Group 29
GREAT HORTON REIMAGINED

Great Horton Reimagined - This project is an artistic reimagining of a streetscape in Bradford. Using many mediums, group 29 has developed and built visuals to redesign Great Horton Road, a derelict street that joins the university campus to the city centre. Working alongside Bradford City Council, the project uses vibrant colour schemes, public art, and innovative facade designs to create a visually appealing and culturally rich environment. Aligned with Bradford's 2025 City of Culture aspirations, the designs promise change while complimenting the existing. Great Horton Reimagined is a dynamic transformation, proposing an intervention that has the potential to leave an indelible mark on the community's cultural fabric and urban landscape.

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Sourabh Rajshekhar S / Jake O / Oliver C / Zahra Ibrahim M A / Yanxi L / Mingrui L

Hi, I am Oliver!

Born in Bristol, I moved to Manchester in 2019 to pursue my undergraduate degree at MSA. After working as an Architectural Assistant for Donald Insall Associates in London, I have returned to Continuity in Architecture. My strengths lie in my drawing abilities, much like my fellow Bristolian Banksy.

I have a good understanding of the architectural concepts of reinvention and cultural heritage from my year in London. However, I want to emphasize how Bradford's Cultural Connection project is artistic and creative. I am thrilled to have the chance to collaborate with the team in May to create something that we will be proud to showcase in our portfolios in the future.

Posted 11 Mar 2024 18:15

Hi, I'm Jake Vizard!

Born and raised in North Wales, my journey has led me to the city of Manchester, where I'm doing Master of Architecture. My toolkit includes a foundation in SketchUp, AutoCAD, Adobe Suite, and a collection of render engines. I try to complement this by growing my expertise in Rhino and Grasshopper. My passion for architecture has been fuelled by travels through Europe and Southeast Asia, where I've absorbed and witnessed a range of design philosophies and construction techniques.

I enjoy connecting with people at industry events, always eager to exchange ideas and expand my architectural knowledge. I also currently lead the MSSA Architecture Football Society, some of you may have met me there.

You’ll usually find me in the CAD lab, so if you’ve got any questions just come over and ask!

Posted 11 Mar 2024 18:26

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Hello, I'm Sourabh!

I am from India. I hold a bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of Pune. Following my undergraduate studies, I gained valuable experience as an architecture design intern and later as a self-practicing architect, completing several residential projects. I am pursuing an MA in Architecture + Adaptive Reuse as my master's course. This enriching experience has allowed me to investigate strategies for adaptive reuse - strategies that are not applied as a reaction to current conditions but in anticipation of future changes. My interests are exploring and documenting architectural heritage and precedents.
I'm eager to contribute to the Bradford Culture Connection project with my group. We aim to rejuvenate the road, a missing link to the city centre and the university campus site, into a dynamic community asset with a strong emphasis on innovative solutions and engaging the community.

Posted 11 Mar 2024 18:34

Zahra Ibrahim M A

Hello, I’m Zahra!

My journey into design and architecture started with two years of interior design in my home country ‘Saudi Arabia’, followed by a foundation year and first year of architecture at Dublin School of Architecture in Ireland, and finally completing my RIBA Part 1 in architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture.

After graduating, I worked as a part 1 architectural assistant at a small-scale practice based in London where I was very lucky to be part of an ambitious team and engage in many heritage and community-related projects that match my interests in architecture.

I am excited about being part of a project that is in ‘the City of Culture’ Bradford and engaging in the Bradford Culture Connection project, as well as having the opportunity to participate in making a positive change in Bradford’s community.

Posted 11 Mar 2024 19:02

Hello, I am Yanxi Lin!

I am from China. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Architecture (RIBA Part 1) at the University of Bath, followed by work experience as an architectural assistant. I am currently pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at the MSA as a member of the CPU Atelier.

I am proficient in AutoCAD, Rhino & Grasshopper, Sketchup, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and rendering software like Vray and Enscape. It is my first time working on an urban redevelopment project that involves cultural heritage. I am excited to work with my teammates and to see the final outcome of our collaborative efforts.

Posted 11 Mar 2024 19:06

Hello, I'm Mingrui Li

I come from China, I got my Bachelor of Architecture degree in University of Liverpool, and I have gained a lot of knowledge and skills as well as gained a lot of valuable experiences in this journey. Now I am continuing to study architecture in some kind of nature atelier in MSA. I hope that I can apply what I have learnt in this project and contribute to this cultural project in bradford to the best of my ability.

Posted 11 Mar 2024 19:39

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Intro. to MSA LIVE*
6th December 2023,
Our first meeting and introduction of 2 LIVE projects for
Bradford 2025

Introduction to our live project:
Culture Connection: To re-design a main side street of Great Horton Road that links the city centre to the university. This street could be re-imagined as one where the stunning architecture from the city centre mixes with an explosion of culture, colour, and excitement that leads you from the city centre up to Bradford University. The ‘Cultural Connection’ design must reflect Bradford's diverse student population and cultural heritage and support the day/night economy.
Location:
Great Horton Road, Bradford
[From the point of Odeon Cinema to the University of Bradford campus]

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:27

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

TEAM MEET ups!
30 January 2024,
We had our first team meeting, followed by a catch-up meeting online with our collaborator, Jade.

A quick meeting to get to know each other, a brainstorming session about ideas and objectives and a brief system of work were put forth.
Team Meetings every Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:00
Jake led our meetings. Organising our action plan early was vital, as was setting out tasks, deadlines, and checkpoints to ensure the project stayed on track.
Every Meeting had a summary outline to be followed for the next. A banter between Jake and Oliver was a must. :P
Meanwhile, a date for a site visit to Bradford was organised.

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:31

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Our Collaborator, Jade Ibeguna
21 February 2024
Jade is part of Bradford Council's Culture Department. She is our primary source of contact in Bradford and has been helping build the project's framework thus far. Jade will also allow us to communicate with stakeholders in the Bradford redevelopments and other important people involved.

As seen standing in the middle of the group photo in the Council Chamber room, Bradford City Hall.

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:39

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Visit to Bradford Site and Day proceedings
21 February 2024,

This is how our day went...

[Rains are expected whole day]
10:00
Arrive at Bradford Interchange – meet Jade

10:15
Arrive at City Hall, where we collect our Visitor badges and proceed to the Council Chamber – Rachel Firth + Len Palmer (Bradford Council City of Culture,2025)

10:20
We have an introductory session to Heritage Action Zone by –
Saira Alia, Richard Middleton and Phil Hargreaves (Bradford Council City of Culture,2025)

CHECK OUR NEXT POST for further Updates on this day's visit

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:47

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Visit to Bradford Site and Day proceedings
21 February 2024,

[Heavy rains and wind are expected to continue]

10:50
Tour 1 Walk through the Heritage Action Zone

11:20
Tour 2 Culture Connection, our site location
Walk along the Great Horton Road, stretching from Odeon Cinema to Bradford University Campus.
We had an insightful conversation with a Bradford University students and staff focus group.

1:20
Lunch at Bradford 2025 office, informal chat with Executive Director Dan Bates

We got *FREE PIZZA* for lunch : P

CHECK OUR NEXT POST for the final update on this day's visit

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:52

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Visit to Bradford Site and Day proceedings
21 February 2024

2:30
Arrive again at Council Chamber: Project planning – reflection and next steps!
Discuss proposed interventions, limitations, and possibilities with Jade and exchange ideas.

4:00
End of Day back to base MCR

[Rain stops. Sun is Out]

An eventful day indeed!

Look out for our next posts for further updates!

Posted 13 Mar 2024 14:59

The poster was crucial for informing people of our project, and we took design inspiration from the project's site itself. When visiting our site, near the entrance of the road, there was a derelict building with an eye-catching facade which had been reimagined with graffiti and paint. Although this was not a conventional reimagining in the architectural sense, we recognised the artistry and power within Bradford's community. If applied correctly, we believe that not just the facade but the entire road could be transformed into something remarkable!

In combining efforts from Bradford Council, the students of Manchester School Of Architecture, The University of Bradford and the Bradford Community, we hope to actualise the 'idea' presented in the poster and create visuals reimagining the Road. This work to then inspire real-world action and a potential reconstruction of the once bustling Great Horton Road!

Posted 4 May 2024 12:09

Project Mangement

In preparation for MSA Live, my role has included project management.

This has included liaising with our collaborator, receiving feedback on the poster design, and assigning individual roles to ensure the outcome goals are hit prior to commencing the two action weeks.

Through these tasks I've learnt valuable skills in resource management, communication and delegation.

Posted 6 May 2024 18:51

Budget and Finances

We identified the action plan first, so we'll probably know exactly what we're budgeting to spend on. From there, I can draw up the budget proposal. Our site is in Bradford, which means we may need an extra budget for transportation on the site visit day. I therefore requested a quote from SMC Coach. Other than that, most of the rest of the budget will be spent on materials to make the model and the expense of printing, etc. In this process, I have been communicating between groupmates, collaborators, school, and the coach company. I learned how to organise budgets and finances.

Posted 6 May 2024 19:15

Zahra Ibrahim M A

Ethos Form

As engaging with people in Bradford was an important aspect of developing this project, the ethics application was carefully completed by addressing all parts of the application cautiously.

Communication with the project’s participants was through our gatekeeper and no personal information, other than names was collected from the participants.

We have ensured that our collaborator ‘the gatekeeper’ has provided everyone participating in this project with two main documents; the Participant Information Sheet and the Consent Form to complete before participating.

The two provided documents gave the participants an overview of the project, including the project's general aim, what is expected from them, their right to withdraw at any time, and how their data will be used and managed.

The data collected from them was managed and analysed by the MArch 1 students only to ensure confidentiality.

Posted 7 May 2024 02:54

Risk Assessment
We have analysed the various risks that could occur at different levels. Our group will be involved in site visits, due to the large number of members in the group we have chosen to travel by bus, and any activities will be organised to facilitate control and to avoid risky areas such as high traffic flow, and for potential visits to the construction site we will strictly adhere to site safety requirements such as wearing helmets, and appropriate footwear, such as steel cap toe boots. Our designs also include a lot of modelling work, which requires the use of dangerous tools such as knives, glue guns and large cutting equipment, to minimise the risks we opt for safer, simpler modelling methods and avoid the use of high risk cutting equipment. All kinds of activities have different potential risks, even serious ones that can endanger lives, so for larger groups, it is necessary to choose safe and better controlled activities.

Posted 7 May 2024 12:19

Action Plan

The action plan has been curated in order to achieve all of the project objectives. Providing a breakdown of daily activities across the two action weeks.

Posted 7 May 2024 12:46

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 1
It was great kicking off our MSA Live project today!
It was fantastic seeing everyone together this morning, in person, for the first time on time!
We're diving right into what's going to be an exciting couple of weeks—with not too much work to drown you in!

Morning:
We kicked things off with some introductions—it's always good to put faces to names and dove straight into the project brief. We ensured everyone was clear on what we aimed to achieve and walked through the action plan for the next two weeks. There was a solid Q&A session, too, where everyone got to clear up any queries about the project or just about uni life in general.
As part of our morning session, we explored some valuable resources from the Bradford Culture is Our Plan. These resources, including a promotional video, provided us with insightful perspectives that will help shape our interventions for the MSA Live project.

Posted 8 May 2024 17:59

Day 1 Afternoon!

After lunch, we got hands on with Google Maps and Street View to take a closer look at the road we’re focusing on. We then *professionally * cello taped a giant map to the table and started marking down some trouble spots and brainstorming possible fixes and opportunities—lots of good stuff came up!
We also checked out some resources from the "Bradford Culture is Our Plan", watched the promotional video, and it really helped us think about what kinds of interventions we might come up with.

Wrapping Up:
We ended the day by splitting the site into sections and assigning each to different students. It’s all about visualizing what we can do in each spot now. We wrapped up with a quick recap and set our sights on what we need to hit tomorrow.

Posted 8 May 2024 21:21

Day 2

Morning: This morning, everybody had some independent time to do some research in order to develop ideas for their plots on Great Horton Road. People had been getting busy looking at the site's history, analysing their specific section of the street façade, and coming up with some great ideas.

Afternoon: After lunch, we began with a quick overview of the project objectives we had developed previously, then an example of a physical model to inspire our own modelling of the street. We moved on to some, informal presentations of ideas and analysis - discussing any ideas collectively and providing peer feedback on the work. Up next visit to Bradford site!

Posted 9 May 2024 22:51

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 3
It was a beautiful day to visit our site in Bradford
We have two groups working at two different sites in Bradford, the (Heritage Action Zone) and (Great Horton Road Reimagined) travelling together for the site visit.

Here's a brief overview of how our day unfolded...
Morning 8:20
Early start. Bus from MTC to Bradford site.
Our collaborator Jade (Bradford City Council Culture Department) welcomed us at the Alhambra Theatre, followed by a presentation and overview of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 presentation.
A representative from the culture department provided us with information regarding the history and purpose of the buildings on the street.
Later, students walk along the stretch of our site on Great Horton Road, taking notes, photographs, sketches, observations, and discussions on existing built facades, vacant spaces, street use, and possible interventions…

Posted 10 May 2024 22:52

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 3
Interaction with students from Bradford University. The group learned their views, current problems, and the loss of connection to the city centre. The site is perfectly poised between the Bradford University campus on one end and two iconic entertainment venues on the other, favouring it with significant potential redevelopment opportunities.
It was important for each student to understand this and analyse it for their specific section of the street facade.
Followed by a tour of the City Town Hall, City centre public spaces and the famous Alhambra Theatre. We also had the opportunity to visit the refurbishment works of Bradford Live, which is currently under construction.
Afternoon 4:30:
To wrap up the day, we had a quick summary. Students had to take away what they had learned about the history, culture, students, and our site, Great Horton Road—directions for the work to be done next as we left for Manchester.

Posted 10 May 2024 22:58

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 4
Today, students worked independently. They had self-directed tasks, working on concepts and sketches of alternate uses, reimagining spaces, and understanding how new life will be brought to the street through our interventions. The work produced represents their assigned facade itself—a step closer to our final output!
For week 2, we prepare for intensive days of model-making!

Posted 13 May 2024 17:42

Zahra Ibrahim M A

Day 5
We discussed how the model would represent a walkthrough up and down the street.
The first task was to set the scale for our model, representing the street-built facade at a 1:20 scale.
We proceeded to set up the base drawing, which was based on measurements from the site visit and careful proportioning from images, ensuring the accuracy of our model.

Posted 14 May 2024 16:37

Day 5
Later, students drew their assigned buildings to scale as we acquired materials for the elevation.
Paper and corrugated cardboard sheets are the basic materials for our street elevation boards.

Posted 14 May 2024 16:39

Day 5
Then, we set up the scaled drawings on the floor and lined up as if we were all on the street.
Next up! See how the model unfolds.

Posted 14 May 2024 16:42

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 6
Today, we progressed with completing our reimagined street facades, which will be put to new function and use, using new colours and materials to try to make them come alive again.
Next up, the group prepares for the final model presentation and design drawings.

Posted 16 May 2024 00:11

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 7 and Day 8
Reflections and discussions on proposed design schemes.
We are setting up the walkthrough model as students make the final visuals for our collaborator's presentation day. This is our last working day for the action week!

Posted 16 May 2024 20:08

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 9
Presentation day!
Morning, we set up our room with the hanging model and presentation screens
Our collaborator Jade swung by from Bradford to Manchester to see our collaborative work!
The students explained their visuals and the hanging model for the reimagined street. Jade was happy to see our work, and we discussed the possibilities and opportunities such projects would take in Bradford in line with the City of Culture 2025 project. We were able to exchange feedback, look back on the whole project, and show our appreciation to the rest of the team for their amazing work!

Posted 17 May 2024 16:50

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Day 9

And that's a wrap for MSA Live 24
Getting to know and work with the bachelor students has been really exciting. We are delighted and hope we have been helpful and inspiring in their architecture journey!
Cheers! Group 29!

Posted 17 May 2024 16:57

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Reflections

To conclude, MSA LIVE Reflecting on the project and what our group and collaborator have achieved is essential.
Our project output focused on presenting the reimaged facades and, thus, the repurposed street.

|Coordination with Collaborator |
-Coordination among stakeholders was efficient, and through our main collaborator, Jade from Bradford Council, we had access to contractors, local government, and the community. These groups worked well together to deliver the project.
-We provided regular updates and communicated clearly with our collaborators through email or team meetings. Four in-person visits were also made.

| Transparency and Engagement with Team |
-Great communication, coordination, and motivation enabled undergraduate students to ideate and produce fantastic models and visuals for the respective designs.

| Implementation Project Management |
- Efficiency: The project was completed on time and within budget.

| Design Proposals |
This activity developed a range of skills for the students. Generating a design narrative is an essential strategy used throughout university projects and in practice. This is partnered with graphical communication, another crucial aspect used in academic and professional settings. In addition to the physical model and visual curation, the students concisely presented their schemes to over 30 people. This has benefited their confidence and ability to communicate an idea to an audience.

| Feedback |
- Satisfaction: Feedback from our main collaborator at Bradford Council about their satisfaction with the redesign was very beneficial, informative, and incredibly positive.

Posted 17 May 2024 19:48

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Reflections Lessons Learned

1. Successes and Challenges
Achievements: The Great Horton Street redesign project stands out for its unique successes. We achieved a remarkable 100% attendance and participation from the ba1 and ba2 teams and the master’s students. Our innovative planning and design of the project framework and action plan not only made the project engaging and interesting but also led to a depth of excellent outputs, both physical and digital.
Challenges: The challenges faced were front-heavy. Planning the project alongside our other university deadlines meant time management was vital, and it was a challenge to prioritise certain parts of the university course equally. However, the action week ran without issue.

2. Best Practices
- Innovation: We used innovative practices during the project, including new technologies provided by Bradford Council, including the GIS Model (scan of the entirety of Bradford). All students could get the best idea of the street post-site visit and inform their three-dimensional cardboard development elevation models. This will instil in the students that despite the outputs being two-dimensional elevations, the importance of working and thinking three-dimensionally is their applicability to future projects. The project can be replicated in other parts of Bradford, future street redesign projects, and the students’ projects.

3. Reflecting on these aspects not only provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the Great Horton Street redesign project but also has the potential to significantly influence future urban development initiatives. It can guide the creation of more liveable, sustainable, and inclusive urban spaces. Moreover, it creates a platform for the students to learn and grow from, enabling them to decide for themselves how they could improve or approach similar projects differently in the future. This project can be systematically incorporated into future efforts, establishing a formal process for capturing and utilizing lessons learned.

Posted 17 May 2024 20:02

Sourabh Rajshekhar S

Signing off MSA LIVE,
Make sure to check the MSA LIVE exhibition from 17th June
Cheers!

Fin.

Posted 17 May 2024 20:12