reShaped
Forgotten, Left-Over and Meanwhile Space Portfolio
reShaped: Elaine Cresswell BSc(Hons) DipLD CMLI
Professional Experience and Capabilities: Elaine is a chartered landscape architect with 16 years experience delivering successful landscape schemes for housing, health and public sector clients. She is described by her peers as “a pragmatic and innovative designer who has a huge enthusiasm for landscape architecture” and applauded by her clients for her “customer focus ..and achievement of very difficult timescales” Elaine began her work transforming vacant spaces after returning to Liverpool in 2012. She realised that she could use her knowledge of how to get things built to enable communities to realise their ambitions for land or buildings on their street corner, whilst also imporoving the environment of the entire neighbourhood and reducing the maintenance burden of the landowner. Over her career, Elaine has purposefully specialised in the creation and delivery of sensitive, welldesigned, healthy and sustainable places that people want to spend time in. She believes that sustainable design is less about ‘Eco-bling‘ and more about making space usable, maintainable, attractive and efficiently masterplanned, whilst also sensitively integrating a development with its context and reusing existing resources. Many of her previous schemes have won high profile awards, including: • LGN Pedestrian Realm Runner Up 2009 (Lower High Street) (see inset) • RTPI Regeneration Network Award 2009 (Merthyr Regeneration) Telephone: 07788991854 Email: elaine@reshaped.uk.com Address: Suite 8, Church House, 1 Hanover St, Liverpool, L1 3DN Company Number: reShaped Ltd. TA reShaped 08211993 Website: www.reshaped.uk.com
• BSCA Environment Gold Award 2009 (Merthyr Regeneration) • RIBA Northern Network Award Shortlist 2011 (Burgage Square) • Wakefield Civic Society Regeneration Award 2011 (Burgage Square) Elaine is a corresponding member of the Landscape Institute’s Technical Committee, which gives her the unique opportunity to influence future national standards and guidance. In recent years, she has contributed to the development of BRE’s New Homes Standard, SuDS and Biodiversity British Standards and LI housing and health publications. She is currently working to drive up design standards within heritage settings as a member of Cheshire West and Chester’s Design Review Panel. Work History 2012-Present Director of reShaped Landscape Architecture, Liverpool 2010-2012 Senior Landscape Architect and Construction Lead at Camlin Lonsdale, Marsden 2005-2010 Landscape Architect and Project Director at Austin-Smith:Lord, Liverpool 2000-2004 Landscape Architect at Cooper Partnership, Bristol
My City CIC: The Brink Garden, Liverpool
Brief Description of Project: reShaped worked with The Brink recovery social enterprise to transform land adjacent to their dry bar into a horticultural therapy garden. The design for the garden was developed in collaboration with The Brink’s clients and constructed by reShaped, Lloyds Bank and The Brink Volunteer’s and Mens Sheds Liverpool. A gardening club is held in the space every Wednesday and members say that it has given them: • • • •
Increased feelings of self-worth and confidence; Better physical and mental health; A connection with others and nature; and New skills.
City of Liverpool Vocational College: Grow Cornwallis Brief Description of Project: Verge planting
reShaped worked with City of Liverpool College to develop their unmaintainable verges into growing spaces for use by their kitchens, their students and the surrounding community. The benches and paving were constructed through a collaboration between City of Liverpool College bricklaying and catering staff and students, industrial design students from Burg Giebichenstein University in Hanover and local professional makers and designers. The majority of materials used were waste products from local construction projects, kindly donated by Liverpool City Council and Make Liverpool. Grow COLC and reShaped will be running a number of free training courses from the site, the first one of which is traditional willow hedge laying.
Engage Liverpool CIC: The Baltic Hub DIY furniture making workshops Brief Description of Project: Construction of DIY furniture on vacant land in collaboration with Collectif Fill, Nantes and local community groups. The project outcomes were: • Taught woodworking skills to five community groups and local residents; • Created furniture for the Baltic Hub, Tiber kindergarten, Homebaked CLT & Caz Kitchen CIC; • Increased usage to underused public space, provided facilities for existing users and promoted discussion over long term future; and • Engaged 4 very different communities in creation of the space: long term businesses & residents, new creative businesses and residents. Donations and value of the work generated by the four day event were: • 45 man days volunteer work from Liverpool residents; • £500 in donated construction material from local businesses; • £500 in materials, equipment and insurance from Bluegreen Liverpool (Big Lottery); • £2,500 Nantes exchange funding for Collectif Fil expenses; and • £5,200 in kind for organisation and hosting Collectif Fil.
Engage Liverpool CIC: My City Sign Post, Liverpool Treasure Mapping Brief Description of Project: The Baltic Triangle is a popular tourist destination in Liverpool, highlighted in the Rough Guide as being in the top three places in the world to visit. Signage in the area is poor and does not focus on the real attractions. The children and young people of the Baltic Triangle decided that they wanted to create a signpost highlighting the things that they would most want to show tourists about their city. Parents and relatives were invited to the opening of their ‘mycity signpost gallery’ , sparking interesting conversations about future uses of surrounding vacant land and what was special about the Baltic Triangle across a broad demographic.
Homebaked CLT: Crazy Golf, Anfield Treasure Mapping Brief Description of Project: Mapping of Anfield treasures and design of themed crazy golf courses with young people from the local area, including the route from the youth centre to Homebaked, Stanley Park and the football ground. The young people’s ideas were built by Liverpool’s Men’s Sheds and Crazy Golf played at Homebaked CLT’s ‘Return of the Thing on the Rec’ event on vacant land.
Baltic Creative CIC: Forgotten Places Environmental Improvements Brief Description of Project: reShaped worked with Baltic Creative to develop environmental improvements within the Baltic Triangle that met the aspiration of their members. Key features of which were: • To feel and see the seasons; • A sunny sheltered breathing space to escape from the stresses of the day and watch the world go by; • To pick salads and garnishes for their lunchtime; • Joyful colour and wildlife oasis; and • Low maintenance. Our consultation ‘moving minutes’ can be found at http:// reshaped.uk.com/wordpress/baltic-triangle-outdoorspace-design/
The Sound Agents: Temporary Chinese History Museum Brief Description of Project: reShaped worked with The Sound Agents to secure Planning Permission for a pop-up museum dedicated to Liverpool’s Chinatown within Great George Square, a much underused public park in central Liverpool. The project aims to highlight the need for a dedicated museum and community space in the area as well as preserve the heritage of the oldest Chinese community in Europe. The idea for which came from members of the Chinese community who have wanted and needed a Chinatown heritage centre in Liverpool for over 40 years. The Sound Agents have promised to create “Dynamic exhibitions” for the pop-up museum and have invited international photographers to showcase their work there. In addition to the museum the Growing up in Chinatown project will see a growing space for Chinese vegetables created beside the shipping container.
Homebaked Community Land Trust: ‘The Thing on the Rec’ Events, Liverpool Brief Description of Project: ‘The Thing on the Rec’, ‘The Return of the Thing on the Rec’ and ‘The Thing Awakens’ events were organised and run by a collaboration of six artists including reShaped. The events were designed around the themes of Play, Recreation, Markets and Growing to prototype potential uses for the Recreation ground behind the Bakery and prove to the council that the land was a much needed resource for the community. As a result of this work, Liverpool City Council have granted a two year lease of land adjacent to the bakery to develop these ideas further.
Homebaked Community Land Trust: The Rec Project, Anfield Brief Description of Project: reShaped worked collaboratively with Homebaked CLT over a number of years to prototype and test uses for the public vacant land to the back of the bakery, including: • HomeMade: Planter design and making with Regenda’s apprentices and Mens Sheds; • HomeFarm: Model making and growing microgreens with Anfield community; and • HomeGrown: Codesign of The Rec and Home Square including new hedge and tree planting, footpath routes, surfacing, games and productive land for biofuel, timber and wheat crops.
The Riverside Housing Group: Cullen Street Community Garden Centre, Liverpool Brief Description of Project: reShaped were commissioned by Riverside Housing to work with Cullen Street Community Group to develop a layout for their new garden centre on vacant land in sufficient detail to inform their business plan and form the basis of a funding application. The final design was developed over three workshops. The first of which involved model making potential arrangements, the second considered the visual appearance and the third looked at practical issues such as levels, drainage, site security, community access, expansion and the location of existing utilities.
Better Bankside: Bankside Boardwalk Competition, London Brief Description of Project: The Boardwalk inhabits the space, creating its own setting and defined place on the street. Just like the Bathhouse, which used to be located on the corner of Ewer Street, it becomes a place for meeting and connecting with neighbours. It is composed of playful modular elements of differing heights, providing comfortable warm seating for the elderly and play spaces for children. Each modular element can be transformed into a bench, planter, grass or a table. The design includes flexible elements that can be moved and influenced by users. Larger flexible elements, such as tree planters can be located to suit the street pattern. The Boardwalk will promote the 5 ways to wellbeing (Keep active, take notice, connect, keep learning, Give) and provide a ‘Breathing space’ to calm minds and reduce stress in the middle of a busy day. Plants will add colour, movement, sound, taste, attract wildlife and reduce the effects of urban heat island and air pollution. The arrangement will increase the width of the pavement to ease movement but allow for exploration and relaxation. Detail elements will be designed to promote interaction and record the communities reaction to the one way street operation, possibly by screen printing architect’s plans and visuals onto the structure or screen fence behind.