Building Stronger Communities Through the Southside Project
The Southside will be more than a building; it's a visionary attempt to foster unity, inclusivity, and a sense of belonging among people from different walks of life. At the core of The Southside, there will be a learning hub building that will house all partners involved. This multifunctional space will feature a sports clubhouse, a shared learning area, an affordable café with provision for selling farm produce. Alongside the multifunctional space, there will be a cookery school that uses produce grown on-site and a 3G sports pitch with associated changing rooms and facilities. It's a place designed to cater to diverse needs and interests within the community.
This project aims to inspire residents to learn, grow, and lead healthier lifestyles whilst coming together to connect and thrive.
The Southside will be more than just a collection of facilities; it will become a space to foster connections and healthier lifestyles. The sports facilities encourage physical activity, while the learning hub and cookery school promote education and skill-building. The farm shop and café provide opportunities for social interaction, supporting local food producers and offering a space for residents to meet and share experiences.
Such spaces are vital within communities, by providing a venue for diverse activities, The Southside will encourage interaction among different demographics, building a stronger, more connected community. The project's emphasis on sustainability and local engagement further underscores its commitment to long-term positive impact.
For the surrounding neighbourhood, The Southside offers a place where people can come together, learn, play, and grow, strengthening community bonds and enhancing the quality of life for all residents. It's a model for how architecture can play a central role in community development, offering a blueprint for other towns and cities looking to revitalise their own public spaces.
The Vision Behind The Southside
We approached The Southside Project with a clear mission: to create a space that reflects the area's rich cultural tapestry, to do this we needed to design a space that would physically and symbolically bring people together.
The vision for The Southside was to create a multifunctional space that caters to a wide range of community needs. By blending a variety of public spaces within a single development, it will encourage interaction and collaboration among different groups. This holistic approach ensures that the project isn't just a place to live or work but a vibrant community hub.
Design Elements To Foster Unity
The Southside's design is an example of architecture shaping social dynamics. We employed several innovative strategies to promote inclusivity and interaction:
1. Mixed-Use Spaces: The project features a combination of spaces - the cookery school, shop and sports facilities. This mix ensures that people with different interests and professions cross paths daily, fostering a sense of community. Whether it's grabbing coffee at a local café or attending a workshop at the community centre, residents are encouraged to engage with one another.
2. Cultural Sensitivity in Design: we have made a concerted effort to reflect the cultural heritage of the community in the project's design. This is evident in the choice of materials, colours, and architectural styles that pay homage to the neighbourhood, resonating with long-time residents and newcomers alike.
3. Sustainable and Inclusive Design: The project incorporates sustainable building practices, ensuring that it meets the environmental needs of the future. Additionally, the design is inclusive, with accessibility features that cater to individuals of all abilities. This commitment to sustainability and inclusivity ensures that The Southside will be a space where everyone feels welcome.
At an early stage, we identified 5 key design drivers for the project these were;
The building would be an object in the landscape, and this posed the question of how best to respond to this?
The building needed to be self-sustaining and have low running costs to enable the client groups to continue the valuable work they do in the communities.
Covered outdoor space would be invaluable for all of the building and site-associated uses.
A connection to the landscape and outdoor spaces was essential for all of the uses within the building, creating an omnidirectional-looking building
We wanted the spaces to be collaborative and foster happenstance interactions to enable to various users and communities to come together in one space.
In response to the above we we’re also working with the sloping site and working within the parameters of the wider site planning.
Another key design element was reviewing the best orientation for the building to provide solar gain and reduce overheating with appropriate shading. This driven by the need to reduce the buildings running costs and heating bills.
The building will provide several community / civic spaces and as such we want the architecture to respond to this. The key clubhouse / multi-function room will be contained within a high vaulted ceiling with expansive views out to both the woodland to the north and the sports pitches to the south. The space is served by both the café and a bar maximising its use potential.
The cookery school takes the form of an open pitched roof with exposed structure and lower windowsills to create a space that responds to the younger user group. The high ceilings in the cookery school also add an element of grandeur found in the clubhouse form.
Landscaping
The landscape proposal for The Southside from PLAN Landscape Architects aims to position the proposed building sensitively within the existing green field location. Proposing woodland pockets at the arrival to soften the approach whilst further tree planting and an orchard will strengthen wildlife corridors and enhance local biodiversity. Rain gardens and ornamental planting beds will minimise hard surface areas and allow for additional rain storage capacity whilst enhancing the visitor experience. A terrace to the east of the building will take advantage of the sunny aspect and provide views over the various sports pitches. The terrace has been designed to provide a flexible space to be able to host large social gatherings. Pockets of planting will help enclose seating areas to provide shade and wind buffering and enhance the connection with nature.
The proposal ensures ease of connection with the various sports pitches, with level access between the building and the 3G Pitch. A series of steps are provided as a direct route to the grass pitches to the south as well as an optional meandering path through the landscape. Soft landscape proposals include woodland creation with native tree planting, a fruit orchard, pockets of ornamental herbaceous planting, rain gardens and wildflower meadows providing an attractive, diverse and community focused landscape.
The Impact on the Community
Since its inception, The Southside Project has had a profound impact on the local community. When complete, the building will provide a space that will encourage interaction, break down social barriers and foster a sense of unity. The project's success will be measured not just in terms of its architectural brilliance but also in the way it will transform the community.
Moreover, the project will serve as a model for other urban developments, demonstrating that architecture can be a powerful tool for social change. By prioritising people over profit and community over convenience, The Southside Project will set a new standard for what urban spaces can and should be.
By creating a space that fosters unity, inclusivity, and community engagement, architecture can play a crucial role in bringing people together. The Southside stands as a shining example of how we can build not just better buildings but better communities.