glass house workshop report

8/8/2019 Glass House Workshop Report

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Wards Corner Workshop16th & 17th May 2008

East

Architecture, landscapeurban design

49-59 Old Street

London EC1V 9HXwww.east.uk.comT 020 7490 3190

F 020 7490 3290E [email protected]


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Wards Corner Workshop

Workshop Participants

Elize TruterMaurice CowleyWendy KeenanCandy Amsden

Roy Jose

Sue PennyRuth Allen

David WilliamsAlison ArmourSara HallPam Isherwood

Maurice CowleyVictoria AlvarezRaul Mancer

Nutan J Valero-MarcetRicardo PelayoRita JonesManuel

Mrs PatelMital PatelLaguIsidoros Diakides

Tanjou MehemedovaRobert HamilMichael Corr

Dann JessenSally WoodDavid Scrivener


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Wards Corner Workshop

Overview Workshop Report 4

Introduction 5

Day One 6Stakeholders 6

Urban Design Case Studies 7Whitecross Street 8Spitalfields 9

Wards Corner Visit 10Documentary 11

Day Two 12Documentary Review 13

Shared Vision 18Modelmaking Workshop 19

Summary of Workshop & Next Steps 24

Contents


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Wards Corner Workshop4

Introduction

Background

The report begins with a brief overview of thebackground and purpose of the workshop.

The report is subdivided into a number ofsections:

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Day Two

Review outcomes from Day One & Documentary

Critical analysis of information documented byworkshop participants.

Shared VisionGenerating ideas and establishing a shared visionand approach to Wards Corner and its surrounds.

Modelmaking WorkshopBringing form to ideas of a shared vision and

physical testing of proposals. Presentation andcritique of proposals.

Summary of Workshop & Next StepsSummary of outcomes of the workshop and ideas

for next steps.

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Overview Workshop Report

Day One

Stakeholders

Review of the key stakeholders

Urban Design Case Studies

Establish key urban design issues with specificreference to two case study examples.

Wards Corner Visit

Visit to the Edwardian department store located atWards Corner.

DocumentaryA documentary of Wards Corner and its surroundsby the workshop participants.

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Wards Corner Workshop 5

Introduction

Background

Wards Corner is located next to Seven Sisters

station at the junction of West Green Road, SevenSisters Road, High Road and Suffield Road SouthTottenham in the London Borough of Haringey.

East

The role of East in this process was to facilitate

and guide ideas by imparting knowledge of designand regeneration attained through experiencein practice and provide a report recording the

process and presenting the key outcomes.

The Glass House

In May 2008 The Glass-House commissioned

East architecture, landscape, urban design toprovide a two day design workshop for the WardsCorner Coalition of traders, community groups and

residents of Wards Corner at Seven Sisters.

The purpose of the workshop was to enable thecoalition to develop their understanding of the

complex issues surrounding this rich corner ofLondon and provide a forum to test their ideas and

ambitions for the place.

The Wards Corner Coalition was established todevelop a proposal for a sustainable development

of Wards Corner that builds on its exceptionallocation, spatial qualities and role in the localcommunity.


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Day One

Stakeholders

To begin the workshop the participants of the

workshop were asked to introduce themselvesand explain their background/involvement in theworkshop and a list of the key stakeholders was

compiled.

Sustainable Haringey

Tottenham Civic Society(TCS)CARA

FOELiving Streets HaringeyTransport for LondonCivic Society

Neighbourhood AssemblyConservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC)

Friends of the Earth Shop Local

Stakeholders

Haringey Residents

Market TradersSeven Sisters Traders Assoc Colombian TradersPueblito Paisa

FARAPedro Achata TrustRicardo Pelayo ArchitectsWest Green Road Shopkeepers

Seven Sisters TradersHaringey Council

GraingerNDCWCC


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Urban Design Case Studies

Regeneration is an over used word and the resultis often generic without a sense of place.

In this section of the workshop two areas of

London were compared, Whitecross Steetand Spitalfields. Both areas have establishedmarkets and both have recently undergone a

transformation with differing degrees of success.The purpose of this part of the workshop was toprobe our collective understanding of what makessuccessful regeneration and provides a sense of

place.

The workshop participants were not asked torate the case studies in terms of good and bad

regeneration but to consider the case studiesin relation to ways in which change might beachieved in respect to Wards Corner.


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Whitecross Street

Whitecross Street is a vibrant street in EastLondon with a busy market, a variety of bespokecafes, eateries, bars, shops with housing and

businesses above. In many ways the area hassomething for everyone. Photographs clearlydemonstrate that there is a wide cross section ofthe community doing different activities.

In many ways it is not obvious how the area has

been regenerated. However the combination ofsubtle adjustments in the public realm and newinvestment that works with the established markethas resulted in a place that is used by all sectionsof the community at all times of the day or night.

The participants of the workshop were invited toconsider these issues in relation to Wards Corner.


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Spitalfields

Old Spitalfields Market or Spitalfields as it iscommonly known has a long established marketdating back to the 17th Century. In recent years

the area has undergone a massive transformationwith significant financial investment. There hasbeen wholesale change with the construction ofnew glass and steel buildings, new large expanses

of open paved public areas and the influx of highstreet chains. In many ways the new area bares

little resemblance to the place that existed prior toit having been regenerated.

Photographs taken recently show a lack of activityduring the day and research indicates that the

area is at its most busy at lunch time when thearea is occupied by city workers having lunch.


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Wards Corner Site Visit

Together we visited the Wards Department

store from where the area gets its name. Thedepartment store was built in 1900 by the Wardsbrothers and it closed down in the 1970s due to

financial difficulties, most of the buildings wereboarded up, but the ground floor of the mainbuilding was kept open and the Seven SistersMarket has been trading there for several years.


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Documentary

Making a documentary of a place is not a neutralactivity and requires critical decision making aboutwhat is recorded and what is not.

The workshop participants were asked todocument what was special about Wards Corneras a means to explaining this to someone who

does not know the area and be able to develop avision and proposals that build on these existing

qualities.

As a first step the workshop participants wereshown examples of a number of successfulways of documenting places as a means of

demonstrating how similar techniques could beused when visiting the Wards Corner site.


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Documentary

The next step was to divide the workshop

participants into groups and each group wastasked with looking at a particular specific area ofWards Corner.

The groups were divided by area as follows:

* Inside Market

* Street Edge of Market* West Green Road

* Back of Market Area* High Road

Each group was provided with a camera andasked to take no more than five photographs of

their allocated area. The participants were askedto think carefully about the photographs, to decidewhat they wanted to record and to be able explain

the reasoning behind the photograph when thesewere reviewed following completion of the task.

Each group was also asked to undertake

interviews with the public in their allocated areaand to ask the interviewees what they consideredto be special about the area. The participants were

asked to make a careful and detailed record of theinterview and the exchange.


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Documentary - Review

Day two of the workshop commenced with a

review of the documentary information thatthe participants had gathered during day oneand each group was asked to present their

documentary photographs and their interviews.

Day Two

Inside Market - Interviews

this is a diverse community space

there is a variety of services together

too many people dont know about the market

this is where they get their daily life

Inside Market - Selection of Photographs


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High Road Edge of Market - Interviews

meet my friend here two or three times a week to

have a coffee

just popped in on my way back to get something

special

my best time of my life here 9 years

the everything shop

High Road Edge of Market - Photographs


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West Green Road - Interviews

looking for dates and spices for specialities

use the shops because of nice owners, niceatmosphere

prefer smaller shops can get everything in smallshops

spend a long time gossiping in west green road

West Green Road - Photographs


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Back of Market Area - Interviews

the space gets filled with cars

it could be more organised

delivery access to the market

more green space

Back of Market Area - Photographs


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High Road - Interviews

it is a wide space

from the street you cannot see the market

near the station people are always coming andgoing

you can get goods that are reasonably priced for

people that live in this area

think its a great place

High Road - Photographs


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Shared Vision

The documentary was successful and in a

short time made apparent a number of thecharacteristics special to Wards Corner.The documentary work was also useful as it raised

issues of dissatisfaction and highlighted areaswhere Wards Corner could be improved.

A number of shared principles had started to

emerge and as the next part of the workshopwould involve propositional model making

the participants were asked to reflect on thedocumentary work they had undertaken andconsider how the shared vision could be appliedand made into different proposals for change.


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Modelmaking Workshop

Workshop participants were once again subdivided

into groups and each group was provided with twosite plans at different scales and a range of modelmaking materials were made available.

The model workshop was an opportunity for theparticipants to bring form to all the ideas that hadbeen expressed through the workshop so far and

to test these ideas spatially.

Workshop tutors were on hand to assist with themodel making process but the participants wereencouraged to express themselves and theirideas.

Modelmaking Workshop

At the end of the modelmaking process each

group was asked to give their project proposals aname, present their model and explain in detail theideas behind it.

The workshop document presents an overviewof the ideas behind each model together with aselection of photographs.


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Model One - Wards Community Centre

Vision

Provide a community centre - a socialinvestmentYouth provision

Workshops for people to develop skillsWork with the building that is thereProvide a garden space & cafe that opens outto the back, make it safer, a place to play

Use the roof for solar panels a restaurant ontop

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Model Two - A Day Out

Vision

Wards Corner a place to visit for a day outArrive into an exciting place, a community spaceDifferent uses at day and at night

Sensory gardenA place for weddings, a destinationFamily housing aboveA real gateway

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Model Three - Gateway

Vision

Bridge Wards Corner and the Apex sitesCar parking on Apex and access to the MarketA green internal space and a green wall

Flags to show nationalities that use the areaGrow more treesSocial housingMarket to engage with the front space on High

Road open out

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Model Four - Light

Vision

Multi functionalCommunity spaceSocial interaction

A landmark cultural spacePedestrian back areaInviting space, invite people from outside inMix old and new buildings

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Model Five - Golden Gateway to the SevensSisters Wood

VisionArrive from the tube into a forest of trees all theway to the Town Hall and Tottenham Green

Open the market space to both front and backNew tall multi use tower with housing on the Apexsite pays for regeration of the local area anddevelopment of Wards Corner and Suffield Road

Buildings all connect with the public realm

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Model Six - My House

Vision

Open up the marketProvide a childrens parkMoving fabric flags like at the Southbank

A restaurant and a roof gardenYoung people a place to hang outA little museum where Queen Victoria used to stopUse the heat of the chimney from the tube

Link with the local community - our house

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Summary of Workshop

The forum of the workshop provided an

environment for the participants to discuss openlyand freely and over the two days demonstratedthat this method of working can achieve significantoutputs including:

The identification of Key Stakeholders, roles,responsibilities and relationships

A shared understanding of the complex issuesrelated to regenerationA detailed documentary of photos, interviews andsite analysis of Wards Corner and its surrounds

Ideas for a shared vision at Wards Corner

Six options for change at Wards Corner and theopportunity for a shared vision

The workshop forum was extremely successfulin that it and allowed the participants to worktogether to question and test their ideas in a spirit

of mutual trust and cooperation.

The outcomes of the documentary and themodel making workshop reflected a shared

vision and approach for change at Wards Cornerthat is inclusive, community focused and highlyaspirational.

Next Steps

The workshop is not intended as an end goal in

itself but as part of an ongoing process. The mainobjectives of the workshop were to facilitate andchannel the ideas of the participants and throughcapacity building enable the participants to choose

the direction of future work.

The documentary, models and workshop

document are tools to aid the participants in thisongoing process and to direct further discussionwith the range of stakeholders identified at thebeginning of the workshop.

Summary of Workshop & Next Steps

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glass house workshop report

Documents