Cardiff Design Festival

Brief

The brief was to propose concepts for a passive community space to appropriate a retained concrete basement on the site of the former Ebbw Vales Steelworks. The design should be innovative with realistic and achievable concepts deliverable by summer 2010 whilst also considering: the site’s industrial heritage, masterplan context and sustainability, access, a build budget of £100K and the basements structural integrity.

Result

The project reached first stage completion for the opening of the National Eisteddfod in July 2010 and local schools have been chosen to take ownership of the allotments which will help to promote healthy lifestyles from a young age. Future plans are for the basement to be used for training and qualifications through integrated horticultural courses, community engagement, intergenerational exchange of knowledge and skills, arts projects and social enterprise.

Solution

In response, our proposal is for a vertical garden and allotments to form a contemporary reinterpretation of the town’s powerful industrial history and promote the environmental ethos of the masterplan by placing community participation and low tech sustainable principles at the heart of the design. The main elements of the Vertical Gardens are a green wall, flowering green chimneys and seed nurseries for local schools.

Project website

http://www.theworksebbwvale.co.uk