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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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/

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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

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’.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Day Eight // Wednesday’s Timetable
10:00 – 11:00 Live talk from OMI Architects.
11:15 – 13:00 Master-planning representation continuation.

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

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.

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.

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/

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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

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