Release date 15 September 2011
Design Council CABE today announces the fourteen organisations who will receive grants totalling £114,000 to fund their work with local communities in helping them raise the design quality of their area.
The first grant scheme: ‘Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants Programme’ has selected 13 varied organisations across the country to receive small grants, totalling £79,000, to provide advice and support to community groups to help them improve design quality in neighbourhood projects. They range from the Bath Preservation Trust, to Groundwork in Merseyside, MADE in Birmingham, the North of England Civic Trust in Cumbria and Sustrans in Buckinghamshire. Each will fund a unique project, ranging from creating a design ‘vision’ for a village, to a neighbourhood climate change mitigation design strategy or starting a self-build design collective for vulnerable young people.
The second grant scheme: ‘Design Review Small Grants Programme’, will award five grants, totalling £35,000, to local design review panels in Staffordshire, London, Wakefield and Hull to help them explore new ways to involve the community in reviewing the design quality of proposed new developments (‘Design Review’) in their area. Arc in Hull, with two design review grant awards, proposes to work with two school communities and a neighbourhood group in Kingswood; Open City in London proposes to work with a residents design review panel in Barking and Dagenham; Beam in Wakefield proposes to work with community in South Kirby to develop as well as review a design proposal.
Commenting on the outcome of the grant awards schemes, Diane Haigh, Director of Design Council CABE said: “Supporting communities in developing their own vision for their area, and involving them with local design review is vital in ensuring that Britain’s new planning system empowers people and is truly accountable.” Diane expressed thanks to Marilyn Taylor and Jim Eyre for helping with the assessment of the applications.
Mick Downs on behalf of Urban Visions North Staffordshire said: “I am very pleased that we’ve been successful in both grant schemes which will enable us deliver a comprehensive package of design support and advice to one community. We will use the Neighbourhood Projects grant to support the community at Tean Village to develop a design proposal for the conversion of a disused historic school building into a community hub. The design review grant will be used to pull together a panel of built environment experts to review the proposal and work with the community to improve the design quality.”
Projects are expected to be completed by Spring 2011; an event showcasing the outcomes and lessons learnt from each of the 18 successful projects will be held at the Design Council in Summer 2011.
The grants are part of Design Council’s commitment to supporting initiatives to promote the value of good design in businesses and communities.
Notes to editors
Marilyn Taylor was on the assessment panel for the Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants applications. Marilyn is an independent consultant with particular expertise in collaborative planning and community engagement.
Successful applicants in the Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants are:
Bath Preservation Trust - London Road Neighbourhood Climate Change Mitigation Design Strategy
£7,000
Beam - Transforming the Lockies
£7,000
Groundwork Merseyside - Wirral Partnerships Homes Neighbourhoods Design Guide
£7,000
Kent Architecture Centre - Charing Village Design Workshop
£3,950
Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Ltd - 2Up 2Down
£7,000
MADE - The Charterhouse
£2,375
North of England Civic Trust - Chambers and Street
£4,713
Northern Architecture - Designing Ouseburn’s Future
£7,000
Open City - Andover Estate New Build Project
£7,000
Opun - Sneinton Vision
£7,000
Sustrans - DIY Streets Bradenham
£7,000
TransForm Places Ltd - Regeneration proposals for the Spring Gardens/Bishops Walk site
£7,000
Urban Vision North Staffordshire - Great Wood Community Hub, Tean
£4,556
TOTAL: £78,594
Jim Eyre OBE was on the assessment panel for the Design Review Small Grants applications. Jim has been a Partner/Director of Wilkinson Eyre Architects since 1987. He generated the design for Gateshead Millennium Bridge over the River Tyne which won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize in 2002. Jim Eyre was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2003. Jim has been an active member of CABE’s Design Review Panel since 2006 and has chaired reviews since 2007. He has now been appointed trustee of Design Council.
Successful applicants in the Design Review Small Grants are:
UVNS - Great Wood Community Hub, Tean
£7,000
Open City/LBBD - Goresbrook Village
£7,000
Beam - Transforming the Lockies
£7,000
Arc - Kingswood Area Action Plan
£7,000
Arc - Reviewing Schools for the Future
£7,000
Total: £35,000
Further information
For enquiries relating to the Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants Programme, please contact: Kathy MacEwen on 020 7420 5204 / kathy.macewen@designcouncil.org.uk
For enquiries relating to the Design Review Small Grants Programme, please contact: Menaka Sahai on 020 7420 5210 / menaka.sahai@designcouncil.org.uk