Group 21
INSPIRE BRADFORD

In live collaboration with Bradford Civic Society, our team Inspire Bradford focuses on the heritage area of Bradford’s city centre, Little Germany. With an emphasis on building reuse and retrofitting, the project encourages our team to explore through a variety of scales as we consider the adaptation of existing buildings. The project brief is drawn from Bradford District’s Economic Recovery Plan (2020), in which the heritage site Little Germany is considered for a ‘Neighbourhood Retrofit’, creating a ‘15-minute neighbourhood’ in which access to local work, retail and services are sustained within the area. Through the development a masterplan for the site, we aim to offer solutions for the city that inspire the adaptive reuse of the existing structures. Our team will work collaboratively to investigate and understand the area of Bradford, consider relevant precedents and create a design proposal that creates a ‘Sustainable District’.

Download Final Report

Catherine Zena P / Jonathan B / Diana Iona U / Tania I / Alexandru M / Jordan Hin Ho W

Catherine Zena P
Social Value // The social value within Inspire Bradford considers the positive effect that adaptive building reuse and retrofit can have on cities and residents. The project intends to encourage the reuse of existing structures as an alternative to demolition and ‘the new’. The masterplan proposals will tackle current climatic issues and create a larger-scale solution to building fabrics and energy systems. On a local level, the project programme includes the upskilling of Bradford’s local communities which have been disproportionally affected by current circumstances. The project brief is drawn from Bradford District’s Economic Recovery Plan (2020), in which the area of the city centre in focus is considered for a ‘Neighbourhood Retrofit’, creating a ‘15-minute neighbourhood’ in which access to local work, retail and services are sustained within the area.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:20
Catherine Zena P
Skills // Inspire Bradford will predominantly look at master-planning solutions to the Little Germany area of Bradford city centre. Within this project our team will develop skills in building reuse which are becoming increasingly important as the world endures the climate emergency. On a large scale, the task therefore introduces issues that are relevant in today’s society and challenges that architects, and urban planners will have to consider in the future. On a smaller scale, our team will consider particular heritage values of buildings, deciphering the need to remove and retain aspects and study the smaller details of a building’s fabric. We will develop these skills through live discussions and presentations with external architects, exploration through sketching and CAD modelling and visualisation software.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:21
Catherine Zena P
Collaborator // Inspire Bradford will be working in live collaboration with Kieran Thompson from Bradford Civic Society. Since 1942, the organisation has championed Bradford’s heritage and built environment, with the mission to inspire Bradfordians to love where they live. They encourage higher standards of design and architecture in future developments and intend to achieve this within the area of Little Germany.

Find out more about Bradford Civic Society and the work they do at: https://bradfordcivicsociety.co.uk/.
Twitter: @Bradfordcivic
Instagram: @Bradfordcivic
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:22
Catherine Zena P
Catherine // MA01 // Hi, I’m from Manchester and working in the Continuity in Architecture atelier. I studied my Undergraduate degree at Liverpool John Moores University before working with Bluesky Design Services. I worked for a year at the practice based in Stockport prior to joining MSA. One fact about myself is that I have two chihuahuas.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:23
Jonathan B
Jonathan // MA01 // Hello, I live just outside of Manchester and am currently working in the Continuity in architecture atelier. Last year I completed my undergraduate degree at Newcastle University and went straight to study my Masters, so did not take a year out in practice. One fact about myself is that I have an unhealthy addiction to collecting architectural books (89 and counting)!
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:31
Tania I
Tania // MA01 // Hello, I’m from Manchester and my atelier is Continuity in Architecture (CiA). I completed my undergraduate degree at the Manchester School of Architecture and took part in ‘MSA Live’ myself. One fact about me is that I was born in Germany and lived there for a couple of years before moving to the UK.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:32
Jordan Hin Ho W
Jordan // MA01 // Hi, I’m from Manchester and my atelier is U.S.E. I also did my undergrad at MSA, but having moved directly to MArch from BA, I have not completed a year out in practice yet. A fact about myself is that I have lived in Manchester all my life and will probably never move away from the city.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 12:55
Diana Iona U
Diana // MA01 // Hi! I’m Diana and I’m from Romania. I moved to Manchester almost 5 years ago to study at MSA, then worked for a year at LSI Architects in London. I’m currently in the Continuity in Architecture atelier. One fact about me is that I have two tattoos, both with winter theme.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 13:17
Alexandru M
Hi there! I’m Alexandru and I am a fifth-year student in the Continuity in Architecture atelier. Before this, I came straight from Romania to Manchester for my BA at MSA and a year in practice at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. One interesting fact about me is that I am into sports and recently got better at bouldering.
Posted 2 Mar 2021 13:58
Tania I
Confirmed // Arup // We are pleased to confirm Terry Lee-Williams, Director of Transport Advisory Europe, from Arup for a live discussion and talk with Inspire Bradford on the ‘Designing of the Fifteen Minute Neighbourhood’ (FMN). We anticipate to spark some interesting thoughts and opinions on the designing of these neighbourhoods under the topic of building reuse and thinking about our site in Bradford. Terry will be joined by Manuel Garrido, Leader of Master-planning, and Lean Doddy, Euro Cities Leader, to join the discussions lead by Inspire Bradford.

Find out more about Arup’s fifteen minute neighbourhood on their website.
Posted 5 Mar 2021 13:04
Catherine Zena P
Little Germany Article // Bradford Civic Society have shared on Twitter an article written in the Telegraph & Argus on the ‘New Proposals to bring life back to Bradford’s iconic Little Germany area’, outlining the live project we are involved in!
Read this article here: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/19137022.amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Posted 5 Mar 2021 13:04
Catherine Zena P
Follow us on Instagram // To collaborate on social media with our external partner, Bradford Civic Society, we have set up an Instagram account. We’ll be regularly posting to the account to share our project journey.
Follow us! @inspire_bradford
Posted 29 Apr 2021 11:17
Catherine Zena P
Confirmed // Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios // We are excited to confirm that Peter Mitchell from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios will be joining us for a live discussion and talk. This gives the Inspire Bradford team an opportunity to learn about master planning principles and live projects within the studio work of FCB Studios. We hope to engage in some informative discussions and develop stimulating ideas!

Find out more about the work Feilden Clegg Bradley does at: https://fcbstudios.com/work
Posted 29 Apr 2021 14:02
Catherine Zena P
One Week to go! // The MA01 team have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare and organise the two-week timetable. So far, we have finalised our session plan, risk assessment and poster, whilst starting up our blog and Instagram.
In preparation for next week, our tasks have included coordinating project workshops, collaborating with our guest speakers and getting started on our initial masterplan.
We look forward to meeting the rest of the Inspire Bradford team next week and making a start on this exciting project!

Keep up to date with us through our Instagram @inspire_bradford
Posted 3 May 2021 16:20
Jonathan B
Week One // MSA Live 21 has begun! The Inspire Bradford team all met today, covered introductions and outlined the project plan for the next two weeks.

Our first week includes getting to know the Little Germany site, with a virtual tour from our collaborator Bradford Civic Society and through detailed site analysis, the team will establish an approach. We are focusing on master-planning and building re-use themes and are looking forward to welcoming associates from Feilden Clegg Bradley and Arup, to discuss with us their previous works and share ideas on the Little Germany site.

By the end of the week, we intend to have a deeper understanding of the site, its heritage values and to have begun developing our master-planning approach and proposals.
Posted 10 May 2021 17:36
Jonathan B
Day One // Monday’s Timetable
10:00 - 10:45 Introductions
11:00 - 12:30 Virtual tour of Little Germany District from the Bradford Civic Society.
13:30 - 14:45 Principles and precedents for master-planning and building re-use.
15:00 - 16:30 MArch portfolio presentations
Posted 10 May 2021 17:37
Jonathan B
Site Introductions // A huge thank you to our collaborator Kieran for giving us an insightful ‘Virtual Tour’ around Bradford’s ‘Little Germany’ as well as an in depth understanding of the wider city! Looking briefly at the site and surrounding areas, Kieran helped identify some key points for improvement but also opportunities in how we can bring life back to the currently unused part of Bradford through an effective masterplan and building re-use scheme.

We look forward to delving deeper into the analysis of Little Germany as we begin to develop initial responses to the site based on its historical, social and pragmatic nature over the coming days. So watch this space for more updates on our progress tomorrow!
Posted 10 May 2021 17:38
Diana Iona U
Day Two // Tuesday’s Timetable
10:00 - 10:45 Site recap & splitting into analysis groups.
11:00 – 16:30 Site analysis in smaller groups, looking into the historic development, social aspects and pragmatic analysis.
Posted 11 May 2021 17:00
Catherine Zena P
Site Analysis // Social Analysis.
One aspect of site exploration we deemed important is that of the social aspects of Little Germany. With the collaborator, Bradford Civic Society, considering the area as one in which is predominantly vacant and unused by visitors to the city centre, it is written within our brief to bring back life to the space. In order to propose successful interventions to improve the social aspect of Little Germany, we first had to understand it’s current position.

Through analysis and exploration of the current building uses, the demographics of the area and the space for social amenities, we sketched, researched and created diagrammatic drawings of our findings. One interesting aspect we found is that the BBC programme Peaky Blinders (along with many other shows), have filmed within the streets of Little Germany!
Find out more about what’s been filmed in the streets of Little Germany here: https://filmedinyorkshire.co.uk/locations/little-germany-bradford/
Posted 11 May 2021 17:38
Diana Iona U
Pragmatic analysis
Our subgroup looked at the pragmatic aspects of the site, this includes site geometry, street hierarchy, access routes and environmental analysis. This analysis forms a base information that will guide us for the masterplan principles.
We started the session by creating a base map file in Illustrator and then came up with a list of outputs. As part of the research, we investigated the latest Conservation Area Appraisal. We produced a series of diagrams, sketches and started a Sketchup model to use in the following days.
Posted 11 May 2021 17:57
Jonathan B
Site Analysis // Historic Analysis

The Historic analysis group looked into the history and narrative of Little Germany. First developed by wealthy European merchants, the city welcomed people from Italy, Ireland and most notably Germany who in turn built a number of Neo-classical buildings that make up the area. The wealthy entrepreneurs moved to the city to make use of its thriving textile industry that was booming for much of the 18th Century.

We looked into mapping this history, both chronologically through historic figure ground analysis and timelines as well as in more abstracted ways through the experimentation of photomontages. Additionally we produced mappings of the various listed buildings that are spread across the site as well as understanding what used to be in the vacant plots that are now used as car parking. We look forward to sharing our findings with the rest of the group tomorrow in developing our understanding of Little Germany!
Posted 11 May 2021 18:02
Catherine Zena P
Day Three // Wednesday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:00 Peter Mitchell from Feilden Clegg Bradley live talk!
11:15 – 13:00 Sharing our site analysis and findings from yesterday. Discussion of thoughts from the mornings talk, establishing initial approach to master-planning.
Posted 12 May 2021 13:58
Catherine Zena P
Live Talk // Peter Mitchell from Feilden Clegg Bradley joined Inspire Bradford this morning to introduce us to the master-planning principles they incorporate. Peter shared precedents from FCB’s portfolio which were completed in similar scales or themes to the Little Germany site and brief. One precedent we enjoyed discussing was the Circle Square development, on the previous BBC Headquarters site on Oxford Road. The inclusion of a large, open park space is something we think could provide benefits to the densely built-up area of Little Germany.

Peter introduced us to how he would initially approach a masterplan project. The importance of creating a ‘design code’ and outlining principles to which the masterplan will employ and follow. This started an informative discussion within the group, allowing us to identify aspects of the site which we read as opportunities or constraints, based on the site analysis work we completed yesterday.

We all found this talk very informative and again would like to thank Peter for his input and time!
Posted 12 May 2021 14:15
Catherine Zena P
Sharing Site Analysis // Following the sub-group work we completed yesterday, one task we engaged in today was sharing the findings as a whole group.
The historic analysis sub-group began the talk, discussing the findings and history of Little Germany, its rise and fall over time. They established that a lot of the site buildings are Grade II listed and found some really interesting photographs of the site throughout time!
The social analysis group focussed on the current social amenities within Little Germany, identifying the area as one in which has little open to the public or for recreation. The site borders the Broadway Shopping Centre, which is a large retail site for the city, it is also in close proximity to the Cathedral and on the periphery of the city centre, meaning it is a great location to introduce new social amenities.
The pragmatic analysis group studied aspects of the site including site geometry, street hierarchy, access routes and environmental analysis. The diagrams and analysis collated by the group have already started to inform decisions for the masterplan including arrival and access points.

We look forward to seeing how the collated analysis from all of the Inspire Bradford team begin to inform the first design decisions!
Posted 12 May 2021 14:28
Catherine Zena P
Day Four // Thursday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:15 Drawing activity – designing your ideal ‘15-minute neighbourhood’ (FMN)
11:30 – 12:30 Discussion of ‘FMN’ concept with Arup
13:30 – 14:30 Establishing initial masterplan moves
14:45 – 16:45 Developing our ‘FMN’ in Little Germany
Posted 13 May 2021 13:24
Catherine Zena P
Fifteen-Minute Neighbourhood Sketching // We started the day with a quick drawing exercise where we represented our idea for a fifteen-minute neighbourhood.
In response to the site analysis completed on Tuesday and the article by Arup on ‘Designing the fifteen-minute city’, the team produced a variety of different concepts and drawings in a range of mediums. This work collated our ideas relating to the needs and requirements for people to live comfortably within a fifteen-minute city, providing everything from amenities to education and health care. The diagrams, sketches and photomontages enabled us to have an informative and productive conversation with Terry, Lean and Manuel, from Arup, as they challenged us to respond to the wider context of Little Germany.

You can read Arup’s article that influenced our activity this morning at: https://www.arup.com/perspectives/designing-the-fifteen-minute-neighbourhood
Posted 13 May 2021 17:31
Jonathan B
ARUP Live Talk // This morning Inspire Bradford were joined by Terry Lee-Williams, Manuel Garrido and Lean Doody from Arup for a discussion on the development of a fifteen minute neighbourhood in Little Germany. We shared our findings from the historic, social and pragmatic site analysis carried out over the week as well as the ideas generated from our early sketching activity looking into what we thought should be included in a fifteen minute neighbourhood. Terry, Manuel and Lean identified that Bradford already exhibited many of the qualities needed for a fifteen minute neighbourhood and that Little Germany was a part of the wider strategy for the city. As such the focus shifted in the project, looking more at how Little Germany could become a district in the city with a designated purpose that suited its context. Since the talk we have begun to identify what Little Germany should be and why as an area it is failing, whilst also developing principles that will aid the design of our masterplan for the area. We look forward to building on these ideas tomorrow and into next week as we look reintegrate Little Germany into the life of Bradford.

You can read more on Arup’s research into fifteen minute neighbourhoods here: https://www.arup.com/perspectives/designing-the-fifteen-minute-neighbourhood
Posted 13 May 2021 17:32
Catherine Zena P
Day Five // Friday’s Timetable
10:00 – 12:30 Developing master-planning concepts in sub-group explorations
13:30 – 14:00 Sharing sub-group concepts and ideas
14:15 – 16:30 Group drawing activity – in two teams Inspire Bradford will work collaboratively to draw on Miro as we develop two masterplans
Posted 14 May 2021 09:58
Catherine Zena P
Developing Conceptual Ideas // Drawing on the findings from our site analysis and the developing ideas from our '15-minute neighbourhood’ exercise, we worked in sub-groups to formulate some initial moves for the masterplan.

The first group considered the impact we could have on Little Germany should we demolish every building which is not listed. A large proportion of the buildings on the site are Grade II Listed providing constraints to the changing or demolition of such buildings. This study alarmed us to one particular road which had almost every building Listed and so forth enabled us to recognise its significance in Little Germany.

The second group studied precedents around the theme of interventions which could be translated into the masterplan design. They looked into a variety of interventions ranging from public space, urban sculptures, static interventions, urban fabric patterns and mobile pavilions. The precedents found offered an insight into potential ideas for transient activities which could bring back life into Little Germany.

The third group collated conclusions of the ’15-minute neighbourhood’ (FMN). Following the discussions with Arup, we began to consider the city of Bradford as its own ’15-minute neighbourhood’ and Little Germany playing a piece within that. Analysis then into the area of the wider context of the city, provided us with reflections on the site and ideas into the type of space that Little Germany needed to become to make a successful ‘FMN’.
Posted 14 May 2021 17:13
Jonathan B
Re-building Little Germany: GROUP A // This afternoon we finally put pen to ‘virtual’ paper! By splitting into two groups and drawing on a shared Miro board, we began to build on what we had learned through the week and propose developments for Little Germany. Amazingly, both groups through separate discussions developed very similar themes throughout their proposals. First was the identification of Little Germany as an area with rich historic qualities that are used in various period dramas on TV. This encouraged the groups to be considerate about which facades and buildings were kept and which were more disposable. This was dependent on their value to the area and its image for TV which has become a main selling point for the area. New interventions and ideas are then built around this concept, that Little Germany should become a new artistic, media fragment of Bradford and encourage more involvement from TV studios, but also become an area is which creative arts and media can be produced.

Both groups also identified that cars were a huge issue for the ground level of Little Germany. As such, both employed methods to keep traffic out of the area and place greater emphasis on giving control back to pedestrians. In doing so, car parks are placed around the periphery of the site, one group even proposed to submerge the car parks to help take them out of the space entirely!

The activity has taken a huge step towards developing our solution to Little Germany, we look forward to developing these ideas further at the start of next week!
Posted 14 May 2021 17:21
Jonathan B
Re-building Little Germany: GROUP B // This afternoon we finally put pen to ‘virtual’ paper! By splitting into two groups and drawing on a shared Miro board, we began to build on what we had learned through the week and propose developments for Little Germany. Amazingly, both groups through separate discussions developed very similar themes throughout their proposals. First was the identification of Little Germany as an area with rich historic qualities that are used in various period dramas on TV. This encouraged the groups to be considerate about which facades and buildings were kept and which were more disposable. This was dependent on their value to the area and its image for TV which has become a main selling point for the area. New interventions and ideas are then built around this concept, that Little Germany should become a new artistic, media fragment of Bradford and encourage more involvement from TV studios, but also become an area is which creative arts and media can be produced.

Both groups also identified that cars were a huge issue for the ground level of Little Germany. As such, both employed methods to keep traffic out of the area and place greater emphasis on giving control back to pedestrians. In doing so, car parks are placed around the periphery of the site, one group even proposed to submerge the car parks to help take them out of the space entirely!

The activity has taken a huge step towards developing our solution to Little Germany, we look forward to developing these ideas further at the start of next week!
Posted 14 May 2021 17:22
Catherine Zena P
Week Two // It’s the final week of MSA Live 21 and Inspire Bradford are ready to pick up where we left off! After a relaxing weekend, the team are ready to continue master-planning and create a design solution for Little Germany.

Our first week included getting to know the Little Germany site, undertaking site analysis, exploring precedent and establishing an initial approach to the area. We enjoyed welcoming Peter Mitchell from Feilden Clegg Bradley and associates from Arup, in which we had very informative and creative conversations relating to both precedent and the Little Germany site.

This week we intend to finalise our master-planning proposal, create visuals and conclusions to the approach we propose to regenerate the site. We are looking forward to welcoming OMI Architects for a talk on Wednesday and to share our finalised ideas with Bradford Civic Society and Plot Twist at the end of the week!
Posted 17 May 2021 17:19
Catherine Zena P
Day Six // Monday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:15 Refining master-planning iterations .
11:30 – 12:30 Group presentations of masterplan iterations and defining our finial approach.
13:30 – 14:30 Masterplan representation – visually drawing out our masterplan strategy.
Posted 17 May 2021 17:22
Catherine Zena P
Defining the Masterplan Strategy // Today we collated our finial masterplan iteration!
After working in two separate groups to establish a masterplan scheme, we collated together the finial approach. Both the two masterplans were similar in design, based on the findings from our site analysis and precedent research, but took slightly different ideas to the central area of the site. Following establishing the central area as called ‘Festival Square’, the approaches both included creating a space for social activity. One group considered the area as a larger connection with a proposed Art Gallery space, and the other proposed the space as a transient market and events space, pedestrianising the road through. The amalgamation of the two designs encouraged conversations from the team and stimulated conflicting ideas. With the Inspire Bradford team all championing the same outcome for the site, this was a productive and rewarding task we all participated in.

Our next steps include the development of the strategy, refining the approach and creating visuals to convince Bradford Civic Society of the proposals!
Posted 17 May 2021 17:41
Catherine Zena P
Day Seven // Tuesday’s Timetable
10:00 – 12:30 Masterplan representation – defining our strategies and visually representing ideas.
13:30 – 14:00 Sharing master-planning strategies and visuals.
14:15 – 16:30 Continuing to develop visual studies of the masterplan and the key spaces we’re proposing.
Posted 18 May 2021 17:12
Catherine Zena P
Master-planning Representation – Drawing Strategies // The Inspire Bradford team have been working within two groups today as we develop our visual representation of the master-planning proposal.

The strategy group have been working to develop diagrammatic and figure ground drawings of the masterplan. This has involved individually working to represent different aspects of the proposals including demolition drawings, building use, access and arrival point figure grounds, locating areas of key interventions and refined masterplan drawings. The processes have been documented on the Miro board meaning the team can share ideas and take inspiration from each other. Techniques have been developed in Photoshop, Illustrator and Procreate combining a mixture of hand drawings with software to develop drawings and visually represent ideas.

The above image was created by Ollie (BA 02) and identifies key areas of social intervention.
Posted 18 May 2021 17:18
Catherine Zena P
Master-planning Representation – Creating Visuals // The Inspire Bradford team have been working within two groups today as we develop our visual representation of the master-planning proposal.

The visual group have been working predominantly with photomontage techniques, hand drawing and sketching to represent key areas of the proposals. This has included creating both night-time and daytime scenes of the streets of Little Germany, showing how different spaces are lit and inhabited at different times. Images have included showing the proposed art mural walls, overhangs through the streets and activity within new public squares. Drawings have been shared on the team Miro board so we can collaboratively see the project develop and share ideas and improvements.

This image was created by Zahra (BA 02) showing the proposed street interventions on the Little Germany masterplan.
Posted 18 May 2021 17:19
Catherine Zena P
Day Eight // Wednesday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:00 Live talk from OMI Architects.
11:15 – 13:00 Master-planning representation continuation.
Posted 19 May 2021 12:28
Catherine Zena P
OMI Live Talk // Inspire Bradford were joined this morning by Aaron Coey from OMI Architects. Aaron introduced the team to a selection of precedents of work completed under the theme of building reuse and retrofit. Sharing approaches and experiences, Aaron spoke of the enthusiasm we can apply to working with the constraints of existing structures. He focused on three particular precedents which he considered relevant to our project in Bradford. One of these included the Mustard Tree renovation in Manchester. Aaron spoke of the importance of a building’s significance which isn’t always related to “how it looks”. The project solved the permeability of the building, using a new entrance canopy and bright shutters to identify the entrance and tackled problems relating to circulation and surveillance. The project gave us an insight into the further work we could complete within Little Germany and the next steps on from our masterplan.

We would like to again thank Aaron for his time and advice this morning, we thoroughly enjoyed learning about the work of OMI and the conversations relating to our project!

To find out more about the work of OMI Architects, refer to their website and Instagram: @omiarchitects
https://www.omiarchitects.com
Posted 19 May 2021 12:45
Catherine Zena P
Master-planning Representation – Creating Visuals // Following on from our summarised masterplan proposal we have been working to develop visual representations of the scheme. The work above shows the proposed interventions between the streets of Little Germany. Created by Edward (BA 01), the drawing shows the night-time view of the streets on the periphery of Little Germany and the intention to brighten and illuminate the spaces, creating an inviting space.
Posted 19 May 2021 12:45
Catherine Zena P
Day Nine // Thursday’s Timetable
10:00 – 10:45 Organising our conclusions and presentation
11:00 – 12:30 Presentations and conclusions with Bradford Civic Society and Plot Twist (MSA Group 31)
13:30 – 17:00 Reflecting on feedback and responding to advice from the morning presentations. Collating work for the publication.
Posted 20 May 2021 16:18
Catherine Zena P
Presentations & Conclusions // Today Inspire Bradford concluded their work over MSA Live and presented our findings and finished masterplan to the collaborator Bradford Civic Society.

It was great to get feedback from Kieran and Si, from Bradford Civic Society, praising the proposals we had created. We were joined again by Plot Twist (MSA Group 31), as they have also worked with Bradford Civic Society, the two groups used the time to run through the work and explorations they have undertaken over the two weeks and presented conclusions. Plot Twist worked on a smaller vacant site, just North of Little Germany, and intended to create a new ‘gateway’ into the city. Situated next to the Forster Square train station, the site was unused and in need of regeneration. Find out more about their masterplan ideas at: https://live.msa.ac.uk/2021/group/31/
Posted 20 May 2021 16:50
Catherine Zena P
Master-planning Representation – Creating Visuals // One software that we experimented with this week was Procreate. The image above, created by Pablo (BA 01) shows a visual representation of one of the proposed arrival points into Little Germany. The image shows the proposed interventions on a currently disused car park on the site. Creating murals of artwork on walls and introducing soft landscaping to areas of the site form part of our proposals to improve the area.
Posted 20 May 2021 16:50
Catherine Zena P
Day Ten // Friday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:00 Feedback Quiz!
11:15 – 12:30 Finishing the publication document and answering any broader questions from the BA's on software, workflows and architecture as a profession!
13:30 – 14:30 Completing required feedback of both BA’s and MArch Team
14:45 – 16:30 Virtual drinks and celebrations – concluding thoughts on our project and sharing our finished publication document with collaborators and team.
Posted 21 May 2021 11:55
Catherine Zena P
Finished Masterplan! // After two weeks of hard work from the Inspire Bradford team we are pleased and excited to share with you our finial masterplan proposal!

Drawn by Tom (BA 01), the figure ground plan identifies key areas of interventions we’re proposing. Tom wrote: “Using Illustrator, Photoshop and Digimap, I made a map of the proposed site, showing pedestrianised zones, new construction, open public areas and green spaces. I also included a scale bar for a sense of context. This gives a strong perspective of the site, showing what it would become after redevelopment.”
Posted 21 May 2021 14:16
Catherine Zena P
Finished Masterplan! // After two weeks of hard work from the Inspire Bradford team we are pleased and excited to share with you our finial masterplan proposal!

Drawn by Olivia (BA 02), the sketch shows our finished proposal for Little Germany. Olivia wrote: “3D Conceptual sketch of the Little Germany Masterplan.
The sketch demonstrates an overview of some of the strategies which will be implemented on to the site. One of the main features is the expansion of pedestrianised roads in the area to heighten safety precautions and provide 'car free' streets in contrast to its current streetscape. More areas of recreational green space will be introduced, and many of the buildings will be retrofitted within its interiors, to widen the range of uses for public activities, film events and market spaces.”
Posted 21 May 2021 14:17
Catherine Zena P
Finished Publication // Our work from the two-weeks is concluded in our final publication document.

Inspire Bradford are incredibly proud of the work we’ve produced during this project and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with Bradford Civic Society and the external speakers. As such we have produced a massive 102 page document, collating the work from the team!
#MSALive21

You can find this document at this link: https://issuu.com/dianaursachianu/docs/inspirebradford
Posted 21 May 2021 14:23
Catherine Zena P
Feedback Quiz // The Inspire Bradford team concluded this morning with a quick feedback quiz on the two weeks. Using Microsoft Forms we were able to share a list of questions relating to the tasks, live talks and presentations we have completed over the MSA Live programme and gain feedback from the team. We received great feedback from the BA’s and MArch, with a mixed bag of favourite activities and talks!

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the two-week timetable, saying that they had all learnt something new and had fun engaging with the project!

The MArch team would like to say a great big thank you to the BA’s for attending, engaging and participating within the project, it has been a great two-weeks of sharing ideas and developing our masterplan. An extended thank you to our collaborator Kieran and Bradford Civic Society for this exciting opportunity! And a final big thank you for the live talks throughout the week from Peter at Feilden Clegg Bradley, Terry, Lean and Manuel from Arup and Aaron from OMI Architects for their engaging and thought-provoking conversations!

#MSALive21
Posted 21 May 2021 14:25
Download Final Report