Yesterday Georgie, Joe, Lucy and Kate went to the South Yorkshire Energy Centre where they gathered loads of really useful information about insulating existing buildings to cut energy bills and save the planet!! Thanks to the volunteers there who were very helpful answering our questions!

photographs on the ceiling

The Fun Theory by Volkswagen

"The easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do..."

Piano Stairs in Stockholm



The World's Deepest Trash Bin





Maybe we don't need to be that high-tech, but still can create fun and punchy installations with cheap materials that can make some CHANGE!

Cheers :-)

Installation precedents (cntd)

Installation Precedents (cntd)

'TRASH:anycoloryoulike' by Aidrian K was an art intervention for urban beautification and environmental awareness. The every-day bin bag with pink and polka dots creates a juxtaposition that gets people talking and brings awareness to everyday waste issues...

Puzzles of the Broomhall Centre

Participation Precedents

'1000 Journals' was an art/social experiment conducted anonymously. Blank journals were planted around a city in bus shelters, parks, toilets etc and inside the journals were minimal instructions to add to the journals, pass them around to others and eventually to return them to an address. A display of these returned journals was exhibited at SFMOMA as part of the 'Art of Participation' exhibition. The public were then encouraged to add more to these journals and to start the process again with a display of new blank books. The aim of the experiment was to encourage participation and to create collaborative art.

Useful links (cont.)

Also, the South Yorkshire Energy Centre at Heeley City Farm could be a great building to explore and gain inspiration for potential building upgrades we could achieve at Broomhall Community Centre.

Useful links

The Alternative Technology Centre is based in Hebden Bridge and could be a useful resource for our project research...

Building survey

Luke and Kate have gone to Broomhall Centre to carry out a survey of the building fabric and identifyall of the possible areas for improvement...photos to follow...

Discussing initial proposals with client

On Tuesday 6th October 2009 we met with Sharon Gill, the Centre Manager, to discuss our initial ideas and proposals, and how we see the project developing over the next six weeks. Sharon was enthusiastic about the ideas and the installations. We are now researching how these can be realised effectively within the next four and half weeks!

Installation precedents

In considering how the installations in the Centre could be creative rather than conventional, and perhaps a bit dry, we have been looking at a number of sculptural precedents. These precedents include work from (from the top) Ernesto Neto, Maurice Agis, Lars Spuybrook and Cesar Alexander.

Considering the existing building

The project began by considering the existing building and opportunities for improvement and intervention within it. The intention is the create a series of installations that are tactile and allow users to interact with them.

Project statement

The themes were then transformed into a statement from which the project can develop.

Project themes

Following the initial client meeting the live project team identified a number of key themes that could be used to create a brief for the six week project and drive it forward.

Attending groups and classes

To gain experience of using the centre, members of the live project group will be attending classes over the course of the six week live Project. On Sunday Joe attended the Life Drawing class and on Monday evening Kate and Georgie attended Yoga. Accounts of our experiences will be appearing soon!

Initial impressions of the Centre

Following the initial visit the group recorded the initial impressions of the Centre, some of these are shown above.

Initial Client Meeting

On Wednesday 30th September 2009 the live project group met with the Broomhall Centre Manager, the primary client contact, Sharon Gill. In the meeting Sharon outlined to us her aims for the project and the future of the Centre. These aims are summarised in the diagram above.

The live project team

We are all 5th and 6th year students of architecture at Sheffield University; we are Alex, Georgie, Joe, Kate, Lucy and Luke. Our email is broomhallliveproject@gmail.com or leave a post!

About this live project

This project looks at the Broomhall Centre in Sheffield. The Centre is a long established community facility that operates seven days a week catering for a hugely diverse range or groups and organisations. The Centre is run by a charity, Broomhall Centre Charity, who employ the Centre Manager, Sharon Gill. The building is owned by Sheffield City Council.

The Centre's website can be found at: www.broomhallcentre.org.uk

The aims of the project are to work with the Centre Manager and users to explore and investigate ways in which the building could be renovated. The aim of the renovation is to achieve an innovative “low carbon footprint, energy efficient proposal, to be a flagship project for renovating a Victorian building for community use appropriate for the 21st century”. The building should hopefully serve also as a means of “educating local residents and users of the building in energy saving initiatives and other global issues around energy use”.