Build Your Own High Street: Looking at Elevations

We had another engaging Design Meeting earlier this month, on the 15th. Apologies for the delay in getting this report out to you, but we have lots of photos this time round from Britt, to make up for it!

At this meeting, we were joined by a trio from the University of Liverpool, who are undergoing a similar project in Everton. They wanted to sit in for a meeting to see how the process goes, and it was a pleasure hosting them. We're looking forward to seeing what they have to offer the Everton community!

As it had been a while since the last meeting, we had a recap at the start from Toby and Luke of Architectural Emporium. They explained how we, as a group, had favoured particular schemes, and how they had to investigate said schemes and look at how they can break the block into smaller elements - in a way that works, both structurally and aesthetically fitting the feel of our community/Anfield as a whole.

They had been away busy working on illustrations of these scheme ideas, which they brought to us to discuss.

Luke talked us through these illustrations, and though they are simply sketches, they were very helpful in allowing us to better visualise what the finished scheme might look like. It's important to note here that there is no finished design at present. This is a long process, and it's one we are all wanting to get right, so, while it does take time, it's something that deserves a bit of extra care. After all, this is our community, and our hopes to build a "better, brighter Anfield", as we've heard a lot about as of late.

After looking at the designs (both scrapped ideas and two proposals for 'finished' schemes), the discussion was put forward.

There was a lot of debate in the air about both schemes, and which ones best suited Anfield, and our initial plan. It's always been important to strive for what's best for the community - and by this, we mean the community as an entity, and everybody in it, as well.

This is why it's important to have such a diverse group of people on our Design Team.

From people who have lived in Anfield all their lives (like myself), to newcomers to the area, or people who are simply visiting (in the case of the three lads from University of Liverpool), I personally feel it's vital to have everybody's voice heard. It sounds like a cliche now, almost, as the idea of "having voices heard" is one that, sadly, can be overlooked in projects such as this. Again, I want to stress, this is exactly why Build Your Own High Street is happening!

It is so that Anfield becomes a brilliant community again, driven by the desire and knowledge of the people at the community's heart.

Of course, Architectural Emporium are also there to guide us alongside this process, and share their expertise. We looked again at the images from a previous meeting, of different buildings (seen here:http://homebaked.org.uk/avoiding-a-camel-our-latest-design-workshop/) and Luke explained how some of these photos were what inspired himself and Toby to draw up their new scheme designs.

Our original preferred scheme (seen at the top in the following photo), while good on paper, would probably not be best suited in Anfield. It is the sort of scheme that works well in Europe, say in the likes of Amsterdam, but in comparison to the surrounding houses and buildings in the area, it would be a stark contrast in Anfield.

The bottom two photographs show the schemes we are looking at choosing from. The bottom one, in this case, is the one that the majority of the Design Team were leaning toward, as it would suit the surrounding area, and feels more comfortable when it comes to the Anfield community, but, as usual, this was also a spark for some insightful debate.

We did a raising of hands to see which of the two schemes were preferred, but ultimately, decided it may be best to request Toby and Luke to come up with a potential third option - one which combines what we liked about both schemes.

We each took the packs of the drawings and designs to study further at home, and will discuss them as a group at the next design meeting.
We don't yet know the date for the next meeting, but, if you are interested in this project, and in the Anfield community, you are more than welcome to get in touch and I'll be happy to discuss it further with you!

As the project has been going on for quite a while now, it may be easier to talk directly via email (callyanneh@ gmail.com), or even in person, if you live locally and want to pop into the bakery (I'm in most days and would be eager to chat about it - if you don't see me, just ask for Cally!). The design meetings can often be a little difficult to jump into if you are new to the project, but I'm passionate about listening to ideas, especially to fellow local residents, so please don't be shy and let me know what you think!

Keep posted for the next installment of this project!