6 minute read
Retrofit first in Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow is my largest local town. I first became aware of the tenement blocks on Barrow Island through a Landscape Institute competition that took place in 2013. I could see why I had not visited before. It is unnervingly quiet and feels a little unsafe, with unoccupied run-down tenements overlooking degraded and car-dominated streets. When we visited the flats, we found ourselves pushing through heavy cobwebs on the communal staircases, indicating that whole floors were deserted. Six hundred homes were mostly empty and forgotten.
The tenements were built in the late 19th century to house the workers of the nearby dockyard and steelworks. Through engagement with residents, we understood that many Barrovians started their lives in the flats. Many who lived here as children fondly described the sense of community shared by everyone. These homes were often the first rung on the ladder for those coming to Barrow for work and were an important starting point for many people living here now.
Changes in the nature of the work, with manual labour and riveting replaced by a greater focus on engineering skills, contributed to the closure of the steelworks in 1963. The dockyard workforce also steadily declined. People were also prepared to live further afield and travel by car. The flats were no longer desired becoming part of one of the most deprived wards in the UK. We began work in a place with little direction or prospects and where drug- and drink-related issues gripped the community.
The deterioration of urban housing is not confined to Barrow. Many towns are blighted by the loss of large-scale employment and redundancy. This climate of economic decline results in house prices so low that traditional development is not an option. At Maritime Streets, the flats were selling at auction for between £8,000 and £20,000, with the investment needed to bring them to a habitable level much greater than this. As the flats are all privately owned, and the council only own the surrounding roads and open space, investment in the landscape was the only option for change. A grant for £1.3m was approved, with the measure of success for the landscape being simply the investment in and reoccupancy of the flats.
There was a recognition that a big change in perception was needed to attract people to the neighbourhood. The design of the landscape needed to work hard to achieve a level of desirability that would encourage investment and occupancy. We were clear that achieving this would demand a high-quality and high-impact landscape, designed, detailed and built with thoughtfulness, consideration and care.
At Maritime Streets, the flats were selling at auction for between £8,000 and £20,000, with the investment needed to bring them to a habitable level much greater than this.
However, with improvements needed across the whole site, the limited budget would be spread too thinly to make meaningful change. This meant difficult decisions and prioritisation. A resourcing study was undertaken to identify which changes would make the biggest impact. Investment was deliberately targeted at the most visible and used spaces, with some areas left as they were. This was tough, but we also believed that funding for other areas was likely to be prompted by the successful delivery of a high-impact scheme.
High quality was key to demonstrating that this is a place we care about, enabling others to care about it too. Our conviction was reinforced by the kindness, support and passion found within the existing community. Building on this local capacity, the ambition was to create a place which needed to be looked after. We invited residents to care for the space with a view to establishing ownership, belonging and neighbourliness. This also addressed the issue of limited maintenance resource, without creating a hardened and sterile place.
The vision was for a new community space, where people could come together, play, socialise and get to know each other. A place that felt safe for all to enjoy.
The design narrative is one of connections, inspired by the block typology. We designed the garden with a network of paths, which link the communal staircases leading to people’s homes. The intention was to draw people into the space and create opportunities to glimpse and bump into neighbours. The bold pattern created by crossing pathways was intentional, creating a surprising contrast with the surrounding streets. The unexpected green oasis, not typically found in Barrow’s harsh coastal landscape, was made possible by the shelter and microclimate provided by the tenement blocks.
With the aim of generating interest and anticipation, we issued images to the local press showing what the Maritime Streets courtyard would look like. This was successful; the care showed for this place and simply the expectation of investment was driving interest in the flats. We met with stakeholders and potential investors. When a single buyer expressed interest in acquiring some 320 of the flats, we invited them to our offices to talk through the scheme. By the time we had completed the works, the purchase was made and investment in the flats had begun. The auction prices for some of the other flats were double what they had been. The outcome we had hoped for was being realised.
More than 450 empty flats have been refurbished and are now lived in, many for affordable rent. This provides much needed housing for those working in the expanding shipyard or elsewhere. The £1.3m investment in the landscape has catalysed a much greater investment in the flats, through the creation of a healthy and loved new space.
Each home generates, on average, around £500 per month of expenditure into the local economy.1 On this premise, the £1.3m investment and re-occupancy of 450 empty properties is delivering £225,000 a month to Barrow’s economy. The entire cost of the scheme has in effect been reinvested in the first six months, after which local spending contributes to the regeneration of services and amenities in the town, promoting more jobs, and there is more to do. And so it goes on.
What we as landscape architects have seen at Maritime Streets is healing, the re-emergence of a healthy urban community.
The fact remains that the conversion and use of existing housing stock is a pragmatic and sustainable goal. The work here demonstrates the role that landscape can play in unlocking it. It evidences the benefits and importance of investing in the outdoor spaces where people live. Landscape architects can make an essential contribution to the future success of moribund urban housing, bringing well-located homes back to life, rather than building new ones in our green fields.
Noel Farrer is past president of the Landscape Institute and director of Farrer Huxley Landscape Architects.
