We’re proud to launch our first-ever Impact Analysis Report, a new tool in our mission to understand, evidence, and maximise the lasting positive impact of our projects.
This inaugural report showcases the practical application of our Impact Analysis Framework during the creation of a new community-focused primary school in Glyn-coch.
The brief: A catalyst for community well-being
As part of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Schools Challenge, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council tasked us with delivering a new primary school in Glyn-coch that would serve as a catalyst for wider community well-being.
The challenge: Well-being isn’t one-size-fits-all
This presented a fundamental question: how do you find a meaningful definition of well-being that reflects the diversity of local lives and experiences?
For example, whilst it might mean an increase in local apprenticeships to some, for others it might mean something more relational, like feeling able to trust their neighbours or to hold out hope for their children’s futures.
Our solution: The Impact Analysis Framework
Enter Impact Analysis, our bespoke methodology for a deeper form of listening. By combining engagement, research, analysis, and learning, it enables us to gather insights about local people’s lived experiences and priorities and translate them into meaningful design decisions.
Impact Analysis is our new action research project. It’s helping us learn to listen more deeply so that we can understand community experiences and translate them into meaningful design decisions. It’s moving us beyond box-ticking and towards creating real value, shaped by local contexts.
Milly Warner, Social Impact Researcher
The outcome: Evidence-based design in Glyn-coch
This report aims to provide actionable learnings that create a clear, project-specific roadmap, from community feedback to design implications. Critically, it will also act as a benchmark for understanding our impact post-occupancy.
Impact Analysis has given us a means to create evidence-based design that is tailored to deliver long-term impact, not only for the students of Glyn-coch, but for parents, neighbours, and the wider community.
The design offers flexible spaces, a range of resources, from critical support services through to facilities that encourage exercise, social interaction and learning within the new community school campus.
James Page, Lead Architect, New Primary School for Glyn-coch
Inside the report
Inside, you’ll find a detailed breakdown of our methodology, findings, and recommendations, structured across five key sections:
- Context
- Engagement
- Research
- Analysis
- Learning
Download the full Glyn-coch Impact Analysis Report.
For more information, contact Milly Warner, Social Impact Researcher.
