RECOVERING A PUBLIC SPACE
SANDHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL AND THE IMAGINATION REFINERY
On 9th February 2016, the IR team met with the IWC Executive and presented an outline proposal for a hybrid redevelopment of the school, incorporating affordable and custom-build residential spaces around a core community facility and business incubator set within publicly accessible greenspace. The Executive accepted the proposal as one worth continuing to progress with councillors and officers, in order to present a comprehensive vision and viability model to Full Council later in the spring.
On 6th April 2016, the IR team and IWC visited Connolly and Callaghan in Bristol to see Hamilton House, a renowned example of flexible community and cultural space transforming one of the most deprived parts of Bristol and a model of success that has influenced the IR project.
IWC requested an outline document, with vision, method and viability statements, for further consideration by council Executive at the end of May.
Comments and advice received from IWC in early June provided guidance on key constraints and planning policy compliance and a meeting date of 8th August 2016 was set for revisions to be presented to officers and the Executive.
a potted history….
THE VISION
The Imagination Refinery is all about retaining a public asset and making it work more effectively, and more imaginatively, as a cultural hub for our local community through a mix of reuse and redevelopment. It is an idea that is transferable and replicable. We believe that the Sandham project will be influential and helpful to communities and councils across the UK as they face the need for new ways of thinking about the public estate.
At the core of the vision is a sharing economy model whereby space is traded for time and public service, creating a hub of the likeminded, start-ups, social enterprises and community ventures. Those who can pay rent for space will be invited to do so, those who can’t will pay in time and skills, developing new and better facilities on the project site, helping to manage public places in The Bay and providing curricular support and extracurricular enrichment to Bay schools, particularly the adjacent Sandown Bay Academy (to which the Sandham Middle was once closely linked).
Over 30 organizations have already expressed an interest in being a part of the first intake of tenants, including 3 universities (Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Glasgow), artists, musicians, sports and health clubs, new businesses and social enterprises.
The creation of a new neighbourhood, built around the community hub of the Imagination Refinery is both an enabling scheme and an opportunity to put immediately into practice, and exemplify, the design-led public space concepts founded on a ‘cultural quarter’ that are central to the redevelopment project.
Connectivity
Volunteering, trainee, citizen science links with work of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Training, employment and public engagement Links with Southern Water operations for The Bay
Work with Portsmouth University continuing on Imagination Refinery at BA and MA
‘Stepping stone’ tourism site between National Cycleway 23 and Sandown work with new BID on Bay marketing
Training, employment and other collaborations with golf club
Support for school grounds management
Curricular and extracurricular support for Sandown Bay Academy
Support for Fairfield and Roseway greenspaces/pocketparks pocketparks
Support for management of Los Altos park
Links with Sandown Station for community and visitor transport, station grounds and facilities
Curricular and extracurricular support for the Bay Primary
Employment and marketing Links with local tourism providers
Collaboration with Southern Housing on improving Perowne Way public greens for people and wildlife
New community facilities for Perowne Way neighbourhoods
Work with Bournemouth and Glasgow Universities on the Bay marine research project
We see the Sandham site redeveloped to provide 4 key benefits to The Bay and the Island as a whole:
1. A sustainable community centre, with flexible, hireable business and leisure space; a tourism destination as well as a public facility; an inspiring common space, permanently useful to local people.
2. An enabling affordable and custom residential development providing a rental model that sustains the Imagination Refinery. The housing scheme will itself be run on IR principles, providing educational and employment opportunities as it is built, delivering high-specification homes for energy and water conservation; designing a neighbourhood that opens into the existing community of Perowne Way, creating new shared spaces for all.
3. New public realm with space for play, exploration, wildlife encounter and learning; linking with public access and public transport including the national cycleway and Islandline.
4. A ‘halo’ of immediate benefits to public facilities, spaces and services through the outreach delivery of the sharing economy hub at IR.
The Greenfield Option
The Brownfield Option
