the Postgraduate Application Form at http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply and mention in your application that you wish to apply for this project.

Applicants must be UK or EU citizens and be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom. Further information on eligibility requirements is available from the AHRC website (Annex A): http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/GuidetoStudentFunding.pdf

If you have further questions about the area of research, please contact:

Prue Chiles at the University of Sheffield +44 (0)114 222 0312  p.chiles@sheffield.ac.uk

Rebecca Maguire at the Glass-House t: +44 (0)20 7490 4583 e: rebecca@theglasshouse.org.uk

Deadline for applications 15th July with interviews at the end of July, with a view to beginning the studentship on 1st October.

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London debate, the final in our Sustainable Community Building series

Submitted by Jaina Patel

We recently finished our Sustainable Community: Refurbishment vs New Build debate series at The Abbey Centre in London on 15 March 2011. We were delighted with the panellists presentations and thought provoking discussion from the audience.

Throughout the series audiences have focussed on everything from capacity building to the political, social and economic implications of the Big Society and Localism Bill. There was clearly great concern over the expectations being placed on communities to provide services for local people and to take on greater responsibility for the community buildings that can host them. While there is a great emphasis on the importance and potential for partnership working, it is clear that finding strong and confident partners in the current climate is challenging. Particular concern was expressed over the role of local authorities. The decisions they make around the disposal of assets currently in or potentially for community use and their relationship with community partners will be a key factor. But many have argued that new relationships, new models and more creative approaches are crucial, and that we must have the courage to see opportunities in the changing landscape.

The Sustainable Community Building debate series raised a number of issues that bear further investigation.  We welcome your comments and questions on our blog, and invite you to continue to bring us your experiences, learning and recommendations.

More detailed outlines of the key themes from each debate are available on our website at www.theglasshouse.org.uk

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The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build, Newcastle Debate

Submitted by Jaina Patel

The third debate in our lively  series took place in Newcastle on Tuesday 22 March at Northern Stage, we were fortunate to once again have a diverse and interesting panel of speakers who shared their thoughts and experiences on the subject.

Our panel of speakers were Christine Morrison, North East Coordinator, Community Matters, Tim Mosedale, Director, Mosedale Gillatt Architects, Tom Johnston, Trust Director, Glendale Gateway Trust and John Dawson, Treasurer and Trustee, Lemington Community Centre.

As with our previous debates in Edinburgh and Cardiff, the community representatives (John Dawson and Tom Johnston) provided frank and insightful accounts of their experiences when taking on the owenership of a refurbished and new build community building and talked about how trying to incorporate sustainable concepts were not as easy as they had anticipated. 

Tim Mosedale (architect) shed light on the various issues architects face when taking on the development of a community building. Its often seen as a 'them' and 'us' process and Tim was able to explore this area in more detail, explaining that this preconception is far from his way of working with community groups. 

Christine Morrison, Community Matters presented her views on the subject from a political perspective, exploring how the Coalition's Big Society agenda, Localism Bill and cuts to local budgets will have a direct impact on the future of the community building.

There is a dedicated page on the Glass-House Sustainable Community Building page where you can download the key themes from the event.

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Cardiff debate - The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build

Submitted by Jaina Patel

The second debate in our series took place at Chapter in Cardiff on Thursday 25 November 2010. Once again the panellists and audience members raised and discussed a range of issues relating to the sustainability of the community building in the contexts of new builds and refurbishments.

Our panel of speakers in Cardiff were David Tyler, Chief Executive of Community Matters, Alan Gillard, Principal, Gillard Associates Architecture and Design, Kelvin Jones, Chief Executive, Gorseinon Development Trust and Marco Gil-Cervantes, Chief Executive, ProMo-Cymru.

Marco and Kelvin provided honest and frank accounts of their own experiences of taking ownership of a community building and highlighted the challenges and opportunities that they encountered. They each showcased their journey and the effect their community buildings have had on the local people and neighbourhood. While their experience and the buildings themselves were quite different, Marco and Kelvin's stories demonstrated how important sustainability is not only for the local environment but also to reduce running costs. They were also able to give clear example of the impact of design decisions on the way the buildings are used, managed and enjoyed. Alan was able to explain the challenges faced by architects when taking on a community development project and how important it is to work collaboratively with local people throughout the design process. He was also able to point to both the opportunities and challenges of both new build and refurbishment projects, making it clear that it is essential to assess each project individually. David discussed the importance and value of community assets in the current climate and the impact the current Big Society agenda and emerging Localism Bill could have on local communities and community buildings.

There is a dedicated page on The Glass-House website which captured the points from the presentations and discussion. 

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Edinburgh debate: The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build

Submitted by Jaina Patel

On Thursday 21st October 2010 The Glass-House and partner organisations held a lively and interactive debate in Edinburgh looking the sustainability of the community building in the contexts of new builds and refurbishments. The debate was the first in series of 4 taking place across the UK over the coming months.

Our panel of speakers included David Tyler, Chief Exec of Community Matters, Charles Strang, Principal of Charles Alexander Strang Associates, Rob Hoon, Co-ordinator of Out of the  Blue Arts & Education Trust (a community centre which went through the process of a refurbishment) and Catherine Martin, Development Manager of Croy Miners' Welfare Charitable Society (for which a new community centre was built).  The debate welcomed a mixed audience which included design professionals, community organisations, local authority officers, funding bodies, academics and students who contributed to a lively discussion.

The discussion highlight the importance of the community buildings for local communities and explored some of the key opportunities and challenges that buildings bring with them. It also highlighted that community centres generally cater for a number of different interest groups and communities who have both shared and conflicting needs. Getting the building right for for those existing and future needs is crucial. There is a dedicated page to the themes raised from Thursdays debate which can be found at: 

Some questions that emerged in the discussion with the audience include:

• How can we ensure that the design process involves a broad section of the community yet gives the design team a clear and representative client with whom to engage?
• How can you keep communities engaged and interested during the design and build process when it takes an average of 7 years from inception to completion? 
• How can we improve the relationship between the local council and people, who we believe want many of the same things but are not sure how to engage with each other?
• Is it a good idea to produce new community centres using a kit/ modular approach? Would this produce centres that are appropriate for the local context and that are sustainable in the long term? 

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