52 Big Ideas for Bristol
52 Big Ideas for Bristol is a collection of quirky ideas to make the city more sustainable, designed to spark imagination and influence positive change.
Inspired by Bristol’s year as Green Capital of Europe in 2015 and the events we held at our own offices throughout the year, the ideas are ways to reduce pollution, congestion and wasted energy by offering greener alternatives, as well as smaller, fun ideas to bring communities together.
Examples include:
Bristol Colour Capital
An initiative to get more people painting their homes a bright colour, improve their homes energy efficiency and see the city celebrated as the most vibrant in the UK.
Bristol Ferry Commuter Service
Allow commuters to use the river as their preferred mode of transport, easing congestion through the city.
Portway Greenway
Extend the road tunnel below the Suspension Bridge all the way down the Portway, provide a green roof for nature and a unique route for walkers and cyclists.
Food Maps
Get Bristol eateries to display where their produce comes from on a map, encouraging them to source locally and help consumers make an informed food choice.
Temple Meads
provide hives along railway tracks, some of the most bio diverse environments, and use then sell the honey and mead at the station.
Waters of Bath
Born from wining the Imagine Bath RIBA public competition in 2016, Rob Delius’ Waters of Bath idea is for a network of water features around the city to celebrate the city’s historical connection to water.
A competition would be held to design the first features, attracting the best designs and designers, with maps created by the Tourist Board so visitors could actively seek out the water features, like the popular Bladud pigs sculpture trail a few years ago.
Introducing water features to Bath would be economically beneficial, attracting more visitors by making it an even enjoyable place to visit. It would also good for the people who live, work and spend time in the city – as it has been shown that even small interventions of water in our urban environment can make a significant impact on our health and quality of life.
The water features could, and should, take many different forms – some calming and soothing while others could be invigorating and exciting. It would create an aquatic soundtrack to the streets… from gushing, fizzing, splashing and thundering to gurgling, tinkling, lapping, rippling…
As a Bath resident, architect and the Head of Sustainability for Stride Treglown, he is keen for Bath to meet its full potential.
Please get in touch for more information or to express your support, which you can also do by following @WatersOfBath or by sharing www.watersofbath.org
Contact: Rob Delius
Doing the Lambeth Stride
As part of London Festival of Architecture 2017, our London studio held an exhibition looking back at the historic borough of Lambeth, using the power of social media to unearth memories.
They used Instagram and Twitter to show photos of the area, which were displayed on a dedicated website, doingthelambethstride.com, encouraging exhibition visitors and the public to add to using #LambethStride.
The exhibition showed 820 printed photographs of the area, each with its own story to tell. See the video below.
We are now looking for a new home for the exhibition, so that people can continue to learn about the history of Lambeth and keep adding to its memory.
Contact: Katie Parfitt and Ray Williamson
Building Plymouth
Building Plymouth is a Council led partnership with local construction and built environment stakeholders that aims to link local people with jobs and apprenticeships, training and career opportunities.
The aim of the initiative is to:
- help to increase the local availability of construction skills
- connect more people to employers offering work placements, training, jobs and apprenticeship opportunities
- enhance the image of the sector
- increase local awareness of careers in the construction and built environment sector
It was set up as a ‘call to action’ to engage local stakeholders to work together to create practical solutions to overcome the skills shortages and skills gaps facing the local construction and built environment sector.
Thanks to the investment by 25 project sponsors, Plymouth City Council has been able to invest in a dedicated Skills Co-ordinator to drive forward the ambitious plans for Building Plymouth.
The current Project Sponsors are AECOM, CITB, City College Plymouth, Constructing Excellence, Gilpin Demolition, Kier, Midas, mi-space, Millfields Trust, Morgan Sindall, National Careers Service, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Community Homes, Plymouth Construction Training Group, Redrow, Ryearch, Skills Group, South Devon College, Stride Treglown, SWH Group, TClarke, TruVision VR, Ward Williams Associates, Willmott Dixon and YGS Landscapes.
Contact: Dave Bayliss
Creative Cardiff
Creative Cardiff is a network which connects people working in any creative organisation, business or job in the Cardiff region. By encouraging people to work together, the maximising the creative potential of the city.
During their first year, Creative Cardiff offered a programme of 52 Things made with and for the city’s creative community. That’s one thing each week to inspire, inform and engage those working in Cardiff’s creative economy.
The network aims to bring together people from across the full breadth of the city’s creative economy – from dancers and marketing professionals to architects and app developers. By collaborating and sharing ideas, they want to encourage more innovation and creativity in our city.
Contact: Simon Trew