We Made That

Book now and join us for London Festival of Architecture 2024 this June for guided walks navigating cultural infrastructure and public spaces in the city. These walks and participatory workshops are a chance to better understand urban landscapes, shape ideas of safety and grasp how cultural infrastructure can be embedded. 6th June – ‘Night Listenings’: This walking tour and workshop around London Bridge is a chance to explore ‘safe bubbles’ of walking as night falls, reflecting on and reimagining how atmospheres of joy, concern, kindness and worry are created and expanded. Acknowledging that safety is a key concern for many London residents, we also introduce participatory approaches currently being developed to ensure diverse voices inform cross-sector initiatives on transport and public spaces. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gxf89bPF 14th June – ‘Discovering Cultural Infrastructure: a walking tour through Hackney Wick’: A walking tour of Hackney Wick and Fish Island, exploring its diverse cultural infrastructure and discovering the relationship between culture and climate, social value and local economies to reflect on how we can collectively advocate for and preserve these vital spaces for future generations. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gPiMzDqU #LFAat20  #culturalwalks #culture #walkingtours  #participatorymethods #publicspace #night #safety

The “grey belt” is already somewhere you can get a hair cut, buy tropical fish or go to a café. Why not add homes too? Whilst #Labour’s Keir Starmer has been most vocal about building new homes on previously developed land in the green belt, in recent weeks there has been cross party support for the move. Even centre right thinktank Bright Blue saying Starmer is ‘absolutely right’. Considering this is an election year it’s a remarkable endorsement that speaks to the strong logic behind building on land within the green belt that isn’t used for agriculture or nature. Tom Fox writes on how an approach to housing delivery at scale that crosses party lines is a rare thing in the UK, and why the grey belt's complexities demand that nuances are embraced through urban design. https://lnkd.in/ed3j6hx4

We're thrilled to announce also joining us at the Festival of Place on July 4th at Boxpark Wembley – Holly Lewis, Co-founder of We Made That. Holly is a leading figure in the field of urban design and architecture, with a passion for creating healthy and equitable places. As the co-founder of We Made That, a London-based firm specializing in working with public sector clients, Holly has led numerous projects aimed at enhancing communities across the capital and beyond. In addition to her work with We Made That, Holly serves as a national High Streets Task Force Expert, a Mayor’s Design Advocate for the Greater London Authority, and a Design Council Expert. Her expertise and insights into urban design and placemaking are unparalleled. Don't miss out on the opportunity to hear from Holly and gain valuable insights into shaping our urban environments for a better future. Secure your spot now and be part of this transformative event: https://bit.ly/3Trl30e

Our work on the Southwark Land Commission has been shortlisted in the ‘best use of publicly-owned land and/or property in placemaking’ category in this year's Planning Awards! We worked with PRD and Southwark Council to make bold recommendations for how more land in this central London borough can be freed up for public good. The Commission brought together a diverse group of members. All were unified in the view that social purpose must be at the centre of land use, and that this requires a major pivot in the way that things are currently done – starting with the 36% of land in the borough owned by Southwark Council, as well as the holdings of other public sector partners, including Transport for London and the NHS. Congratulations to everyone on this year's #Planning Awards shortlist: https://lnkd.in/dX2JKc4s

Goda nyheter! We’re excited to be shortlisted with super-local collaborators Kjellander Sjöberg and Förstberg Ling to partake in an innovative, forward-looking, and exciting parallel assignment for Trollhättan 6 on Universitetsholmen in Malmö. The brief’s main aspiration is to explore the use of existing resources, hybrid architecture and an ambitious sustainability agenda. The design should enhance Malmö's special character and become an exemplar in highlighting industrial heritage. Trollhättan 6 is to become a mixed urban block with new workplaces and homes, providing central areas and meeting places that activate the urban realm. The assignment will be preceded by a series of workshops where participating architects including Stefan Sjöberg, Björn Förstberg and Holly Lewis, together with the organisers, examine and discuss central issues of the development and design. We’ll be investigating the site conditions, its role and character, and how to create a more inclusive neighbourhood and a sense of belonging for people and businesses in the neighbourhood. See more from Malmö City Council 👉  Malmö stad https://lnkd.in/exnegWXf

What a way to round off #BCorpMonth! Watch a bit more from the organisers and participants about the mentoring day in #Manchester that brought together local voluntary, community and social enterprises with B Corps to share their skills and perspectives. 🙌 Team member Oliver Goodhall was delighted to have been able to participate https://lnkd.in/enHJSXHb  #CommunityBuilding #Impact

As BCorp month comes to a close you can still read our Impact Report 2023: A multiplicity of voices https://lnkd.in/eirdxRTh Thomas Aquilina, Associate, reflects back to move ourselves forward, “A material part of my role is to have us return to the fundamentals and question, think further, about key terms or ideas that we get behind and that galvanise our sense of practice. We cannot take for granted ideas around public good or impact or engagement.” Our team members who contributed to our impact across 2023 included: Tasnia Alam, Antonia Alexandru, Charlotte Amos, Thomas Aquilina, Eve Avdoulos, PhD, Suzi Bennett, Larry Botchway, Camille Chabrol, May Collins, Silvia Commisso, Aimee Daniels, Mark David Flynn, Tom Fox, Oliver Goodhall, Temitayo Ince, Diego Jenowein, Holly Lewis, Rachel Lucido, Lee Marable, Cat Mullan, Lily Moodey, Stavros Oikonomidis, Clare Rishbeth, Ana Santini, Carla Saunders and Benedikt Stranak. Check out the pillar by pillar team reflections captured by film maker Dion Barrett. #BcorpMonth #thiswayforward #Impact #Purpose #SocialValue #Environment

Why are we advocating for accountability? 2023 has seen us co-producing work between academic and design practice, the evolution of our ‘champion’ roles and deepening engagement in challenging structural injustice. This included supporting the delivery of a Land Commission for Southwark Council to identify how more land in the borough could deliver community benefit and how more of it could be in community and democratic control. Among other partnerships we have built and strengthened, we’ve welcomed Professor Clare Rishbeth on secondment to the team in 2023 as an associate researcher funded by an ‘Innovation Scholar’ grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK. Holly Lewis reflects with Clare on the frameworks and processes that have driven progress towards our mission this last year. Read more in our Impact Report 2023: A multiplicity of voices https://lnkd.in/eirdxRTh B Lab UK #BCorpMonth #Impact #Purpose #Governance with PRD, Sarah Wheale-Smith, Chris Paddock, Daniel Partridge, James McAsh, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Danny Edwards and more

Bexleyheath High Streets for All has been shortlisted in the Activation category for the Pineapples Awards 2024. We Made That led a team including POoR Collective and Bohemia Place Market to prototype public realm interventions with local young people and curate a programme of night markets on behalf of London Borough of Bexley and Mayor of London. Bexleyheath town centre serves as an important hub for several communities of varied backgrounds. Pressures resulting from their differing needs causes tension between these groups. Through workshops, events and design, we’ve been bridging the gap between communities and empowering often-marginalised, young people in Bexleyheath. The team’s work has contributed to #Bexleyheath’s high street recovery and delivery plan, including: - 5 night markets - 14 youth workshops - 2 youth markets - 1 youth event delivered, co-curated and hosted by the young people #highstreets #highstreetsforall #activation #festivalofplace Mark David Flynn, Larry Botchway, Holly Lewis 🙌

How are we improving transparency through inclusive feedback? In 2023, our team was 70% female, 15% LGBTQIA+, 20% BAME and 10% disabled. We also recruited, hired and trained eight resident researchers in a specific pilot project. In the ‘workers’ pillar of our Impact Report 2023, team members Cat Mullan and Lily Moodey explain how transparent processes and welcoming feedback leads to an inclusive workplace culture and how this experience also shapes our external approach to hiring experts from the communities we work within. This includes reflecting on internal processes such as co-designing and refining the attributes we value as a team through our Transparent Pay and Competencies Framework. It also includes the ways we’ve been treating lived experience as expertise through recruitment of community researchers and delivering inclusive #citizenscience. Read more in our Impact Report 2023: A multiplicity of voices https://lnkd.in/eirdxRTh B Lab UK #BCorpMonth #Impact #Purpose #Workers