Ryde residents are being offered the chance to have their say in a series of innovative and interactive workshops designed to help update the High Street.
Ryde Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) has commissioned design practice Feria Urbanism to run sessions looking at how the area can be improved for locals.
Where and when
On Thursday 9th December there will be three sessions.
From 1pm to 3pm the Feria Urbanism team led by Richard Eastham will be at St Thomas’ Square (Nat West). Then from 4pm to 6pm they will be in Minghella Square and from 7pm to 9.30pm they will be at the Eric Warner Centre (Scout Hall) – and there will be drinks and snacks provided.
On Friday 10th December, Richard and his team will be at Town Square (Co-op) from 10am to 12 noon.
Design by super-sized foam blocks
Richard explained,
“We will be bringing a set of foam blocks that look rather like the ones children play with except these are super-sized for adults.
“They are light and can be easily moved but they are strong enough that they can be sat on and even stood on.
“The idea is that we invite people to move them into different patterns to create a streetscape for different groups of people. So we might ask them to be moved to create a place where people can sit and enjoy the sunshine.
“We know that local people know their streets better than us and they know where the sun will be for most of the day for people to enjoy a resting place.”
Regeneration of Ryde High Street
The workshops are part of the four year Ryde Heritage Action Zone programme, funded by Historic England, Ryde Town Council and Isle of Wight Council.
The aim is to regenerate Ryde High Street to create a vibrant town centre destination for residents and visitors to spend time in and enjoy.
Richard added,
“A group of invited representative stakeholders have been asked to come along and work with us but we know that other people who just happen to be passing will also get involved and the information we get from them is just as valuable.
“It is a performative piece where people can collaborate and share ideas as they tackle the scenarios and challenges we set.
“The day will be captured on stop-motion video and we will be photographing as we go along to capture what happens.
“We enjoy the unexpected conversations and where we have done this in places like Dorchester and Cirencester we have had great engagement. (In fact in one place we had a couple come and sit on the blocks to have their lunch).”
Translating concepts into workable, practical solutions
Working like this with local people allows Feria Urbanism to establish a series of concepts and from that they can translate those concepts into workable, practical solutions.
Following the workshops they will come back with design sketches that incorporate what they have learned by using the building blocks.
To book your free place visit the EventBrite Website.
News shared by Kate on behalf of Ryde Heritage Action Zone (HAZ). Ed
