Kingston School of Art students work with Kingston Council to boost community engagement in a pilot urban room

Posted Tuesday 7 March 2023

Called Open Frame, the teal-coloured scaffold-based structure, designed by the students, serves as an inviting and adaptable multiple-purpose space to host events and showcase information.

Architecture students from Kingston School of Art have teamed up with Kingston Council to create a new conversation space for Kingston's communities to share their views on the borough's future.

A pilot urban room has been installed in the Market House, in the centre of Kingston's Market Place, creating a focal point for people to come together and discuss proposals for the borough.

Called Open Frame, the teal-coloured scaffold-based structure, designed by the students, serves as an inviting and adaptable multiple-purpose space to host events and showcase information. It had recently been used to support the Council's consultation on the first draft of the new Local Plan and is now being used to seek people's views on the vision for the Kingston town centre area. The pilot urban room will also play host to a number of other projects and discussions in the coming months.

The space is the result of a joint project also involving the Kingston Society, the North Kingston Neighbourhood Forum, Chessington District Residents' Association and New Malden Residents' Association.

The brief to design the space formed part of the University's Vertical Project – an annual live brief run by the Architecture Department at the start of each academic year. Proposals from 21 student teams were whittled down to three finalists, whose ideas were combined for the final room design.

Course leader for the Master of Architecture programme Aoife Donnelly was heavily involved in planning the project alongside the students. "Urban rooms are a way to boost community participation, with the ambition of encouraging citizens to take a more active role in the future of their built environment," she explained. "Urban rooms typically host a range of workshops and exhibitions to test ideas and develop thinking around plans. Agency over change is one of the key ambitions, with people feeling their voice is being heard. This was just one of the key considerations the students had to take into account."

The local focus had been particularly compelling for the students, Ms Donnelly said. "Rather than working on abstract concepts, students could instead learn from engaging with and experiencing the challenges first hand."

The brief to design the space formed part of the University's Vertical Project – an annual live brief run by the Architecture Department at the start of each academic year.

First year Master of Architecture student Emily Walker was part of the Kingston School of Art team involved in the design, lay out and construction of the urban room. "Projects like this add richness to our study at University. It's not often we have the opportunity to challenge ourselves with this type of experience while completing a degree," the 24 year old, originally from Salisbury, said.

Working with Kingston Council on a live project had been a rewarding process, Emily added. "Establishing networks and connections is very important as we begin to situate ourselves within the profession. Working with Kingston Council, alumni from the architecture course and across disciplines has been an exciting collaboration and I have learned so much from the experience."

Cllr Roger Hayes, the Council's Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Community Engagement, said Kingston's urban room created an accessible space for conversation that had enabled many more people to participate in discussions about the future of the borough. "By involving students from Kingston School of Art, commissioning them to design the interior and to collaborate on the creation of the brand and identity, we have been able to curate an interesting and intriguing space, drawing people in and encouraging them to engage with the draft Local Plan and other important projects."

The project is one of many ways the University is working with the local community to add value, create networks and give students additional experience. The urban room joins Not My Beautiful House, a pop-up activating the space until June 2023 to showcase community, student and graduate artwork and products, at Market House. Led by Union of Kingston Students and Studio KT1 at Kingston University, the project also offers creative spaces and hosts workshops for the community.

"We deeply value having a university in our town," Cllr Hayes said. "We look forward to giving students more experiences to work on real-life projects and have opportunities to understand more about their needs and aspirations, not only as a student but as a future resident or worker long after their studies conclude."