Name: Hongli zhou (Harriet)
Course: MArch 1
Atelier: Infrastructure

Hi, everyone!

I studied my undergraduate degree at Newcastle University.After completing my undergraduate programme, I returned to China to work as an intern in an architectural firm. After gaining some internship experience, I decided to continue my architecture part2 at MSA.

Studying at MSA has allowed me to think about learning by placing architecture in a broader context. I am excited to be a part of the healthy me healthy communities CIC programme. During my undergraduate programme I also spent a lot of time learning about communities and their delicate relationship with people and nature. And how they will work together as a community to achieve sustainable development. This project will incorporate more factors to consider such as history, volunteers, possible community outreach links .... It will be very engaging.

Looking forward to working with the group to provide a green space that improves the health of the body and mind based on the research and the need to make a positive impact on the community as well as the residents.

Partners : Gorton Center

The Gorton Center is a community facility in Manchester operated by Healthy Me Healthy Communities (HMHC). It began as a paint factory and has since been transformed into a hub for food, welfare, training and enterprise.

The space provides health and social services for local residents (many of whom are disabled, live with long-term unhealthy physical and mental health conditions, come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, are older, live in poverty, are refugees or asylum seekers and are LGBTQ). As part of HMHC's mission to reduce health inequalities and promote community engagement. It also organizes events, offers space for rent, and runs community grocers, among other activities.

Their vision is to have a good community garden for growing, learning, and healthy activities, and would have some integration with the historic paint factory.HMHC envisions the garden as an extension of their existing wide range of offerings for the local community and stakeholders.

First meeting

At the first meeting with our clients at Manchester Technology Center, Amanda, one of our clients, told us about their non-profit organization 'Healthy Me Healthy Communities'. They are dedicated to bringing vibrancy to their community and helping people with housing, and financial and mental health support. The clients then introduced us to the site and their expectations for the design direction.

First Site Visit

We visited the venue for the first time and kate harrison, service manager at Healthy Me Healthy Communities CIC, joined us for a tour of the current state of the garden. As well as the vegetables planted on the site, and some dilapidated pergola. and learnt in conversation how the previous gardens came to be. What their needs are today. What they most desire the garden to look like and what kind of space they envision that would help them work and be more beneficial to the community. And it gave us some ideas to think about.