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A new look for West Ascent, as imagined by architects Deacon and Richardson (image: RIBA).

Searching for a grand design

Public input invited for town master plan: Chris Connelley gets excited by a novel opportunity to shape the future of Hastings and St Leonards bought to us courtesy of the Hastings Urban Design Group and RIBA.

The last decade has seen an explosion of popular interest in architecture and buildings courtesy of the iconic Channel 4 programme Grand Designs and its many derivatives, which recount often inspirational stories about ordinary people turning their back on unlovely newbuild developments in favour of more distinctive constructions and conversions. Coupled with our enduring national love affair with heritage and conservation, it is possible to talk optimistically of Britain in 2014 as an engaged and architecturally sophisticated kind of place.

A grand entrance for George Street, by James Deasley (image: RIBA).

That’s certainly true here in Hastings, where an exceptionally rich built environment encompassing all major styles and periods – from elegant Regency piles through to chic deco inspired suntrap semis – meets a healthily opinionated populace. Just think of the recent furore over the Pelham Roundabout redesign to get a sense of the potential for a good ‘bust-up’, or the sustained, valiant and ultimately impactful battle by the local community against some woefully inappropriate early designs for the Archery Road college site.

It is precisely this feisty public passion that So Create A Difference Hastings hopes to capitalise on. Part expo, part public consultation, this participative exhibition transplants a successful listening exercise first undertaken in genteel Tunbridge Wells to our decidedly more edgy townscape.

Curated by the Hastings Urban Design Group, a coalition of architects and urban design professionals, with support from RIBA – the Royal Institute of British Architects – the So Create event will occupy a pop-up space in an underwhelming 1990s mall, Priory Meadow, offering up professional visions of what our town might look like as a prompt and spur to stimulate a wider dialogue amongst local residents.

The architects have focused their efforts on 13 areas of the town, re-imagining a number of well-known spaces, for example by adding a landmark entrance to George Street and by re-using the abandoned concrete frame at West Ascent, St Leonards, as the foundation for flexible, affordable workspaces based on traditional net shops.

By covering so many sites, the show is also hoping to make the point that the overall environment we create matters as much as the individual buildings within them, and that well-developed towns benefit from an over-arching plan.

So Create goes live from Wednesday April 2, when shoppers will be tantalised by a promotional window display in the empty unit opposite Waterstones, before the shutters go up on the whole space for one day only on Saturday April 5. This allows for feedback on the various pre-prepared plans, plus thoughts, ideas and comments from the public on what might make a positive difference to our town. There’s potential to flag areas for redevelopment, identify good and bad examples of urban design and share ‘blue sky’ concepts in what amounts to a massive community brainstorm.

And that’s not all. The organisers are also looking to compile a So Create summary book from the day, which they will donate to the borough council, reinforcing the concept of good design and offering a permanent record of the event to our civic and political leaders.

So Create is a unique opportunity to contribute to our community’s future development, so if you are out shopping in town next Saturday morning, why not pop into the pop-up and add your voice?

 

Hastings Urban Design Group

RIBA

 

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Posted 09:55 Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 In: Home Ground

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