This project conceives, tests and establishes a new type of community amenity space that combines essential services with opportunities for social and cultural activity. It has been co-produced, co-designed and will also be constructed with the community within which it is situated. Mereside is a peripheral social housing estate suffering from multiple indicators of social deprivation, located in the northern English seaside town of Blackpool.
Through an embedded and active approach to community engagement we worked with the residents and stakeholders of Mereside to identify potential projects, activism and advocacy that reimagined and tested new concepts for social and civic amenity. The local library was identified as an asset but one that was fragile due to exceptionally small premises that limited access and activity. Fuel poverty and access to laundry facilities was also recognised along with a lack of space for the local housing association to conduct sensitive 1:1 consultation with residents. This initial consultation process also identified a long-term vacant premise that had most recently been used as a housing office which could be utilised as the site for the project.
Involving the community directly in the development of the proposal and sharing the decision-making process was critical, but the design language of architecture can be difficult to understand for non-expert participants. Conducting consultation workshops in the actual space crucially allowed the participants to visualise what can be done. Interacting physically with the site by taking building elements apart, utilising existing furniture, and even drawing on walls as a performative design tool gave freedom to the participants to imagine future uses and formal ideas. As well as previously identified functions, the consultations revealed the need for more flexible spaces for arts and community events. As a variety of uses were needed, not all compatible to one another, a degree of adaptability of use was necessary. An interactive architectural model of the space that could be taken apart and rebuild during the design discussions was also devised, allowing those with no design experience to test and visualise ideas.
In the final stages of the design process, the model, illustrations and axonometric drawings showing the variety of use were key in demonstrating to community and stakeholders the ways in which the building can be adapted for different activities at different times.

Engaging with the community in the design decision-making process ensured that the project stakeholders and residents shared a feeling of mutual ownership of the neighbourhood amenity and created greater community cohesion through collaborative action. This will be reinforced during the construction stage of the project, scheduled for April and May 2022, in which volunteers and residents are invited to demolish, re-build, fabricate and decorate the spaces and the furniture. A key aspect of this experience will be an engagement with the digital fabrication facilities at the University of Central Lancashire, introducing participants to new forms of contemporary craft and making. The project will reduce a reliance on services that are currently only available in the town centre and provide a local social and cultural asset. Mereside Library/Laundrette rethinks and proposes a new typology that empowers the community through an active participation in the act of making place.