On Saturday 26th April, PLACED ran a workshop with 14 young people from across the Northwest to contribute design ideas for the second phase of the National Trust’s Castlefield Viaduct project, in Manchester. This formed part of Gold Sponsor Places Matter bespoke session.
The workshop kicked off with a tour of the viaduct, generously given by Ted from the National Trust. The talk gave the young people an understanding of the structure’s history, phase one’s community contributors and successes with rewilding and biodiversity, as well as a brief vision for the future.
The cohort was put into groups, each focusing on a different theme. ‘Art, Culture & Events’, ‘Play & Activities’, ‘Community & Social Spaces’ and ‘Nature & Biodiversity’. This informed their thematic site analysis to understand all the ways the Viaduct has touched upon some of the themes and to start the young people thinking about new ways in which they can be expanded and implemented for phase two.
Back at the workshop space, groups brainstormed ideas, responding to the brief that challenged them to think about their brief whilst looking at materiality, access and creating a destination, rather than a passageway.
Some of the wonderful ideas covered during the group presentations included monkey bars and climbing walls, to nature-based workshops, creating a ‘world garden’ and a book exchange programme. Many of the groups created wandering paths with communal seating areas, with several creating a café, some linked to allotments to create a self-sustaining food source. One group proposed a circular stage that could host live performances and a pop-up cinema, with night time activities being a key consideration.
Huge thank you to Places Matter for sponsoring the session and to Richard Tracey, Louise Fountain & Iain Taylor (Places Matter) and Luke Richards (PLACED Ambassador) for their support and feedback on the young people’s ideas throughout the session! And a big thank you to the National Trust for providing a wonderfully informative tour and having us on site. And a thank you to Salford Lads & Girls Club for hosting the workshop.