This project, produced in partnership with Plymouth City Council, residents of Red Brick estate, Tamar View Community Centre and Dare 2 B Young Ambassadors programme was a long term process, taking in community consultation, brief writing, additional funding from Arts Council England for engagement and an Arts Action Group Steering Panel called BBROOTS.  It was the culmination of 4 years of engagement by Take A Part in the Barne Barton area.

Over 200 members of the community attended our celebration event, this isn’t including the families who attended the Cabin’s sports day at the field earlier in the day. We enjoyed using the new seating and equipment, eating a delicious BBQ, talking to the artist and designer about the design process, and talking with community ambassadors about their digital mapping project.  Thanks Barne Barton!

Artists and architects George Lovesmith and Sarah Hollingsworth were commissioned by the selection panel to respond to a long consultation process involving Plymouth City Council’s Neighbouhood Team, local residents and architect Hilary Kolinski.  The results were fed into a brief for work that called included:

- Gateway graphic used the community ambassadors’ digital mapping project as inspiration.

- Way finding markers spilled across the Red Brick estate and Barne Barton to show ‘hidden’ shortcuts to the park. This design used the history of the ‘70s ‘trouser march’ – when female students marched to the Hoe in boys’ school uniform to protest not being allowed to wear trousers.

- The ‘magic carpet’ feature was co-designed with young people from Barne Barton, the materials reflecting the identity of the ‘Red Brick’ estate.

- The kerby feature encourages children and young people to play this out of the road and into the safety of the park, and was informed by play and design sessions with children from the area.

- All equipment is already being used imaginatively in ways that we couldn’t have thought up – encouraging creativity and play.

All photos copyrighted to Bridey Borda.