MADE.

MADE* Design Enabling service recently took 30 of its clients, enablers and other partners from the region on a study tour of Sheffield.

The party walked the city’s ‘Gold Route’; a succession of linked public spaces which take you from the railway station to the centre of the city. After lingering with the crowds, enjoying the sun in the Peace Gardens, our party split into two. One group went to see the work of Southey Owlerton Area Regeneration an exemplary community-led estate regeneration initiative including new community buildings, public spaces and parks.

Back in the city we heard from Creative Sheffield and city council officers about the transformation of the public realm. The key success factor was the commitment of the three main organisations, the Council, the urban regeneration company and the regional development agency to put the transformation of the built environment at the heart of their strategies. Back out in the sunshine we explored Sheffield’s Devonshire Green, where sensitive intervention, in both the public spaces and new buildings, had retained active edges and the small grain of the streetscape to enhance neighbourhood vitality.

Our hosts in Sheffield were generous with their time, open and honest. Already we have seen our clients, using the inspiration of Sheffield to inform arguments for good design in the Black Country.