| Your Name | Christiane Lellig |
|---|---|
| TRP Cohort Assignment | Spring 2023 Cohort A: Europe + MENA |
| Study Cohort Members | Marika Frenette |
| Working Title of The Project (which we will use to refer to it throughout the series) | The Malings |
| Project Location | Ousebourne Valley, Newcastle, UK |
| Nature of The Project (e.g. building, new community, economic development, etc.) | Housing and community development on industrial brownfield site. |
| Why do you think this project is appropriate for the course assignment? | Our project criteria were: Levels of complexity, how much we can learn, how much we can contribute to the project lead's learning, the potential for carbon assessment as well as the landscaping potential. We also rated the 'feel' of the offered engagement and willingness by the project lead. We strongly sensed that the latter was present in The Malings. Following our first 'call for projects' on Linkedin, within an hour we received a message from Cany Ash, the lead architect, that they were interested in coming onto the journey with us. Since then, Cany has also contacted the former project lead at the developers as 'they have about half of the story'. Christiane Lellig is familiar with both individuals as well as with the lead structural engineer. The Malings is a placemaking challenge, an engineering and architectural challenge and comes with information on qualitative post-occupancy work conducted over several years. Located on the bank of the River Ouseburn, in a steep-sided, ex-industrial valley, the project kickstarted the regeneration of the Ouseburn Valley, a deprived area of Newcastle coined by its industrial feel and plenty of derelict brownfield sites, a history of street violence, criminal activities, the mafia of Newcastle... or so the legend goes. Since its completion a thriving combined pottery/café and a microbrewery/beer garden have opened. It's the result of a collaboration between real estate developer Igloo Regeneration and architects Ash Sakula creating a new neighbourhood of seventy-six homes on the site of the former Malings Pottery in Newcastle. During it's planning and construction, the project suffered a number of set-backs with contractors etc. changing. Engineers and architects have critically reviewed their work since completion and have been open in the past about elements they would potentially approach differently. The project strikes us as an exciting opportunity to apply regenerative frameworks and explore its potential beyond the original works. |
| Additional Useful Information | The project was declared Supreme Winner at the 2016 Housing Design Awards, and in 2019 the project was acclaimed by the "Building Better, Building Beautiful" Commission as an example of beauty in British housing design. Video introduction https://vimeo.com/235381656 Cany Ash, Ash Sakula architects, is known to pay particulat attention to exploring how people will live, how they will interact and how the design of the homes can facilitate these interactions, notably the balance between space for individual retreat and space for community. |
| Date Created | February 21, 2023 |