sPark It Sketch Schemes

ƒ(𝒏) Architects have consulted via sPark It on the conceptual design for a large number of street festivals, gardens and installations across Liverpool and the Northwest since 2020. A large catalogue of ideas were developed and solutions prepared in order to fulfil the purpose of sPark It project – the reimagining of the streets for people and not just cars.

One of the first commissions for sPark It was for the design of a parklet for The Pen Factory on Hope Street, a vibrant community of small businesses along with a bustling restaurant and bar business. The proposal was intended to create a threshold on the street to provide a place of relative quiet to meet friends before entering the business. The idea was well received by local politicians but faced opposition from the highways department for loss of parking revenue, nevertheless this scheme demonstrated the very high demand for these types of interventions and fueled the next iteration of the project to start a much broader conversation about the dominance of vehicle infrastructure.

sPark It were approached by a proprietor of the Pen Factory restaurant on Hope Street in Liverpool to undertake a feasibility exercise to rekindle the former Hope Street Feast. In pre-austerity times the feast was a September tradition involving closure of the road and businesses spilling out into the street for a weekend of events. An assessment was undertaken to identify primary stakeholders and to suggest a masterplan and roadmap to the event. Pending agreement from local businesses, which unfortunately did not arrive in time this year, sPark It CIC were ideally placed to assist with procurement and installation of pop-up installations and would approach the architecture schools of both universities to set up a temporary experimental architectural extravaganza!

sPark It were asked to propose a design for a new street park – an initiative run by the friends of Mulgrave Street that had crowd-funded to build a park on a vacant site in Toxteth. ƒ(𝒏) proposed a very carefully considered balance of elements considering the limited budget and the varying needs of the residents, considering the park as a new focal point for the street.

ƒ(𝒏) provided preliminary layouts based on the modular parklet design for a semi-permanent installation on Paradise Street prior to being invited to submit the Liverpool ONE Challenge competition.

ƒ(𝒏) Architects provided ideas for alternative uses for The Action Centre car park in North Liverpool, on behalf of Merseyside Youth Support Trust (MYST). The project was under the umbrella of sPark It Liverpool and showcased the repurposing of vehicle infrastructure to directly serve a broad range of alternative uses. With the intention for existing stakeholders – including the Liverpool Film Academy and Kirkdale Amateur Boxing Club to take control of this space using installations of varying degrees of permanence, it became clear that the car park could also serve a range of other community uses consistent with the already essential function provided by this former school.