MSA Live 26

24/4/26

SESSION 7: ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY: WORKSHOP AT THE CFC

Having arranged with Mark and Lawrence to turn up to the Counselling and Family Centre at 10am, three of us, Taecho, Sofia and Nicolas, met up at the MTC just before 9am to pick up some of the equipment we would need and headed to the tram stop at St Peter’s. The tram ride was exciting - two of us had never been to the CFC before, or to Altrincham at all. Once we arrived, a short walk brought us to the building where we met up with Libby - who had driven instead, which made more sense for her living at home in Stockport. We made our way in slightly ahead of schedule, signed it at the reception and sat down in the cafe to prepare for the upcoming engagement activity.
We had with us 2 large A2 sheets which we had prepared in advance - one with options for potential colour palettes for the interior, and the other with a likes/dislikes and improvements column - as well as several printouts of a plan view of the CFC’s cafe and common room and cutouts of rooms within it, as well as with cutouts of furniture. While we were confident this would be easy to understand, and, ultimately, fun, we had to find a way to present this in an understandable way. Handily, we were given permission to use a large whiteboard that was standing in the cafe against the wall - so we stuck everything on, and, after some deliberation by means of having breakfast and a coffee, were ready to go.
The first two people we asked before going into the common room were two guys who worked at the CFC. They reacted extremely positively to the tasks and were very happy to take part and answer our questions - the main thing we got from them was that the layout of the cafe needed to be improved. Confident the tasks would work, we headed into the common room.
The main group of people we were to ‘survey’ were the Cafe friday club, a group of elderly people who gathered at the same time every week to socialise. We first entered and presented ourselves - explaining who we were and what we had come to do - after which we brought the whiteboard in. Sofia took control at this stage, explaining what each task we had created was about, with some of the rest of us adding to what she was explaining when it was necessary. Starting with the likes/dislikes and improvements suggestions task, the leader of the cafe Friday club started; soon, though, more people were contributing to the discussion, and in no time everyone was chipping in. While some of us listened, others took notes of what was being said. And there was a lot - from how there is no good storage space to how the lights were hideous, and from how they thought it was a shame their art was not on display (the common room is also being used for other things - such as for an art club) to how the ceiling was sagging and had already had to be repaired once recently when some squirrels got inside.
All those present also took turns to take a look at the colour palettes we had chosen and to place a vote using stickers next to their preferred option. Though we soon realised we had printed the colour palettes too small for comfort, Taecho was able to find them on his tablet and present them enlarged for the people to see better. Soon, a definite favourite emerged - the light, colourful colour palette which consisted of some soft greens, yellows and reds. As for room arrangement (the final task), we heard the same thing repeated - the toilets are inconveniently located (and should probably be moved somewhere outside), the kitchen could expand into where the toilets were currently, and the cafe needed reconfiguring and potentially expanding.
After around half an hour to 40 minutes with the cafe friday club we were satisfied we had gathered a fair amount of information and, conscious that they may want some time together to socialise, returned to the cafe, satisfied. We were not done yet, though - next we asked more members of reception for their opinion. One guy working in the cafe repeated what was said earlier - that he wished the kitchen was larger and that the cafe was better laid out - while another lady from reception that we had an especially long chat with was very enthusiastic about making better use of a dead space adjacent to the cafe which was lying empty at the date of visit, overgrown, but definitely with potential. Could that area turn into an outdoor seating area for use during the warmer months? Maybe even a pub garden?
We finished our time there at around 12pm with some final photos in the outside area, where the four of us posed with several members of the CFC and with our board, by now covered in post it notes with likes, dislikes and suggestions for improvements, as well as in stickers by certain colour palettes. The final results were convincing - the soft colourful colour palette, second down on our list, was a clear favourite with several times more votes than the next most popular option. As for suggestions for improvements, some popular ones were improving the lighting, adding better storage, moving the toilets and making better use of the space available (both in the cafe and outdoors). Room layouts mirrored what people had said in the suggestions. We didn’t end up using the furniture cutouts.
We left shortly after, pleased, as Libby headed off home in her car while the rest of us took the tram back to Manchester.

Course: MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse (AR)
Hello, everyone. My name is YUNCHEN YU. I'm from China. My undergraduate major was Interior Design in the field of Environmental Design. I am very interested in revitalizing and rejuvenating a place through renovation! This is my first time participating in MSA LIVE, which is organized by students from multiple majors. I hope to gain something from it and have a good time.

On Wednesday 22nd April, we had a meeting with our collaborators, at the Transport for Greater Manchester building in Picadilly. We came prepared with all of our individual design sketches, as well as the final concept we had developed as a group.
During the meeting, we received a lot of positive feedback. Our collaborator seemed pleased with the direction the bus stop design is taking. We also exchanged new ideas, including adding charging points, toilet units and incorporating passive surveillance features.
We will now take this feedback forward and continue refining our design, making the necessary adjustments based on the collaborator’s suggestions.
By the end of the meeting, we were all very happy with the outcome. It feels like we are on the right path and only need to make a few small changes to better align with the collaborator’s vision.
Overall, we gained a lot of use insight, and the meeting was a great success

23/04/26
Today we came back from the Easter holidays and we were able to catch up on the first workshop we did with the students. We discussed the key takeaways from the previous workshop which included what the students valued within the site such as chapel, court yards to socialise, gardens to grow food… As this week Laura will be leading the workshop and we won’t be there, we thought of an exercise for the students to do this week which we sent to Laura which is zooming into a specific space in the school and doing research about it and representing that in any way they want e.g. collage drawings floorplan. This way this would lead us well into the next workshop next week where we could take in the research and use it our final design concept. Therefore we discussed what we will do in the next session which included making a modular model from foam cardboard and putting their spaces into 1:200 scale.

Course: BA1 Architecture

Hi, my name is Ayesha! I am a first-year student at MSA. I am looking forward to working on my first live project with the charity Hyde Young People’s Enterprise (HYPE) to support the youth through our sports complex centre. This will build on my passion towards design where I can give back to the local community. I am looking forward to teaming up with my peers with different levels of knowledge to enhance my design skills and create something special for Hyde.

22/04/2026

After our model was 3D printed, we organised a community outreach event at Dandelion to gain an understanding of what the community that use the space wanted us to focus on, after we prepared ideas to present to them. Doing this event allowed us to meet with some great characters within the community, and through various conversations we knew that the community had some great ideas for improvement, including temperature and volume solutions, particularly in the gym area, solar panels on the south facing roof, as well as dividers in the main hall of the church as it can be overwhelming for some users of the space. Part of our presentation was having participants place emojis of ideas and concepts they liked, with examples being thumbs up and down, hearts, energy and green spaces.

Post Workshop Meeting

In todays group meeting everyone was in a positive engaging mood after a successful workshop with the volunteers at blossom. During the meeting we sat down around the site plan and carefully discussed each comment made by the volunteers, identifying key themes that emerged from the feedback. It was a truly productive session that helped us move our project forward ready for the action week.

W6: 21/04/2026 - 22/04/2026
Over the past 2 days, we finally got a reply from the community center we will be engaging with, and we executed our engagement activity! On short notice, we were told that this Wednesday craft group session would have less attendance, however, we used that to our advantage, as we got to gain deeper personal insights and experiences from the elder demographic who have witnessed and experienced the evolution of the city.

We were very lucky to engage with such friendly locals, who were fortunately on the same page, agreeing with our concept of repurposing the theatre. This creative group really helped us gain some valuable insights on the types of spaces we would create inside the theatre, which worked really well alongside the precedents and visual imagery we provided.

Overall, our engagement was considered successful, we were able to identify the gaps in the city, and now we have a clearer direction on how to fill these gaps.

Since we could not access the inside of our building, we also conducted an exterior site visit, allowing us to get a closer idea of it's materiality, size, form and context.

Hi, I'm Rebecca!

I'm a first year MArch student at Manchester School of Architecture and grew up in the countryside before moving to Leeds for my undergraduate degree. Living in Yorkshire created a great appreciation for walking and hiking, so I'm extremely excited to be working with Greater Manchester Ringway to encourage more people to walk the routes and get out into nature!

Kiki, Do you love me?

/Ziying He
//I live in Kunming, Yunnan—a city especially favored by sunlight, and one of China’s most soulful coffee-producing regions. Even the air here seems to carry a hint of bitterness followed by a lingering sweetness.
//In moments when work wears me down, I turn to a restrained and rational Americano to bring myself back to a state of clarity and efficiency. But on an afternoon when the sunlight is just right, I prefer to slow down and cradle a soft, velvety latte—letting sweetness and bitterness intertwine on my palate, and allowing time itself to feel a little less urgent.
//Perhaps, in the end, we all need a touch of romance to push back against the rough edges of life.

Session 9: The “Everyone Has an Opinion” Session

This session was where things got real. No more guessing, no more “this might work”. We finally took our ideas to Brookfield Unitarian Church and let the community tell us what they actually think. Slightly terrifying, but mostly very useful.

We set things up with our plans, precedent images, and our carefully prepared (and rehearsed) explanation of the project. The idea was simple: keep it open, let people react, and see where the conversation goes. And it definitely went somewhere… in about ten different directions at once.

A big theme that quickly emerged was the classic open vs closed debate. Some people loved the idea of flexible, open spaces, while others immediately asked for partitions, dividers, and ways to split things up. But (of course) no one wanted to completely lose connection. People still wanted to see and hear what’s happening in the main hall, especially from the kitchen. So essentially: divide the space, but don’t actually divide it. Simple.

Accessibility also came up, and this was a bit of a reality check. While the church is clearly inclusive in its values, the building itself doesn’t fully support that. A wheelchair user pointed out that although there is a movable ramp to come inside, the movement inside is still quite limited.

Then came the very real, very practical concerns. Heating, for example, takes over three hours (yes, three hours), which explains a lot. Naturally, people suggested breaking the space into smaller sections to make it more efficient. Storage also became a surprisingly big topic, like everything from general storage to “where do we keep the lawn mower?” made an appearance. Design meets reality.

The kitchen turned out to be more important than expected. Not because of cooking (tea and coffee seem to be the main event), but because it’s a social space. People want to stay connected while using it. Hence, ideas like a serving hatch, seating nearby, and maintaining visibility into the main hall.

We also briefly touched on bigger ideas like temporary structures and external additions… which were quickly brought back down to earth by planning rules and costs. A gentle reminder that architecture does, in fact, have limits.

All in all, a slightly chaotic, very honest, and genuinely insightful session. Lots of opinions, a few contradictions, but exactly what we needed.

Day 5 - Development

We’ve now finalized our core design ideas and started moving them from concept to paper and into detailed renderings. After the Easter break, each team member shared their individual progress. Through a round of peer feedback, we were able to collaboratively refine our approaches before moving into the next phase of development.

21/04/26

Alongside the SketchUp modelling session today, one of our first year students took some time to hand sketch a proposal for an outdoor seating area for the existing café at Seedley Pavilion.

The sketches looked at how seating could be arranged to make better use of the outdoor space around the café, complementing the garden environment and encouraging people to linger and connect with the space. It was a nice reminder of how much can be communicated through a simple pencil drawing, and the sketches will serve as a useful reference as we continue to develop the wider masterplan vision for the site. Thanks Tina!

In the final week of regular MSA live meetings, we discussed what we’ve done so far, covering engagements, past sessions and more. We were joined by a MLA1 student, prompting reintroductions and a good summary of what our project involves. We then explored what there was still to do, planning our presentation, and intensive week, forming an action plan. We then divided into groups, each taking on a different task. It was a very productive session!

24/3/26 Fifth meeting
We arrived at Worthington Park at 9:30 to set up the tables and posters for our coffee morning and fix parts of the model which had broken on the way.

The morning was quiet at first, but after 11 it became busy with passerby and volunteers sharing strong opinions and raising important issues we hadn’t considered. A key debate was whether dogs should be allowed on site with some wanting a dog-free area and others feeling this would be impossible to enforce in a park. There were also discussions on whether it would be possible to build paths and shelter for the benches.

Finally our collaborators informed us that the fox den had to remain, so our focus should shift toward designing ways to coexist with the wildlife rather than relocating it.

My name is Minzheng Han and I am studying Architectural and adaptive reuse at Manchester School of Architecture. I graduated from China. My major is architecure.

I’m particularly interested in digital design and adaptive reuse, especially how computational tools can help us rethink and transform existing buildings.

I’m also really interested in the renovation of historic architecture — not just preserving it, but finding ways to adapt it to contemporary use while keeping its spatial and cultural value.

Hi, I’m Selin and I’m a BA1 Architecture student. I’m committed to creating and participating in environmentally conscious, forward-thinking, and adaptable projects. I’m excited to be a part of this MSA Live project which is a an amazing opportunity to connect and build community.

17/03/26

As part of our community engagement task, we visited Stockport to gather insights from local residents about arts, craft, and cultural opportunities in the area.

During the session, we spoke directly with members of the public, asking them what they would like to see introduced or improved in terms of cultural activities. This included suggestions for creative spaces, events, and community-led initiatives.

To make the process interactive and place-based, members of the public were also invited to mark locations on a map of Stockport. They placed pins on areas they felt would benefit from new cultural interventions. This helped us identify specific sites that the community perceives as underused, lacking cultural activity, or having strong potential for development.

Through this engagement, we gathered a range of ideas and perspectives, providing valuable insight into local needs and priorities. The combination of conversation and mapping allowed us to better understand not just what people want, but also where they feel change is most needed.

Summary of our Site Visit

16/04/2026
With 5 days until our workshop at the school, we went to the MTC to print all the things we would need for the activities. We printed 3 copies of everything for each of the classes and split them up so that we would have it ready on Tuesday.

Group 13: Meeting Oskar "with a K"

Alongside the tote-spraying workshop, the Withington Walls x Mandem Meetup event also featured a live mural created by Oskar “with a K.” Taking a short break from painting to pose for a photo, he spoke with Macie and Cian about his work after hearing about the MSA Live 2026 project. Oskar spoke warmly about the Baths and the surrounding community, reminiscing on his role in organising the 2024 Paint Jam held at the site.

Having already spent time admiring the murals in the external courtyard, it was especially valuable to hear the story behind them. The Paint Jam, he explained, was organised to celebrate and promote street art culture across Manchester.

The conversation also highlighted the Baths’ wider cultural and social significance. Inspired by the site's continued association to activism, the group reflected on the Bath's impact, from advancing gender integrated bathing, to the community protests from 2013-2015 to save the Baths.

Meeting 6

07.04.2026

Last couple of days before our groups engagement activity day. Discussing and agreeing on the activities to be carried out on the day and what is necessary to prepare beforehand (printing, model making etc). The proposed plan sets out 3 activities we hope to carry out at our stall prepared by the collaborators at the Market Hall. Each activity will allow us to engage with the contacts the collaborators has arranged to attend on the day. They will allow us to have a set of different outcomes that will help us with a proposed design and ideas moving forward.

We're set to meet on 09.04.2026 to prepare all PIS forms and consent forms, flyers, posters and activity sheets and models for the big day!

Trip to Wigan- PART 2
31/03/26

Towards the end of the day, our group gathered in a meeting room to brainstorm ideas for the proposed community space in St Nathaniel's Church in Wigan. We shared ideas on how the Church can be reimagined as a flexible and welcoming hub for the youth. Ideas ranged from a library or book swap corner to an arts and craft workshops later turned into exhibitions, roller skating, dance sessions, movie nights or even a sports hall. We also considered the possibility of using breakout rooms for skill learning workshops to connect generations, support those who are lonely and ultimately break barriers across the community.
Using our online survey, we hope to explore the outcomes of responses from students and stakeholders and how their feedback will shape the design direction.

This week we met up and drove to Monton Unitarian Church for a site visit. We were able to walk around the bowling green, taking in the surroundings, photos, and relevant measurements.

We then met up with our client, Reverend Anna, and presented the work and design we made so far. She liked the design as well as the precedents we used for it and had feedback about changes she would like to see: prioritising a fixed roof over fixed structure (better weather proofing), feedback on size & location of structure on the site, and overall feedback on expectations.

Overall we enjoyed the site visit as well as Anna’s feedback very much, and found it very valuable. We established some next steps, and discussed the feasibility & budget of the project. As it is ambitious with the given budget, we might have difficulties to see the project to construction within the time given. Therefore we mentioned the possibility to work towards a finished design & fundraising for next year’s group (or potential different adaptive reuse projects).

Finalising Design Directions & Preparing for the Site Meeting​
17 March 2026

In our fourth group session, we focused on consolidating design ideas and planning for the upcoming site meeting on 31 March. The team engaged in detailed brainstorming on the interior spaces of the Hartley Huts, reviewed initial sketches and material studies, and incorporated structured feedback on our project plan from our tutor Jason.

To prepare for the client presentation, we have outlined the following deliverables and divided tasks accordingly. BA1 and Foundation students will take the lead in developing material studies, ramp proposals, and an indicative site plan that highlights key interventions—including the volunteer hub, heritage display hut, bridge upgrades, accessible ramp, seating areas, and seasonal event features.

The goal is to communicate our design intent clearly and gather valuable feedback, which will help us refine the proposals in the coming weeks leading to the final presentation.

We are all set for an insightful client meeting and look forward to sharing our progress!

For our engagement session, once preparation was complete and despite all the hail, the engagement team managed to travel to our site. Our activities surrounded 2 primary questions about the area; the first was a post-it note pin-up board with the question being “what challenges do you [the clientele] face when coming [to the site].” This allowed the public to write their own opinions on the matter, giving us information on what the public thought could improve the area. The engagement for this was good, but contributions were more related towards access, such as car parks and paths, as well as events the leisure centre hosts. However, the second engagement activity was much more successful; we printed out a cartoon map of our selected area alongside various fun models of potential outdoor appliances with the intention being that the participating public could create their own ideal outdoor space. This was placed alongside the question “What would your perfect outdoor space look like?” This activity gave us a range of different responses across all ages; the younger audience preferred a playground area, including slides and climbing frames. Some of the older members agreed with this, including seating areas to watch their kids and to relax after the gym, whereas some just preferred a nice seating area with a lot of greenery which we noticed was absent in the surrounding area, a place to have a picnic for example after the gym. A common theme was not to include outdoor gym equipment, as a lot of the members were content with all the equipment in the gym. Overall, this engagement activity gave us a variety of useful opinions on what the site needs and how we can please all members of the leisure centre.

Today we had yet another successful meeting. We started as usual looking the research and produce we brought in. As the MAs continue to work through the 3D maps, the MArchs and the BAs discuss the hub’s materiality, furniture, location and innovation sustainable features. This will allow us to scope down the range of our design output later on. After narrowing down the useful ideas, we revised out timeline and confirmed the date April 21st as our engagement day, working to gain public opinion. We tasked ourselves with bringing in materials and completion of the 3D maps. Additional meetings before the date will be informed through our group chat as usual. We got this!

17 March 2026 @ Sam Alex

/ Fortnightly Progress Meeting
Today’s agenda was to discuss the details of what we are going to do during the engagement session with the Mossley community, and grouping ourselves into small teams to handle different tasks based on our strengths.

Week 4 - 17/03/2026

This week marked a shift from analysis towards direct engagement with the schools. Building upon our understanding of each site, as well as previous meetings with our collaborators regarding community engagement, we began planning how to involve the children and local users in shaping the design of their school streets.

A key focus of this session was balancing how to engage the children in a way that felt both accessible and empowering. We discussed possible activities where the children could feel as though they are actively reclaiming their streets through their design ideas. We also wanted the activity to serve as valuable insight and evidence to support the importance of the project, demonstrating how our design proposals would be directly rooted in the needs and aspirations of the school communities.

Possible ideas we explored for the engagement activities included using playful and temporary methods, such as water-based paint or chalk, allowing the children to directly draw on their ideas onto their streets. We also considered activities that could better fit within the children’s school schedules. One option was to set a simple design task they could do over the Easter holidays where the children could draw and write on a simplified site plan of their street.

Overall, the aim is to keep the task open-ended and easy to understand for the age group, while still generating meaningful insights that can inform our design proposals.

Looking ahead, the next stages of the project will involve organising visits to the schools and implementing these engagements activities. The outcomes of this process will eventually be developed into individual design schemes for each school site.

In our fourth MSA LIVE group meeting, we consolidated our approach to initiating the conceptual design phase of the scheme. Framing our outputs as four distinct Dens of Discovery, we structured the discussion around three core strands: form and structure (including the use of natural and recycled materials), function (defining the intended use of each dwelling), and site placement (identifying specific locations informed by key landmarks and areas of interest).

Through early sketch iterations, consideration of how non-human actors might be indirectly embedded within the design, and a review of individual material and spatial preferences across the group, we established a clear and workable direction for the next stage of development.

All will be revealed soon enough!

During our site visit, precise measurements were conducted. Integrating these with the existing floor plans provided by our collaborator, we have developed digital models in both Rhino and SketchUp to serve as the foundation for subsequent design development. Our next phase of engagement will involve generating drawings and renderings to explore and present design options for our end-users.

17/02/2026
Today was our second scheduled meeting. Starting with the poster we discussed the current design and suggested improvements to be made before the submission. We uploaded our project description, completed our first few blog posts and started to talk over our: project timeline, budget, risk assessment and ethics application. Finally we divided up the tasks for the next two weeks.

Meeting 02 — 17/02/2026

On our second group meeting, we focused on further improving the poster and its supporting description. We discussed the overall look and its definition of United Didsbury church, including texture, layout decisions, and agreeing on clear titles that communicate the project direction.

Project direction
We then divided into smaller groups to cover the key project strands. This included developing the risk assessment, outlining ethical considerations, setting up the project timeline, and starting a basic budget framework so we can track deliverables and responsibilities more clearly moving forward.

This Monday, Group 5 took the initiative to visit the site in Macclesfield for the first time. After meeting with our collaborator, she guided us on a tour through the museum, walking us through each exhibition space and sharing her perspective on the current challenges the site faces. Seeing the space in person immediately helped us better understand some issues we had previously discussed. One challenge was that the exhibitions felt disconnected from one another in accessibility and theme. The access points between rooms were often unclear, which made navigation confusing and disrupted the overall visitor journey. We also observed that some areas felt cluttered, with displays competing for attention, while others were much more thought-out. The room with the looms and historic flooring, in particular, stood out for its thoughtful layout, demonstrating how impactful the space could be when designed with care. This contrast highlighted the potential for improvement across the rest of the museum. The layout itself was occasionally disorienting. For example, the first exhibition visitors encounter focuses on ancient Egypt, which feels unrelated to the museum’s core theme of silk. This raised questions about how the museum's narrative is introduced and whether the sequence of spaces could be restructured to create a clearer, more cohesive story, for example, by moving the initial access point and the cafe to the other side of the building. During the visit, we documented the space by taking measurements and photographs to support our later analysis and design work. This practical step felt important, as it gave us concrete information to refer back to when developing our design proposal. Overall, the visit was extremely valuable. Experiencing the museum firsthand gave us a much clearer understanding of both its strengths and its problem areas, and it helped ground our ideas for engagement and design in the realities of the space. The trip left us feeling better prepared for the next stage of the project.