Studio: Collaborative Production 2021-22

THANKS

Studio Collaborators

Steve Pool - Poly-Technic Cat Watton - Sustrans Ruth Masood - Sheffield City Council Gordon Macrae - Gripple

Ibtisam Alfarah - DEWA

Alastair Parvin - Open Systems Lab Carl Fraser - Situation Architecture Mark Rousseau - Coda Workshop

Guest SSoA Tutors

Luis Hernan Darren Robinson Tom Moore

STUDIO: COLLABORATIVE PRODUCTION

Studio: Collaborative Production is a design studio run as part of the MArch degree course at Sheffield School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. The Studio ran over a 20 week period between November 2021 and May 2022, and was attended by 11 students in the 5th and 6th year of their studies, working towards their RIBA Part 2 professional qualification.

The studio takes as its starting point a recognition that the prevailing economic model of speculation and market-driven growth is unable to address the urgent global challenges of climate change and social inequality. Informed by a reading of post-capitalist theory, the studio explores an alternative model based on interdependency, social capital and local value, transforming the way people engage with local governance, education, recreation and cultural exchange.

The industrial exploitation of resources, followed by disuse and abandonment, is no longer acceptable or feasible. The damaging consequences of this are nowhere more apparent than in the Don Valley to the east of Sheffield, and this is where the studio is located. The Don Valley forms part of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID) which aims to link new forms of advanced manufacturing to existing centres of production, housing and education. The studio’s primary focus has been Attercliffe, which has been identified as a potential Mobility Hub, building on existing infrastructure to make connections into and across the Innovation District.

The project began with a detailed investigation of Attercliffe in order to understand the place, its history and its possible future. The notion of collaborative production extended to the working methodology of the studio, with students working collectively, sharing resources, ideas and approaches.

Using projection mapping and assemblage techniques the studio constructed visual narratives as a way of recording, analysing and representing multiple layers of interest and meaning.

Based on these initial findings the students worked together

to develop a collective strategy which enables individual projects to interface spatially, functionally and economically. The climate emergency demands an urgent collective response to limit the impact of potentially catastrophic change. The collective strategy reimagines Attercliffe as an environmentally sustainable and socially dynamic urban neighbourhood, linked through a network of shared renewable energy and active green corridors. A new and diverse residential population is drawn to Attercliffe as a place of social, economic and environmental innovation in support of a healthy and inclusive lifestyle.

Individual projects respond directly to the opportunities and needs identified, creating high quality environments for living and working, alongside places for social interaction and cultural exchange. Innovative forms of food production and material reclamation sit alongside buildings promoting public health and wellbeing, sanctuary and education. The proposals maximise the imaginative re-use of existing buildings and infrastructure, working with and enhancing the area’s historic character and rich heritage. In considering how projects might be delivered, students have explored alternative funding and procurement models which prioritise social value and environmental remediation. Taken together the proposals create a future vision of Attercliffe as a place which enriches people’s lives, is socially inclusive and is protective of the environment.

Daniel Jary - Studio Leader

STUDIO

Joe (Y5) Fatehah (Y5)Yi (Y5)

(Y6) Dan (Studio Lead)Jack (Y5)

CAMBRIDGE TRIP (WITH STUDIO LANDSCAPE AND URBANISM)

ATTERCLIFFE/DON VALLEY VISITS

UNDERSTANDING ATTERCLIFFE

Attercliffe is situated in the East of Sheffield, it has long been an industrial area and had a huge role in the industrial revolution. Industry was powered by the River Don in the North West and the Tinsley Canal to the South East.

Over time Attercliffe has faced many changes; large industry such as the Steel works have closed and waves of demolition mean it is now devoid of homes and community.

The area can be characterised by the prevalence of contrasting juxtapositions, particularly with the building fabric. Along Attercliffe Road, you will find grand historic buildings rubbing up against sex shops and massage

parlours. Similarly, falling away from the high street, large and noisy industrial buildings line the canal. This is quickly contrasted by the tranquility of trees and wildlife along the Five Weirs canal walk.

These juxtapositions informed the themes for our crossstudio exhibition, which we set up as an immersive experience of Attercliffe, overlaying collected films and sounds. These themes included: Nature, The Sex Industry, Waste, Energy, Food, Deprivation, Transport and Local History.

These themes were the basis of our whole studio collective strategy.

Cross - Studio Review

Attercliffe Past Collage

Attercliffe Present Collage

Attercliffe Streetscape Collage

COLLECTIVE STRATEGY

In recent years, Attercliffe has been targeted as a potential beneficiary of the levelling up fund, with the council keen to see its regeneration. With our research in mind, the studio devised a collective strategy proposal for the regeneration of Attercliffe.

The strategy is focused on resilience, making Attercliffe an exemplar location for sustainable initiatives whilst also prioritising social value to ensure community resilience. The collective strategy is in opposition to mainstream top-down regeneration models, instead we propose that a group of former Attercliffe residents, the Attercliffe Liberation Group, force change in the area through activism. Their positive interventions continue to evoke interest in the area, bringing the community population back to life.

The individual student projects respond directly to the group strategy, providing essential facilities for Attercliffe which continue to build upon climate and social resilience.

Studio Poster (Left) Individual Project Posters (Rght)

ATTERCLIFFE PROPOSALS

01 - The Portal Project (Alanna Stevenson & Aoife Gilchrist)

02 - Attercliffe Public Baths (Sam Warriner)

03 - Rethinking Education (Amelia Little

04 - Rewilding Attercliffe (Yufeng Song)

05 - Collective Revolution (Holly Baines)

06 - The Machine Commons (Josh Roberts)

07 - The Attercliffe Institute for Soil (Fatehah Amirah Binti Sharan Huzani)

08 - Spartan Works Material Guild (Joe Bayley)

09 - The Wellbeing Farm (Jack Hodges)

THE PORTAL PROJECT

Alanna Stevenson and Aoife Gilchrist Y6

Attercliffe Road is colloquially known as the ‘Golden Mile of Sex’, with the highest density of massage parlours in the Sheffield. With regeneration on the horizon, Attercliffe’s sex industry faces the prospect of being driven underground, putting the workers safety at risk.

The Portal Project provides refuge for women seeking shelter and support, shining brightly at night to indicate its 24-hour care role.

Whilst sex work is criminalised, there is no such thing as a safe work place for sex workers, therefore the Portal Project does not attempt to provide such a place. Instead it facilitates the fight for decriminalisation with the newly formed sex worker’s union, that acts as a regulator for Attercliffe’s massage parlours.

Sex worker’s union meeting GF arrangement with back of site exploded Attercliffe road post-regener ation

Night view from Attercliffe Road Group therapy room View of site from canal Elevation on Attercliffe Road Public eatery Educational exhibition bays View across site from accomo dation deck access Resident breakfast room

ATTERCLIFFE PUBLIC BATHS

Sam Warriner Y6

Social Self-Care

An agenda for preventative healthcare at the heart of post-industrial communities. A public baths complex in Attercliffe, Sheffield to address the long-term health conditions associated with the coal and steel industries. The architectural language responds to both the civic and ornamental aspects of Attercliffe, but also the meanwhile use and dilapidation since the collapse of extractive industry. Articulated limestone blocks are arranged as ruins in an intense, sensory landscape. A natural, healthy and sustainable material palette unites a variety of atmospheres, ranging from the domestic to the monumental. These are social spaces created for the collective pursuit of good personal health.

Plan, General Arrangement

Perspective of Site

Outdoor Pool

and material study

Hall Section (taken through Atter cliffe Road edge of site)

RETHINKING EDUCATION

Amelia Little Y6

Re-thinking Education is a critique of the current education system and its inadequate approach to the social and environmental challenges of our time. The project proposes an alternative to this in Attercliffe – Sheffield.

Set in 2030, the project forms part of a new sustainable urban neighbourhood, equipping the next generation with the skills to uphold a more sustainable world. It is designed to encourage outdoor learning, exploration, and an everyday awareness of the environment by transforming the building into a learning tool. The school is firmly embedded within this new neighbourhood. Its facilities are not compressed into a gated landscape but are a place that all the community can enjoy. Lessons are not limited to the school site but take place across Attercliffe, allowing pupils to learn from the diverse urban environment.

Drawings

Classroom and learning court yard

Night view on Attercliffe Road Learning across Attercliffe/Pe destrian green routes

The learning corridor Evening class in the shared Atrium

Student entrance on Staniforth Road

Isometric of general arrangement Section showing light wells, learning courtyards and play voids

REWILDING ATTERCLIFFE

Yufeng Song Y6

Attercliffe is in danger of the decline of heavy industry, with the area still holding on to its ‘the beginning of continental steel works’ label. As work in the field of research and development rises in the area, some factories are slowly moving out of Attercliffe, leaving many gaps in the landscape. The value of these sites negates the possibility of them becoming quality housing, instead they provide a valuable opportunity for rewilding.

By introducing wetlands, rewilding is the reclamation and restoration of former industrial land in urban areas and can restore the ecology of the town in a cost effective and efficient way. At the same time, wetlands can alleviate flooding along rivers and attract new species, improving the ecological environment.

COLLECTIVE REVOLUTION

Holly Baines Y6

Collective Revolution investigates how the co-production of self-build affordable housing and a centre for climate action can re-shape processes of urbanisation and foster community resilience in a post-industrial neighbourhood.

The project starts with the remediation and rewilding of a contaminated site through a meanwhile use agreement, which stimulates the community to address and overcome issues of private land ownership on underused sites. Finally, it acts as a test bed for transforming a derelict site and integrating communal living with ecological research and activism to explore the future of low-carbon communities. Through investigating the future of democratic city planning, the project proposes a vibrant social environment that challenges the status quo of top-down development whilst transforming marginal industrial land into a thriving and resilient neighbourhood.

Brief drawing

View of site across the canal on a rainy day

Site overview

The debate chamber within the Centre for Climate Action

Sequence of land use on site Section through debate chamber

Self-build affordable housing Section through housing cluster

Axonometric of housing cluster

Children playing in the communal creche

Exterior view of Centre for Climate Action

Remediation on contaminated land

02

THE MACHINE COMMONS

Josh Roberts Y6

The Machine Commons is set in Attercliffe during the year 2030. It explores an alternative framework of digital manufacturing, bringing digital technologies to everyday life rather than being limited to the hands of privatised corporate entities.

On the outside, the building expresses alternative geometric projection that materials are tested on, mimicking the adhoc and exotic nature of Attercliffe. On the inside, varying activities can be seen as you traverse through the building with all construction materials being left exposed to give a ‘machined and industrial feel’ to the occupants and visitors.

Drawings

View of exterior and changing facade

GF Plan

Site proposal Section CC

Axonometric of whole proposal Studio space

Cafe space

Entrance foyer (exhibit/ marketplace)

Central circulation route Section BB Section DD 3D printing area looking down into double height laser-cutting space Section AA

THE ATTERCLIFFE INSTITUTE FOR SOIL

Fatehah Amirah binti Sharan Huzani Y5

Attercliffe has elevated levels of heavy metals in its soils, but conventional means of remediation won’t happen–it is too large an area and would cost too much. Despite this, a grassroots movement, the Collective, make it happen. They initially target an abandoned post-industrial site. They plant silver birch and field mustard, slowly remediating the soil. Down by the river excavation works are taking place. With the excavated subsoil, they build a rammed earth shelter. It is a place to rest and a statement of intent. The Massage Parlour on the edge of the site offers The Collective the chance to buy up the existing building.

The Attercliffe Institute for Soil provides outdoor testbeds for testing combinations of plants in the field in a variety of micro-climates. Those techniques can then be deployed elsewhere in Attercliffe.

SPARTAN WORKS MATERIAL GUILD

Joseph Bayley Y5

In the aftermath of a market crash, a neo-liberalist agenda pushes the cost of living crisis to its peak. People cannot afford to live under the current economy, and push for a New Social Contract where money is no longer the primary currency.

I chose to visualise Spartan Works guild at a time where both Factory and College take precedent in the community. The library facilitates sustainable and achievable building practise, whilst the college teaches the next generation of budding crafts people. The collective strategy factions begin realising their projects and programmes, and a prosperous community begins to engage with the Guild, to upskill and relearn traditional skills once engrained within Sheffield’s society.

Atrium

THE WELLBEING FARM

Jack Hodges Y5

As urban populations increase so does the risk of stress, anxiety and exposure to crises. The Wellbeing Farm provides a vegetative sanctuary situated within a collective strategy that establishes Attercliffe as an exemplary postcapitalist community.

By combining circular economy education and resilient farming techniques, the programme fosters opportunities for temporary residents to gain knowledge, develop practical skills and improve wellbeing through vegetation exposure. Before then becoming embedded in the broader Attercliffe community where sustainable neighbouring trading networks are formed.

PUBLIC & PRIVATE

CRICKET FARMING

COMMUNITY NETWORKING

PRODUCE PROCESSING

TIME