blog.strakt

We have just uploaded a new web site for St George’s School in Edgbaston. It was a great pleasure to work with the school and both parties are very pleased with the final result. The site runs a full content management system and has brought the school into the digital age with the likes of RSS feeds and an online calendar that allows the school staff to input and organise all events within the school calendar.

We are looking forward to seeing how the site is received and developing the site in the future with possible additions such as the implementation of more social/community features.

Visit the site at www.sgse.co.uk

Thanks to Stef Lewandowski, who is on the School’s Council of Trustees and Marketing Group, for preparing a clear and comprehensive brief as well as helping us to communicate the more technical elements of the web site to the staff and board members.

The Birmingham School of Architecture are celebrating their 100 year anniversary this year, and needed a logo and a web site.

For the logo we worked with the head of department and tutors. They wanted something that would represent the school’s various locations over the past years and for the future. The school began at Margaret street, then moved to Gosta Green, to Perry Barr, back to Gosta Green, and then will move down to Eastside in the next few years. Hence the curve, which references the points of the geographical locations. This logo will be used to represent the school after the centenary has passed.

The web site’s main function is to advertise the centenary ball and allow students and alumni to purchase tickets. Once registered the alumni are given the opportunity to add a profile and search for other alumni and view their profiles (a sort of ‘friends reunited’ come ‘facebook’, only a tad simpler!). This web site will be reviewed after the ball and developed to use as the school’s main web site.
www.bsa-alumni.org.uk (won’t be able to view many pages without being a registered student or alumni of the school i’m afraid)

We have recently uploaded a web site called ‘first site‘ for MADE. This site will be a grower, and aims to represent young people’s views and voices on architecture and the projects they have engaged in. It is being launched officially tomorrow, along with other projects, at MADE’s symposium titled ‘Under the Influence - The power of young people to inform public space’. I’ll let Julia Ellis (Chief Executive of MADE) do the explaining…

‘Creative Communities is directed to increasing the voices of young people and helping to ensure their opinions are heard and acted upon. It started with Youth Space, a Government Office West Midlands Commission, where young people worked collaboratively with architects and artists to create their own spaces in 6 different parts of the region. Leading on from this, Creative Communities is strengthening the strategic regional context for young people’s sustainable and self-directed engagement with the designed environment, particularly within the planning and regeneration contexts. Creative Communities comprises three live projects and First Site, a virtual architecture centre for young people.’

The ‘First Site’ logo we created:

and the web site:

www.firstsite.org.uk

I’m holding in my hand a 20 year old document entitled ‘The Highbury Initiative – Proceedings of the Birmingham City Centre Challenge Symposium’. The reason I have this document is that we were commissioned by Joe Holyoak (Architect, Urban Designer, and principal lecturer at BCU) to design the marketing material for the ’20 years on – Anniversary Conference’.

The original Symposium took place on the 25th-27th March 1988, and as a result of a weekend’s intensive brainstorming the foundations were laid for most of the transformation of the city centre which has taken place since.

The participants came from a wide range of backgrounds: architecture, planning and landscape, the development and business worlds, economic development and management consultants, artists, surveyors and landowners, councillors and local and central government officials. They came from many parts of the world: the east to west coasts of USA, Japan, Holland and West Germany.

The theme identified for the weekend was that of the ‘City as Theatre’ because the actions necessary to make cities exciting, attractive, comfortable places can be likened to putting on a show. The participants were divided into six workgroups each with a set of issues to consider:

- Producing the Show – The role of the city centre and resources;
- Setting the Stage – urban design and landscape;
- Casting the Roles – user perception;
- Directing the Actors – movement and transportation;
- Managing the Stage – management and maintenance;

The main solutions to come from the symposium amongst others were:

The Gateways
A ‘clear’ welcome strategy
Routes across the city must be clarified to help people find their way.
Public transport stop-off points must be improved.
An exciting mode of public transport, appealing to visitor.

Distinctive Quarters
- the Jewellery Quarter, entered off Newhall Street – a craft/creative quarter;
- the Chinese Quarter, off Hurst Street – an entertainment and cultural quarter;
- the Science Quarter at Aston;
- a Media Quarter at Digbeth;
- a Convention Quarter off Broad Street;
- Business Quarters off Victoria Square and at Five Ways;
- the Civic Quarter around the Council House

The Ring Roads
The conclusion of this was re-conceiving the role of the inner ring road resulting in reducing traffic within the city by taking away through traffic.

Pedestrian Policy
The overall strategy addressed:
- Access
- Signage
- Linkages
- Pedestrian priority
- Control and enforcement
- Ground floor frontages
- Grain / scale
- Landscaping which reduces traffic conflicts
- Paving materials
- Relationship to traffic, loading, parking, public transport
- Disabled persons
- Secondary systems, including existing arcades and new block subdivisions

All a matter of image?

“- a city in a tearing hurry, addicted to instant success, biggest, first, pragmatic, profitable, confusing, incoherent and monotone. A concept of natural development seemed to have been swept away. There was neither time for people to participate in city development, nor time for the city landscape and its people to absorb that development. Collaboration with time is important.”

Birmingham is sitting on a golden opportunity, but there is a need for economic energy, a new atmosphere and commitment to the end product. London and the South East have peaked and the West Midlands is seen as a current growth region.

This strong commercial base provides direction to the role and functioning of the city’s future, but it has resulted in narrow, single-function centre which offers neither 24 hour activities nor a complete range of activities, since such important elements as housing are missing.

The city has no emotional appeal. It is difficult to find your way around which is particularly daunting for the pedestrian. Open space and greenery are minimal, the potential of canals and water has not been developed; there are too few fine old buildings and no first class modern ones.

Harsh words… but fair? These thoughts, highlighted 20 years ago, still seem important and relevant in today’s Birmingham, particularly Eastside where I would love to see some of this pedestrian joy, greenery, and use of the canals and water.

The symposium produced some essential solutions and made a great step forward for the Cities image and usability. I’m looking forward to hearing the results that come from the anniversary conference to be held on the 14th of April.

This is the first stage of a new piece of artwork by the graphic designer Max Barrett. This artwork, amongst others, will feature on a new web site that will profile and sell works from various artists…
Due to launch mid march.

I’m just going outside… i may be some time…

I have just been chatting to a friend about developments in the eastside of Birmingham, a subject that I am keen on as it is home to our design studio. Our creative director, Jim, has also recently moved to a new flat in Avoca court, as too have several of my friends over the past couple of years. I have limited knowledge of the Eastside plans, and have just heard various rumours and plans. I haven’t managed to find any concrete information or facts informing me of development plans or timescales. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, or maybe there is nothing to look for at the moment? Please excuse my ignorance if so, and help guide me.

The Council’s link to information appears to be broken.
There is information about Eastside sustainability:
Eastside Sustainability Advisory Group (ESAG)
This site links me to the official Eastside site to find out more, but it’s the council one, that I already discovered does not exist.
Sustainable Eastside
An interesting ‘vision for the future’ document pdf here, from 2002!

As a ‘creative’ area I think it is important to involve all residents in development plans in order to retain the businesses and take on board peoples ideas. I have enjoyed attending events such as the lower eastside dialogues, as they offer an opportunity for people to get their heads together and share interesting ideas.

Manchester’s ‘New Islington’ plan has a web site that communicates (albeit slightly too flashy for my liking, although they do offer an alternative display) the project in a good level of detail and involves the community.

I think the Council should consider producing a web site that keeps the public fully informed of plans, and enables discussion and feedback. I am excited to be in Digbeth and watch it develop, but would like to see this development (or at least the plans and timescales) and feel in some way that we can make influencial decisions.

Birmingham was host to CABEs (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) Urban Design Summer School in 2007.

We produced the yearbook… (more pics/info here)

We are pleased to announce the launch of Kate Beatty’s web site. Kate is an award winning Birmingham based photographer who has developed some outstanding personal projects as well as working on impressive commercial commissions.

She is also a great friend! see her new web site www.kate-beatty.co.uk