Revoe Public Square (actually a circle) is an on-going project which explores and prototypes new forms of civic space in a marginalised community, testing new methodologies of material reuse and fabrication with community participants. Commissioned by third sector organisations LeftCoast and Revoelution, the project engages local people in the development of a temporary public space on the site of the former George Hotel in Revoe, Blackpool. Once central to the area's social fabric, the land is now privately owned and was previously fenced off and left to grow wild. As the neighbourhood is ear-marked for regeneration through Levelling-Up funding, the project gives residents the opportunity to make visible their own ideas and potential impact within these processes, and explore the role of public space in facilitating community collaboration and cohesion. The first intervention is a circular platform, designed for community interpretation and use, and also hosting performances, play, and events programmed by LeftCoast and Revoelution.
Initial workshops held on the site revealed a desire for a visually distinctive object that would subtly invite gathering and interaction. Scale models and material samples were then used to facilitate a process of dialogue that allowed design decisions to be tested, iterated and resolved with the community. Rather than presenting models of a ‘final design’, we created interactive models at a variety of scales, terrazzo samples and colour trials that allowed ideas to be presented and tested against the constraints of the site and the needs of the community. The ideas explored at the scale of the model would then be tested on the site at 1:1, by getting participants to mark out elements with string and tape and also use their own bodies to determine the potential scale and location of proposed interventions.
The resulting intervention is a 10-metre diameter circle punctured by a central opening, functioning simultaneously as seating, gathering space and outdoor performance venue. The design combines a mixture of octagon and square panels made from decking boards and bespoke concrete terrazzo slabs built at the adjacent community centre with community members, with larger elements fabricated in the university construction lab. The concrete used demolition rubble and glass recovered from the site along with seashells, with the three colours representing the former pub, the sea and sky and the sandy beach. At a time of heightened tensions in communities around the country, this project has demonstrated how simple acts of collaborative making can bring people together through shared objectives.
