Designing the Urban Environment with Karen Jelenje

Written by Project Assistant Ellen Pye 

For this Shape My City session we were joined by Karen Jelenje. Karen runs her own social enterprise called Activate the City, she also works for Hackney Council in estate regeneration

Karen explained to us the role of an urban designer/regeneration project officer. She works on projects from the planning and design phase to projects being built and people moving into the spaces.

From studying a Masters in Urban Planning a Masters in Urban Design and Planning, Karen went on to get a placement at an urban design practice. Karen has recently started up Activate the City which is a social enterprise focused on involving young people in urban development and came from a desire to give a voice to young people in local communities who don’t get heard enough but often have great ideas about what is needed in their area.

Through Activate the City she is keen to initiate youth –led community development that is focused on activating vacant and underused spaces and creating economic opportunities in local communities.

In answer to the question 'what advice would you give to your 16 year old self? Karen said:

• Don’t worry too much about what you want to do when you’re older - your journey will have lots of ups and downs
• Be curious and ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to ask for help
• Make sure you do things that you are passionate about.

Activity 1 - Public Spaces

Karen showed us a series of public spaces across Bristol and discussed whether we thought they were good, bad or ugly. The discussion threw up things like how could we make Queens Square more exciting? How could the Bearpit be a space designed for everyone? Why is Cabot Circus considered nicer than Broadmead? How do we animate a space like Millennium Square and keep it functioning all year round. What can you do with a vacant space like Turbo Island?

Karen then talked us through some example of successful regeneration projects. Regeneration is the improvement of existing spaces. Successful regeneration projects take into account jobs, the economy, housing and putting communities at the heart of the development. Karen presented the Olympic Park in Stratford as example of regeneration done well - the space that was once empty and derelict now provides housing and green spaces. Another example was the High-line in New York, which used to be a goods train line that became derelict. The space has been transformed in a green walkway for the city.

Activity 2 - Regeneration Brief
We visited two sites near the Architecture Centre the brief was to think of creative and imaginative ways to activate these vacant spaces:

Site A - Was on the Narrow Quay, a patch of neglected land between the Architecture Centre and Arnolfini

Karen encourages us to think about the potential of the space. It’s a big space in a popular area, which would attract a lot of people. We discussed how the space is very overgrown currently and may not be safe at night time

Site B -   Prince Street, Derelict Church building, Missions of the Seamen

We talked about the history and heritage of the site and how a new design could highlight these. As an old building would it be safe to build in and keep sustainable? We thought about opportunities for creating a viewing platform on the roof and retail opportunities on the ground floor. Karen pointed out one of the problems could be finding a solution for the building that the community all agree with, because of its heritage and connection to the city.

We then returned to the Architecture Centre and Karen gave us the brief to design a regeneration of these sites. The group then divided up, with two groups focusing on Site A and two others on Site B. The groups used SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) to think about the potentials and limitations of the spaces. Following this the groups started working on their designs, creating 3D models to demonstrate their ideas.

Karen suggested the following things to consider:

•   Who can/could use the space?
•   Who else could/should use it in the future?
•   What do people want to do there?
•   How does it look and feel?
•   The materials, plants, surfaces, seating, lighting, structures and artwork you might want to add to the space.

The groups came up with really creative and imaginative designs for the spaces:

The first group working on Site A wanted to make the space more colourful and appealing. They thought about adding lots of new plants to the space and commissioning street artists to add work to the surrounding walls. They wanted to add a large glass canopy over the site with the front exposed to protect users from the weather. To add colour and to reflect ships sails they hung colourful flags across the roof. They had a cafe area for families in the day that could become a bar area in the evening. To separate the space from the brick walls they wanted to add trees around the perimeter and planters with bee friendly flowers higher up on the walls.

The second group working on Site A design the space to have an eco friendly shack/cafe for families with all chairs and tables made from recycled materials. One of the features of the space was a children’s play area inspired by the lack of outside spaces for children in the city centre. They wanted to add bike stands to encourage cycling. Too add colour and vibrancy they wanted to add street art and sculpture. To protect users from the weather they designed a netting cover over part of the space to protect from rain and sun.

The first group working on Site B decided they wanted to modernise the front of the building by adding a glass wall, to let in light and let people see what was inside. They thought the space could be used as a communal art gallery with walls covered in art from the local community. They also designed a rooftop garden to add more green space to the city which could also be a viewing area.

The second group working on Site B wanted to include a cafe, bookcases and artwork inside their space. They designed a roof that was 1/3 glass to let natural light in. They thought about adding a room garden with a glass pathway and waterfall flowing through it, that lit up at night to provide a night garden for the city. They wanted to include a community art project that would decorate the walls in the words hello and welcome in all the languages spoken in Bristol. Their design was about making a space for everyone that brought colour and life into the old grey space.

Useful links:
The Urban Design Group - Careers in Urban Design
The Academy of Urbanism - Young Urbanists