Placemaking Education’s Post

The Courthouse Shared Space Creative Hub in Bushmills, designed by Hamilton Architects, has been officially opened, marking a significant milestone for community, creatives and entrepreneurs on the North Coast. Government Ministers Gordon Lyons (Communities) and Heather Humphreys (Rural Community Development) were joined at the launch by Gina McIntyre, CEO of SEUPB, and Jayne Taggart, CEO of Enterprise Causeway. Supported by the EU PEACEIV Programme, the refurbished Grade B1 Georgian listed building and 15,600sq ft three-storey extension in the heart of the village features retail shops, bistro, hospitality spaces and bespoke studios for makers and creatives. Read more on the opening here on our website: https://lnkd.in/eYsG3nEB

"Revitalized: Baytown Mall Transformed into Mixed-Use Development" Read the full article below..

Join HR&A Advisors Principal Jared H. Press at Placemaking Week for an insightful panel: Retrofitting Suburbia through Placemaking: How Prince George's County, Maryland is using a vision grounded in placemaking to drive equitable economic development along the Blue Line Corridor.     In 2020, HR&A Advisors, Design Collective, Inc., and Toole Design Group were commissioned by Prince George’s County to develop a long-range vision and implementation strategy for this 6-mile stretch along Central Avenue, served by four Metro stations. The vision aims to uplift and enhance the existing community and culture, rather than replacing it, fostering a sense of identity and commercial vibrancy.      Debuted in County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’s 2021 State of the County address, this vision has already secured over $475M in State funding and ignited private development activity. While the full realization of the Blue Line Corridor vision will take years, the early successes and lessons learned provide a valuable blueprint for other suburban jurisdictions aiming for equitable economic development.      Don't miss this opportunity to learn about driving equitable economic development through strategic placemaking!      #EconomicDevelopment #Placemaking #TOD #BlueLineCorridor #CommunityGrowth #EquitableDevelopment 

❓ Did you know that the number of Building Society branches has risen significantly since 2014, and is expected to continue on an upward trajectory? 🏦 Woodhurst’s Ben Nadel recently spoke at the Leeds Building Society Head Office, where he addressed the crucial role of Branches in community engagement and the transformation of Building Societies into Modern Mutuals. Off the back of this, in our latest blog post we see Ben Nadel and Maud Swanborough delve deeper into the future of branches and the strategies that can be put into place to optimise their community impact, something that the Building Societies Association recently called out as crucial for all Building Societies. 💡 Click on the link below to read our latest blog, where we highlight the need for a considered branch strategy that honours a Building Society’s clear vision, innovative technology, and their member-centric processes. ➡ https://lnkd.in/e_vr5v4i The fact that Building Societies are committed to branches showcases their mutual ethos and purpose-driven approach of wanting to do right by their members. At Woodhurst, we are committed to driving forward innovations that support both the high street and the communities we serve. #BranchStrategy #ModernMutual #BuildingSocieties

Earlier this month, Mellis Haward, Director at Archio, had the opportunity to speak at the 2024 UK Cohousing Network Summit. At Archio we are focused on creating a better quality of life for all. We collaborate with local authorities, cohousing groups, community land trusts, and work on large-scale housing strategies and retrofits. Some of our notable projects include Citizen House with London CLT, Angel Yard intergenerational cohousing in Norwich, and Phoenix Lewes hybrid cohousing with Human Nature. Our approach centres on working closely with communities. As Mellis put it during her presentation, this requires architects to “leave their ego at the door” and prioritise collaboration with future residents. In codesign and cohousing, architects help navigate pros, cons, and complexities to reach consensus on key decisions, such as common house placement, privacy levels, and sustainability goals. Archio has also produced two significant guides to support this work. 1.     We have worked with Greater London Authority on a guide to commissioning codesign. 2.     We have also produced the codesign, and retrofit codesign toolkits, where they share what are the principles of codesign and how they relate to cohousing. Some key principles mentioned: - Setting a clear process: Giving people agency to get involved, e.g., through a flowchart that outlines the process step by step. - Giving others the pen: Using experience mapping to understand their perspectives, e.g., block modelling. - Enabling representative and constructive conversations: Building diverse networks. - Facilitating decision-making: Using exercises like temperature checks or traffic light systems (like, dislike, maybe) or cost prioritisation workshops. - Empowering communities long-term: Sharing knowledge through templates. Working with Phoenix Cohousing on a potential site (Lewes case study), Mellis faced the question of how a community can manifest what they want if there is not yet a cohousing community. Therefore, they created a festival workshop to create interest and appetite for sharing living, and to have clear principles of shared living. Something to be very clear is that public engagement is not the same codesign. #codesign #cohousing

How can a single building contribute to a socially flourishing neighborhood? How can the way we design the physical support the social?   Here are some great ideas on how a single building can adopt a neighborhood approach: 1.       PLACE IDENTITY – Help strengthen the local culture and character of the area. 2.       DESIGN – Focus on human scale designs that encourage social connections and safety. 3.       FACILITIES – Provide services or spaces that meet unmet needs in the neighborhood. 4.       TARGET GROUP – Understand the neighborhood's population and how certain groups can benefit or drive positive change. 5.       SOCIAL SPACE – Make shared indoor and outdoor areas available for community gatherings and activities. 6.       GATHERING – Open up certain activities or spaces to the entire neighborhood to encourage social interaction. 7.       URBAN SYNERGIES – Work with local businesses to promote social responsibility and build community ties. 8.       NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD – If possible, create a network of property owners, the municipality, and residents to identify needs, share responsibility and coordinate common actions.   Thank you, to Neighborhood Lab and Ofri Earon for gathering this list. Great ideas that we can all use in different contexts. Robert Steuteville Mallory Baches AICP, LEED-AP, CNU-A Todd Hornback Erin K. Peavey Kevin Ervin Kelley, AIA Tim Tompkins Bart Mitchell Egbert Perry Frances Kraft Majora Carter Ethan Kent PlacemakingX Placemaking Education Madeleine Spencer Ryan Smolar Nathan Storring David Erickson David Edwards Carol Naughton Ron Ivey Sam Pressler #community #neighborhood #loneliness #urban #design #health

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The highly anticipated Medley project—a vibrant $1B town center development—is set to break ground next month! With over $500 million in financing now secured, Medley will bring new life to Johns Creek with shops, restaurants, offices, homes, green spaces, and entertainment venues. A transformative addition to the city, Medley is designed to be a walkable community hub. Read more with Urbanize Atlanta. https://hubs.ly/Q02Zbd340 #mixeduse #placemaking #entertainment

One building can spark positive change in an entire neighborhood! Thank you, Seth Kaplan for advocating for the neighborhood perspective, our engaging dialogue, and for sharing our thoughts. For us, #NeighborhoodMaking is an approach, rather than scale. It’s about seeing every element—whether a building, park, or street—as contributing to the neighborhood’s sense of belonging and identity. When these elements work together, they create social value that truly impacts where it matters most: our #neighborhoods, where we #live, raise our #children, and build our lives. #NeighborhoodMaking #SocialValue #NeighborhoodStrategies

🌟 Concept Culture was proud to support the LDN Collective's launch earlier this month of their new Engagement, Co-Design and Social Value offer together with ECF, edge Urban Design, Commonplace, You See Media, led by LDN Collective CEO Max Farrell.  A big thank you to our three key speakers, Oliver Deed, Hannah Smart, and Tim Ashwin, for sharing their perspectives on engagement, co-design, and social value.  After the presentations, the LDN Collective members including our Creative Director Tanisha Raffiuddin facilitated two engaging group workshops. Participants discussed key challenges and explored “what good looks like”, using two case studies - one involving a major urban regeneration, the other a smaller-scale public realm improvement. Key takeaways included the importance of listening to communities, empowering them, and meeting them where they are instead of expecting them to come to us. We left the event feeling inspired and optimistic about the future of the built environment sector. We were so inspired that we wrote a blog about it! 📝 If you missed the event or want to refresh your memory, check out our latest blog where we've compiled all the key messages from the event. Link to the blog in the comments. We’d love to hear your views. Please share them in the comments below. 📷: Lawrence Barraclough, You See Media  #urbanplanning #communityengagement #builtenvironment #smartcities #socialvalue