Guerilla tactics: collaborative design
In response to the new RIBA Engagement Overlay to the Plan of Work Stages which aims to help build a framework for meaningful stakeholder engagement architects, we will be publishing a series of posts about our own co-design process.
This blog post is based on a Guerilla Tactics Talk Sam made back in 2021.
WALK AND TALK
We want to describe some simple approaches that we use as part of co-design projects we have worked on with a range of community led housing clients. Collaborating and engaging in a co-design process is the way that we design better futures together (and has the added bonus of achieving better planning outcomes!).
This approach is as much about mindset as it is tactics. We begin community led projects with a group walk of an area to explore the physical, social and cultural environment of a site. We call it a 'walk and talk', and it's a valuable opportunity to listen, learn and talk with people who have a deep knowledge of their area.
STUDY VISITS
Looking at real-life projects together is a powerful learning tool, and we also like to ask residents (or building users) to describe their experiences of buildings. Taking the time to show participants of a design process some completed projects gives us all a shared set of references and a shared understanding of how things might be done – especially if they are different to more conventional approaches to living. This process builds knowledge within client groups, and empowers them to explain and articulate their ideas with references to tangible things. It is a great way to excite and inspire clients with ideas that we think have worked well on other projects, and to critique any less successful elements too.
SHOW AND SHARE
Exploring site analysis with members of a community is a fantastic way to collaborate and learn from the people we work with and for. Respecting them as consultants of their area and experts of their streets is critical to gain important local insight and information that we could never find alone. We've used a range of tools to explore initial feasibility work with client groups to help them understand the implications of early design decisions and the impact on urban design character.
Simple AR and VR tools have been really powerful to demonstrate before and after models of any pre-existing design work that we have inherited, or that might have been undertaken at the briefing stage by a client group.
CO-DESIGN
Arriving at the point in a project of enabling people to really participate in the design process is a powerful stage. We often present a range of quite different design approaches with simple models that can be interrogated, reconfigured and easily adapted.
Valuing and respecting peoples' ideas, and allowing them to test and demonstrate their ideas helps to develop better design choices and outcomes. Our role is to curate, bring it all together, and seek consensus.
SIMPLIFY
We’ve stood in rooms with too many architects and consultants who don't read the room, assess the audience, or tailor their language to people unfamiliar with architectural jargon!
We are big believers in using plain and simple language to enable all parties to engage and understand each other better. We like to use simple diagrams, sketches, and models which are clear and uncomplicated, particularly in respect of M&E and sustainable tech.
CLARIFY
Lots of architects design in 3D as a matter of course. We have tried to share this tool more widely with clients, consultants, and local planning authorities. Maximising the potential of even simple VR is a massively helpful tool. We once showed a client (who, for 50 years, had lived opposite the site of a proposed development) the prospective view of the completed project from the viewpoint of his bedroom. He made some simple observations, which helped us develop the design and gain his support for the planning application! Likewise, we have given 'tours' of our models to heads of planning which encourages comprehensive understanding of a range of complex issues.
EMPOWER
The aim of each of these stages is to try and empower people to have a meaningful role in the design of their future. A well structured co-design process produces better outcomes in terms of design, sustainability, and planning. Everyone is a designer. Everyone has ideas, aspirations, and ambitions that need to be harnessed – and that's where we can help. This approach and mindset helps to turn NIMBYs into YIMBYs; we have overseen developments with zero objections, and multiple letters of support. Planning committees are bowled over by them, and on one occasion even commented “this is the future of sustainable housing in the UK”. As architects we are in a unique position to inspire, enable and empower people to play a meaningful and significant role in development, and to design better futures together.
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