post by Katerina Alexiou

In the last year, a group of us from the Open University and the Glass-House Community Led Design engaged in a research project focussed on civic leadership. We teamed up with colleagues from other disciplines in the Open University interested in civil society and the voluntary sector, as well as a new non-academic partner, the Knowle West Media Centre in Bristol. We were all interested to explore the mechanisms and infrastructures needed to instigate collaboration between actors from different sectors involved in placemaking and to incubate civic projects and actions. 

The Incubating Civic Leadership (ICL) project supported two pilot projects, one in Redbridge, East London, in collaboration London Borough of Redbridge and Muslimah Sports Association and one in Bristol, with the Filwood Broadway Working Group of the Knowle West Alliance in Bristol. Both projects had an element of seeking to engage different groups of people in the community in discussions about plans for the area and to empower them to take action and develop ownership of changes in their public spaces. 

You can view this film summarising the project, the activities and the things we collectively learned:

Many of the challenges that the groups we worked with in this project faced, are not so different from the challenges that groups looking after historic faith buildings are facing; such as lack of time, lack of resources and lack of confidence in their own ability to lead change. But what we are seeing, time and again, is that with little support and encouragement, and by creating the space and time for reflection and mutual learning, community groups can achieve wonderful things benefitting their places and the people who inhabit them. Engaging in civic action projects can enhance people's skills, confidence and wellbeing and can help create and strengthen social relationships, culture and people's sense of identity. Projects that are rooted in communities and which also truly build on collaboration and partnership working, can help create more just and more sustainable environments.

As part of the ICL project, we went back to two groups that we worked with in Empowering Design Practices, to capture and celebrate their own journeys and to provide some inspiration for anyone considering a community-led civic action project. Enjoy the stories of Cemetery Road Baptist Church and the ISRAAC Somali Community Association, located within a small distance from each other, on Cemetery Road in Sheffield.

Post by Becky Payne

Since July 2020, I have been part of the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, York University research team looking at the impact of Covid-19 on churches. The other partner organisations were Historic England, the Association of English Cathedrals, the Church of England, the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance and the National Churches Trust.
 
One of the main catalysts for this research project was the decision to close places of worship during the 1st lockdown in March 2020. While acknowledging that these were early days in our understanding of Covid-19 and quick decisions had to be made, it came as a shock to many people that churches were going to close – the first time since the 13th century. And as time went on, there was also a feeling that this period of closure might mean that understanding the importance and significance of the buildings themselves could become diluted as activities including worship increasingly moved online.
 
Even so, until we started work, we had no idea of the impact that three months closure would have on so many people and for so many different reasons.
 
More than 5,500 people, made up of non-church members, congregations and church leaders, took part in surveys and interviews between August and December 2020 and in February and March 2021, providing testimony and data on the human cost of the pandemic when places of worship were closed and unable to play their usual role as crisis centres, community hubs and places of comfort in times of national need and anxiety. Many people spoke of how they missed having access to church buildings where they felt safe to mourn, find respite in beauty, and seek peace. For many, key was that these buildings represent continuity with previous generations, that the often historic architecture creates a feeling of stability and survival, but also that ‘the building speaks to you and you can feel a lot of good energy from prayers that has been going on for years’.
 
One of the very striking aspect of our findings is how strongly non-church members reacted to the closure of buildings. We had so many responses from across all social groups reporting on the impact of activities that couldn’t take place and the resulting increase in isolation and need at a time of major suffering. For instance, 75% of non-church members said they wanted access to churches as places of quiet reflection and comfort. 
 Dr Dee Dyas, the project lead says that: “if there was one clear message from non-church people it is summed up in this quote from the respondent who said: 'These places must remain open. They are essential to the community … especially for times such as this’."
 
We also found so much that was positive. Despite the restrictions of necessary COVID-19 regulations, the responses showed that churches still managed to have a presence through online engagement, hosting foodbanks and other practical help, including more recently working with the NHS as vaccination and testing centres.

Many churches were amazing in their practical creativity, finding ways to continue to support the most vulnerable in our communities. Moving worship and support groups online, phoning, producing family activity packs, producing 1,000s of meals and delivering them, visiting with shopping, opening up churchyards (once allowed) for activities, organising nativity trails in local shops and taking carol singing to the streets. The list is amazing and inspiring.
 
Many existing partnerships were strengthened such as with local schools and new ones were formed during this time bringing places of worship together with other local charities, hubs and parish councils, local authorities to help those who have been affected by this dreadful virus.
 
What it has also shown is how vital places of worship are in their role of providing support emergency social care, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing, and other community benefits. The National Churches Trust’s House of Good Report showed how much churches were doing prior to March 2020, and this report shows how much continued during the last 15 months despite the epidemic.
 
Recognition of this has meant that many churches saw new people coming to volunteer and/or give donations of food and money because they saw ‘what you are doing’ and appreciated churches as a trusted channel for supporting communities.
 
The findings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society’s 'Keeping the Faith' report, highlighted the positive experience of partnership working between local authorities and multiple faith groups, especially churches, during the pandemic. ‘The aspects particularly mentioned by local authorities were faith groups’ ability to add value to partnerships through their longstanding presence in local communities, their ability to access hard to reach groups, providing a pool of volunteer resources, and acting as a source of local leadership.’
 
Many of the church leaders, we heard from, have already identified areas of increased need and new needs within their community and are already making plans on how to meet them. Common keys areas are around mental health, debt and food poverty.
 
What we found, all shows the potential of local places of worship for people of all faiths and none to play a key role in the recovery of communities. As the report says, ‘they can act as symbols of their community’s long-term survival while serving as local hubs for social care, practical support and centres for a wide range of activities which deliver community cohesion and stronger communities’.
 
As one church leader, based in one of the most deprived parishes in the country, said ‘We know that the impact of what has happened is going to roll on for years, and it's going to affect our communities and the people we know, massively. We're going to be picking up a lot of the pieces for ages. And it might just feel like it’s been forgotten. But, it’s those organisations that are on the ground, like churches, that see people face-to-face all the time, and people will still come for support and will still need food and our parish church is committed to the community always.

The report strongly recommends that this summer is used as a time for consultation with grassroots practitioners and communication of the latest scientific guidance, so churches can stay open safely and maximise their contribution to recovery and wellbeing, even in the event of further waves of virus transmission. 
 
You can read the whole report here https://churchesandcovid.org/report

References
House of Good: research looking into the social and economic benefits that churches provide to local communities and to the UK more generally, National Churches Trust, October 2020. https://www.houseofgood.nationalchurchestrust.org/ 

Faith and Society: Keeping the Faith Partnerships between faith groups and local authorities The All Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society, November 2020.
https://www.faithandsociety.org/news/2021/02/recent-appg-report-and-faith-covenant-both-endorsed-in-parliamentary-debate/ 

Becky Payne is a freelance consultant and Development Officer at the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance (Heritage Alliance).

Post by Becky Payne

A big part of our work in EDP has been to research completed cases of repairs and adaptations to historic faith buildings and identify key themes and tales of caution and inspiration. The two documents prepared by Becky Payne below present the cases of Saint Thomas, Pear Street in Derby and  Saints Peter, Paul & Philomena in Merseyside.

St Thomas, Pear Street, Derby
This was a grade II church which prior to 2011 was facing permanent closure owing to the dwindling congregation and a building with very serious repairs issues. A new incumbent grasped a vision of rescuing St Thomas’ Church and bringing it back as a place of worship and a centre for community outreach in a deprived area of Derby. How they approached their engagement with the local community was imaginative and inspiring. They have achieved so much, but it has already taken 9 years and they are still working on it. 

Download the short case study

Ss. Peter, Paul & Philomena, New Brighton, Merseyside
This church is known as the ‘Dome of Home’ given its nickname by seamen returning to Liverpool during the Second World War who when, they saw its striking copper dome from the Mersey, knew they had reached home. Closed in 2008 when the building had fallen into severe disrepair, it started its journey to full restoration and re-opening as a place of worship, when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury set up a full repair lease with The Institute of Christ the King in 2011, to reopen the church as a Roman Catholic Shrine.  It has taken 9 years, and 4 grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to achieve this and importantly the leadership of one determined woman who has led a team of volunteers through the development and implementation of a range of community engagement and activities.

Download the short case study

post by Sophia de Sousa and Katerina Alexiou

On 12 February, 2020, The Empowering Design Practices research team gathered with partners and community collaborators, colleagues, funders and friends to celebrate five years of research exploring community leadership in design within the context of historic places of worship. This was a day to share learning and the resources produced by the research team, to celebrate community achievements and to explore the potential, opportunities and challenges that these buildings, and their custodians, face in providing welcoming spaces for their whole community.

The project's celebratory conference and exhibition, Empowering Design Practices LIVE was held at St Paul's in Hammersmith, a wonderful example of a church that has reinvented itself and transformed its building and offer to the community. The event was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the wide range of people and organisations that engaged with the project to reflect on work we have done together and to generate ideas and propositions for the future.

The day kicked off with an overview of the project and our key learning points and recommendations, based on our experience of collaborating with over 50 places of worship around the country, as well as professionals and support bodies that work with them. This was a moment to reflect on the specialness of historic places of worship as buildings, and on the custodians tasked with looking after and unleashing the potential in these buildings. Through a design lens, we explored how community leadership, partnership working and effective community engagement can help ensure the long-term sustainability of these buildings, and help support local networks, community development and the life and vibrancy of these much-valued sacred heritage buildings.   

The morning also included a panel discussion of various partners briefly sharing their key reflections and learning points, from the perspective of the organisations and sectors they represent. A key message that came through, articulated brilliantly by Historic England’s Head of Places of Worship and Owners Advice, Diana Evans, was that engagement in design is important, it requires support and capacity building, but it can also be great fun, a space to build confidence and a frame in which important connections, friendships and partnerships can be formed. 

The rest of the day included both panel discussions  and interactive workshop sessions.

Our first panel of invited speakers was made up of representatives of community-led design projects at various points on their journey. Revd Canon Caroline Dick and Churchwarden David Wilcox from St Michael and All Angels, Whitton Gilbert spoke about their Breathing Space project, and the importance of a vision being greater than simply the reordering of the church. They stressed the importance of talking to people, and bringing them with you on a journey to which each person and organisation can contribute in their own way. 

Revd Simon Lockett from St Peter’s Church, Peterchurch spoke of the need to form partnerships, and the importance of being willing to experiment and if necessary, to change direction of travel in response to changing circumstances. He stressed the importance of high quality and values-driven design, and that this can be achieved with varying budgets. 

Revd Geoffrey Eze from All Saints Church, Hanley spoke of the creation of a new enclosed space within their church, and the importance of changes to a building being catalytic, enabling new partnerships and new ways to serve the community as well as the congregation. 

And finally, Adam Yusuf, Chair of Israac Somali Community Association in Sheffield, spoke of the group’s collaboration with the EDP research project, and with The University of Sheffield. These helped grow the e group’s awareness and appreciation for their building as an entity with its own history and identity, and realise the role that design can play in creating opportunities for the building to serve their community objectives. He also spoke of the importance of connecting with other groups taking on similar projects to transform their buildings, and how much they could learn from each other.  

Our panel of professional speakers was tasked with presenting brief provocations from the perspective of an architect, a support officer and a researcher, which then led us into a plenary discussion with the room. 

Some challenging questions and propositions were put to the room: Aidan Potter, Partner at John McAslan Architects quoted Jane Jacobs’ famous words, “Old buildings need new ideas” and challenged the room to be bold in our thinking about what is possible in places of worship. He also reminded us that the design for these buildings has to be a collective endeavour, with the architect simply one element of a complex and collaborative design process. Architect and researcher Nevine Nasser spoke of the relationship between sacred space and sacred experience, and reminded us that faith buildings must integrate into the society that surrounds them. Perhaps the most challenging provocation came from Wendy Coombey, Community Partnership & Development Officer at the Diocese of Hereford, who reminded us that these buildings must be at the service of people, and not the other way around. She asked what would happen if the custodians of these complex listed buildings facing the challenge of innovation and sustainability, simply decided to give the buildings back and opt for alternative spaces to gather and worship.

The exhibition offered a snapshot of the project, with key information and statistics about the activities and groups with which we have collaborated. It also included a section which introduced the wide spectrum of practical resources developed throughout the project and artefacts from public engagement  activities and live student projects. The resources on offer for people to explore and take away included interactive websites Explore Design: community buildings, A Design Thinking Guide, as well as freely downloadable materials such as our Design Project Stories and our series of Designing Places with People booklets, on engaging communities in the design process. The exhibition also introduced emerging resources on working with architects, key topics for consideration when setting off on a project to transform a place of worship, and an online course on community leadership in design. 

We also shared a series of films produced within the project, which include inspiring stories of community engagement in design, a practical resource on using digital media as a design engagement tool, and films capturing our Design Training, a workshop on developing a shared purpose, and related projects Prototyping Utopias and Tate Exchange.

Finally, the exhibition space included a policy corner which invited participants to record thoughts and recommendations about four key questions. Here is a small taster of the ideas that emerged:

How do we connect heritage buildings with the broader context of placemaking? 

• Build links with wider, existing place making strategies locally and nationally to create a cohesive approach. 
• Identify within local planning policy that S106 (CIL) can go towards the reuse of heritage buildings for community/ services/ etc. 

How do we champion and enable community engagement in design decision-making? 

• By showing the local community that changing our buildings will lead to more meaningful resources for the community. 
• By funders encouraging this approach as a precursor to investment, to secure more sustainable projects. A release of funds for project development? 
• By ensuring that they are engaged in the process from the start and listening to them. Solutions shouldn’t be imposed in a top-down approach. ​

How do we raise awareness of the value of historic places of worship in the local economy/ society? 

• Collect feedback from community users and congregations, encourage councils to read it! 
• By not holding up historic places simply as places of beauty but also as useful spaces that can benefit the local community. ​

How do we build capacity for community leadership in the design and adaptation of places of worship? 

• Partnerships with local government and councils for voluntary services.
• Training faith leaders. Central web-based resources, including a list of faith leaders willing to advise others. 
• If owners + funders realised a vital first step was capacity building (if assets are to be protected) they would prioritise this as a first step. You wouldn’t build a house without paying for a land survey first. 

The event offered opportunities for people to engage practically with some of the project’s methods aiming to facilitate collaborative exploration of issues and ideas and the generation of ideas for future actions.

The first workshop of the day (which ran in parallel to the community presentations) brought people together to explore the challenges, assets and opportunities that arise in the efforts to unlock and enhance the potential of historic religious buildings as places of community value. Participants worked in groups to map and connect their ideas about the barriers they face, but also the assets they have (their skills, resources, support) and to collectively come up with suggestions for future actions or processes. Here are some of their suggestions:

• Feeding grassroots knowledge (and longevity and connections) of faith buildings to governance - spreading awareness of Taylor Report
• Creatively connecting communities to construct and share knowledge and ownership 
• Investigate partnerships with local agencies, local councillors, voluntary organisations, local groups and local activities
• Build networks
• Challenge the church establishment to be more radical about what churches can be

The final activity of the day brought everybody together to co-create ideas for possible future collaborations, actions, projects or networks. This ‘cross-pollination’ workshop focused in particular on exploring ways to enable custodians of places of worship to shape the future of their buildings, and the suggestions generated during the morning workshop were brought to bear on people’s thinking. Participants put on the table their resources, current projects and aspirations and explored synergies, connections and new ideas. A champion from each table then moved around to other tables to pitch their ideas and garner further support. At the end of a long day, it was heartening to see the unwilting enthusiasm with which everyone continued to share their knowledge, experience and goodwill to help build capacity in community-led design and support and strengthen communities around historic places of worship.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the day, and shared their stories, reflections and ideas for the future. It is clear that there was fantastic energy and momentum in the room, and that there is much we can do together looking forward.

​by Stephen Smith, Partner at Wright & Wright Architects LLP

Post by Emma Newman.

​On Saturday May 12th, EDP supported Bow Church to host ‘Bow Moves’ – a community event exploring potential uses of their building. The afternoon explored the possibility of forming new connections with local organisations and businesses, prompting them with the question “What would you do with this space?”

The competition format helped test the appetite for Bow Church as a venue to hire, gain insight into the limitations of the space, and encourage groups to explore new activities that can serve the community. Once the applications came in, EDP helped Bow Church select two winners. In the end, Bow Church hosted Angelique Sinclaire’s Latin Dance and Vera’s Karate Academy for a day themed around fitness and physical activity. On top of that, an arts and crafts station was set up where participants could decorate images of the church.

As an intern at the Glass-House, this event was a great opportunity to experience what community engagement looks like. Over the past couple weeks of my internship, I have participated in conversations about the Bow Church project, and community engagement in general. I found that attending this event was an invaluable experience, allowing me to put faces to everyone involved in the project and have meaningful conversations with community members.

The event attracted churchgoers, regular Latin dance and karate club attendees as well as curious passers-by. It was thrilling to see all these groups come together, chat over tea and cake and share the space. All were enthusiastic to see the church being put to use in such novel ways.

The classes were a great success, and the event scaled up significantly throughout the day with a steady influx of people.

Thanks to movable chairs, it was possible to open a large open space in the centre of the nave. Both activities were easy to set up so the transition between the two classes happened seamlessly - a testament to the multi-use potential of the space.

Participants responded well to the day overall and gave constructive written feedback at the end of the event. These included: “Very enjoyable afternoon. Certainly would attend again”, “It was great having the arts and crafts as well as both classes. More please!.” These responses were very encouraging and confirmed that Bow Church’s efforts to put their space to new uses are headed in the right direction. A regular church goer commented that they never would have tried this sort of class anywhere else. Whilst we often consider how fresh uses can bring new people into a building, it’s worth contemplating how enabling a building to thrive with new activity can enable new opportunities for regular users of the space too.

Participants also suggested other activities that Bow Church could host. Art, music, pilates, reading groups, knitting and language classes were all brought up as activities they would like to see happen at the church. Some local residents were inspired by events at other churches they had attended and saw how those ideas could be translated to Bow Church.

Constructive criticism, such as “more open space to dance,” “café,” “another toilet,” “heating,” was invaluable feedback for the church’s ongoing renovation work. This was especially relevant to them when considering how to enable a variety of activities to ensure their church stays relevant and useful to the community.  

Overall, ‘Bow Moves’ was a heart-warming event, holding much promise for future use of Bow Church. It was fantastic to witness the connections people made to the church and to each other.

Emma Newman is a summer intern with the Glass-House Community Led Design.

post by Katerina Alexiou

The EDP team was recently in Birmingham delivering a workshop on engaging communities in design decision-making. The workshop aimed to explore what community engagement in design means and why it is important, but also share best practice tips and resources to support those working on design projects in historic places of worship. We were fortunate to have a rich mix of participants on the day, community members as well as professionals who support such projects: architects, development officers, members of dioceses and funders.

In the first part of the workshop, we had invited speakers from two projects who successfully and creatively engaged with their communities, to re-imagine and re-develop their buildings. Rev Jane Lees and Andrew Smith, from St Luke’s Church in Oxford, talked about the experience of their Big Project, completed in 2014, which saw their church transformed into a space that effectively serves worshiping needs alongside offering a variety of activities and services for the wider local community. Clare de Bathe, from Chichester Community Development Trust told the story of how the development of the Graylingwell Chapel started, and how the community engagement process was organised to ensure that the plans take into consideration the needs and aspirations of the local community. The two presentations gave an interesting perspective on the different starting points and different end points in terms of design decisions that projects can have, but also revealed many commonalities in terms of methods and approach to community engagement. Both made some important points about keeping engagement going throughout the life of a project and being open to the input of people in the community.

We also shared some of our own observations and research findings and facilitated a workshop session on developing an engagement strategy, as well as a number of taster sessions introducing resources and tools to help with different aspects of the process, from how to use digital media in your design project, to how to structure your thinking and how to collect evidence from community engagement activities.

The film created on the day, is an exploration of what community engagement means from the perspectives of the participants, and also gives a feel of the event and its impact.
Click here to view the film on our youtube channel.
 
The event was also an opportunity to share a set of new resources. The resources are meant primarily for groups looking after historic places of worship, but can indeed be useful for any group thinking to embark in a design project, as well as design professionals. More resources are under development. We invite everyone to have a look, try out the materials and tools offered, pick and choose, adapt or expand them and share them in their networks. Our only request is to come back and talk to us about your experiences! Check out http://www.empoweringdesign.net/edp-resources.html

A version of this blog was published in the Design@Open blog, available here.

post by Vera Hale

On a rainy 16th of January 2019, EDP set up for a study tour that was hosted by the church of St Matthews and St James in Mossley Hill, Liverpool. The church is a grade II listed hilltop church on Rose Lane, that has undergone substantial refurbishment and renovation over the last few years, even winning an award for their re-ordering project. The hosted study tour at St Matthews and St James focused on the experience from the steering group during the engagement and the design process. Our main host for the day was David Bishop.

The main reason Mossley Hill Church wanted to reorder their place of worship was that they were looking at their long term future. Their key motivation was to stay open and increase their reach in the neighbourhood, but it was clear that they needed to start generating an income to pay for the maintenance of the building’s fabric. This led to their 2011 Vision Project, looking at the economic, environmental and social sustainable future of the building, with two areas of focus: the congregation and the wider community.

It took till 2016 (five years) before building works could start. During this period, as David described it, they did ‘1001 presentations’ for the congregation, faculty and the wider community, to help engage and involve all the possible stakeholders in the design and development process. This increased awareness, and generated funding and support along the way. It was hard to work with sub groups in the Vision Project as volunteers’ time was inconsistent, therefore the steering group of eight covered most of the workload. Consistency and communication within the steering group was key, as was David’s leadership.

They faced and dealt with various difficulties during this period. They needed to go through multiple iterations at pre-planning stage to satisfy planners and Historic England requirements. Removing the pews was the biggest problem. Lots of people were against this idea during the process, however at planning only five written objections were submitted. The pews were not original and only installed after the war, when the church suffered significant bombing damage and had to be rebuilt. The pews were eventually upcycled by a local carpenter and made into two or three seater benches that were sold to raise funds and now have a new life in the homes of many of the congregants. The rest of the timber from the pews was made into tables, a cross and other furniture for the church’s new interior.

As the church was not eligible for HLF funding they approached the development as a phased built to spread costs. They didn’t want to start until 100% of the funding was secured even though Faculty is granted when 90% of the finance is in place. Due to a legacy and the sale of the old rectory on a neighbouring plot they managed to get funding in place to do the main refurbishment; renewing the nursery space to Ofsted outstanding level, creating a new kitchen and cafe area and reconfiguring the ceremonial west entrance to house toilets, a pantry and AV hub. In future they want to glaze the West entrance doors and reconfigure the drive and outside of the church.

They shared a few tips regarding funding as it is one of the main issues for many of the participants on our study tours. Getting funding early, to conduct a feasibility study, is important to understand what requirements and goals for the project and further funding. But of course fundraising is a job in itself. Another important aspect is understanding when it the right time to approach HLF or other grant bodies and understanding the different conditions, timing and themes each scheme covers. Another tip from David and Brian was to try to get the best with the finance available, spending as much as possible to make things last and be fit for purpose. For example they chose high quality seating, tested and selected by the congregants during multiple engagement activities, so they would be easy to stack, hard wearing, comfortable and would not tip backwards.

The church was able to house existing users in their adjacent nursery during the build phase, which lead to a new dynamic that benefited the church. People saw what was happening to the building, and developed a feeling of kinship and alignment to the changes. Due to the temporary arrangement of space the church also had to change some of their worshipping rituals, which brought an increase in congregation. The traditional service, became a mixed service with the children being part of the worship instead of going to the ancillary space at the back of the nave. The change and the shortening of the family service has seen an increase in attending children and their families from 25 children to 90 on Sundays.

The church takes pride in the fact that during and after the build no one left the congregation - even those that had objected to Faculty stayed and realised what the Vision Project was trying to achieve. The whole building process benefited the church by opening up to the community. As David stated at the end of the tour, the key to the consultation process is taking people with you.

Through the duration of the Empowering Design Project we have collaborated with Live Works in Sheffield. They are part of the University of Sheffield’s ‘Civic University’ strategy and are embedded in the Sheffield School of Architecture. Each start of term Live Works facilitates a six week program called ‘Live Projects’, where postgraduate students work with community clients to assist them with their design project.

In October 2018, we asked one of our Design Training attendees, St Michael’s, also known as Byker Church in Newcastle, if they wanted to be part of the live projects program. Empowering Design Practices took on the nominal costs for partaking in program, and members of the team went to Sheffield to speak to all the live project students on Engagement in Design. We also had several face-to-face and skype meetings with the group that was assigned to St Michael’s church to provide support and advice about design engagement activities.

Below is a blog by the students that worked with St Michael’s talking about their experience. You can also read about their work on the Live Projects website.

For more about EDP's work with Live Projects see here.

OUR ROLE
Located on the edge of Newcastle’s famous Byker Wall, St Michael’s Church had laid empty for over a decade and hence services have been held in the nearby former bakery unit. Its rundown state forced the church community to erect a tent inside the building for shelter, where they have been temporarily worshipping. They have now been awarded a £147,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with most of the money aimed at fixing the leaking roof. Our role was to help the church community to receive further funding for the church’s regeneration, to allow for its long-term utilisation, hoping to make it a self-sufficient building.

DESIGN PROCESS
Our design process was iterative throughout the course of the six weeks. We developed the motto: “Designed with you…for you”. This describes the aim of our project, which was to work collaboratively with all parties involved. Given the community-focused ethos of our proposal, it was essential that every major move, from early brief development through design proposals was a direct result of interacting with the church community. This posed a significant challenge associated with costs. In order for us to achieve a community-led design approach, we needed to visit Newcastle multiple times, and needed additional funding from Empowering Design Practices, who kindly facilitated our request. As a result, we managed to visit the site 5 times over the 6 weeks duration of the project. Without the support of EDP, could not have achieved to interact weekly with the congregation and vicar. These were however crucial in gaining community feedback and helping to shape our design development.

ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
The workshops involved design brief testing, a design workshop, a design and craft workshop and a final, interactive community presentation, using virtual reality. We regularly consulted with EDP before these workshops which helped us to prepare specific engagement approaches, such as listening to ‘side-talk’ and truly, yet sensitively observing the community. In between the workshops, we progressed the design following the feedback from the community and client. The community engagement process created a collaborative design approach which became particularly inspiring.
Below, you may read a brief summary of each of these visits:

1st Visit : BRIEF DEVELOPMENT familiarising ourselves with the site / developing our brief

• Our first site visit was about meeting the clients and understanding the unique qualities of the Byker scheme and recognising the hidden potential of the church.
• We developed our brief informed by this visit.

2nd Visit: TESTING THE BRIEF Testing the brief we developed

• During our second visit, we attended a Sunday worship and a community meal to test our brief and understand the congregation’s needs.
• This informed us that our proposal at the time was too focused on the community aspects and did not prioritise the Christian ethos enough. As a result, we restructured our brief to respond to the feedback.

3rd Visit: design – focused workshop

• In the third visit, we discussed design options with the client.
• We organised community-led design activities, allowing the girls’ group, who are regular church users, to think about the future program of the church. This craft-making workshop used the physical model as the basis for creating conversations around the church's future through the kids' eyes.

4th Visit: design meeting + craft workshop

• Our fourth visit took place during the Youth Club, which the church regularly hosts each Wednesday. The workshop was with younger children, where they painted on acrylic panels. These mimic stained glass, and were going to form our proposed partition elements in the church, providing the children of Byker with a sense of ownership for the future of the church
• We also presented three design proposals to the client and received detailed feedback concerning spatial aesthetics and relationships.

5th Visit: Interactive presentation

• We held an interactive presentation during our final visit, using VR to help the community truly understand and experience our design proposal. The presentation was met with a lot of enthusiasm and attention, especially from children.
• The way our project ideas have evolved over the 5 workshops is a direct reflection of the community’s influence.
• Met with the church architect to discuss the current project, which will become a tool to secure future funding for realising the church’s vision.

DESIGN OUTCOME
Our design is the materialisation of a collaborative design process between us, the client and the church users. Given the church’s grade II listed status, it was vital for our design to be non-intrusive and reversible. According to our client, Rev. Phil Medley, our proposal was creative, yet “truly attainable”, as we managed to “really listen to what the community had to say”.  

Although we are very proud of the physical outcome of our Live Project, we truly believe that the success of the project lies in its ability of changing the Byker community’s perception of the church. Upon our first arrival, we were introduced to a church with multiple problems, whose community struggled with envisaging its true potential. We believe that our Live Project provides the community with a sense of optimism about the church’s future through offering realistic and affordable design interventions. Ultimately, we hope that our proposal will actually make a change in the Byker community, and help the church receive future funding.

GENERAL REFLECTION
The opportunity to work with a live client was invaluable as it allowed us students, to take initiative to create a positive change. The experience also provided an opportunity to explore aspects that are not always encountered in practice such as community engagement and participation. The Vicar was most kind and consistently provided detailed feedback concerning the spatial aesthetics and relationships throughout the six-week period. By the end of the six weeks, we felt that the design gave the Vicar a sense of achievability. Additionally, working with EDP supported our work immensely due to their research within the field and advice with how to progress most effectively with the community. Overall, the live project was a truly rewarding and memorable experience.

Blog post by Fanni Csepeli, Nikola Yanev and Alexandra Earland

​As part of our series of Design Studio workshops, we ran a gaming workshop for a group of Year 5 school children from St Mark’s Church of England Primary School in North London. The workshop was co-designed and co-facilitated with  Dexter and Isabella, Year 6 students from schools in East London.

​The aim of the workshop was to explore the role children can play in collaborative design, as well as introducing the group to architectural concepts and allowing them to experiment with making spaces using the online multiplayer building game, Roblox. We were hosted by Brickworks Community Centre in Islington, a fantastic space that was opened earlier this year and provides a wide range of facilities for the local area.

Roblox allows users to design their own environments, play in worlds created by other players, and chat to each other. In a similar way to Minecraft, each player has an avatar, and can use shapes to build 3D models. The F3X building tools in Roblox are refined and give users a lot of control, with a similar interface to advanced game creation programmes.

For practical support with gaming tools and navigation, Dexter and Isabella were on hand to give demos on the projector. As keen gamers themselves, they had experience with some of the challenges new players might run into.

After a short presentation about qualities of spaces and the way architecture can make you feel, we asked everyone to get stuck in designing their own churches as a warm up. It was fascinating to see the different approaches each gamer took, as some built walls around the edge of their baseplate, whilst others started in the middle and had a clear strategy for the spatial experience they wanted to create. After time was up, we went on a virtual tour of everyone’s churches and discussed the various outcomes. It was clear how much had been thought about, and comments like ‘this ceiling feels too low, it needs to be higher’ showed how quickly the students were engaging with complicated themes and iterating their designs.

After lunch, everyone got into groups of 3 or 4 to co-design a community building of their choice. They were given a site in the town which had been  built by Dexter and Isabella, featuring different types of buildings and roads to provide context. One group chose to make an airport as they thought of it as a social place where people come back together, as well as being somewhere that is often boring for children to experience. They designed a large and brightly coloured interior for their airport, and even started building a plane outside on the runway. ​

Another group designed a sports pitch, featuring a food kiosk and an intricate indoor play area for younger children to stay and play. The swimming pool project was one of the most complete examples, and the team worked well together to divide tasks and make several different rooms, including a pool with a group of diving boards and changing rooms. The team designing the cinema were interested in how they could use light and colour to make their interior more interesting, and to draw people into the building from the outside.

After the main challenge, we asked each group to present their work and explain some of their design decisions before the parents arrived for feedback. Rio said he enjoyed the exploratory nature of the session, as it was ‘good to be creative and play around without an aim’. Jessica got into the swing of things, and noted how it is ‘fun to design buildings’. The format of the workshop was a bit of an experiment for us, given the practicalities of the Roblox platform and number of students (and laptops) in the session, but the outcome was an encouraging success. It was brilliant to see the students engaging with complex design problems and enjoying the opportunity to be creative.

When asked about his experience co-designing the workshop and helping to facilitate, Dexter noted how good it was to have both children and adults taking on that role. He said: ‘even though I didn’t completely teach the whole workshop, I did manage to do a bit and I got to help others. That was a really nice feeling, and the day was really fun. I think most students would enjoy this workshop. We’re getting to play Roblox, but it’s teaching us about design through a game. ’ Isabella said: ‘we understand it a lot better than adults so it's easier to learn it from us. Also, it's more interesting and exciting because it's different from the normal thing of an adult standing there teaching. The children think if we can do it and enjoy doing it, then they can too!’

She also noted, ‘It was really interesting to stop and think about the places we use and to realise that they could have been designed differently, not just to accept that this is how it is’.

The design priorities children placed on the spaces they designed  might not have been obvious to adults, making clear the importance of including people of all ages in the conversation about places. The speed with which the children picked up and used the F3X tool, encouraged us that gaming could provide an inclusive and empowering way to bring children into community dialogue about shaping their buildings and spaces. We hope students left the day with some new concepts to think about as well as an understanding of  the benefits (and challenges) of working collaboratively. It was encouraging to hear some children expressing an inspiration to become designers in the future - there were definitely some budding architects in the room!

With thanks to St Mark’s Church of England Primary School  and particularly the Deputy Headteacher Matthew Jones for helping us organise the day.