Shared garden spaces for communities
By Julian Woods
Recently along my street in Greenbank, Bristol, the residents installed planters along the low stone front walls of the properties, after a neighbour applied for funding for this from the Avon Wildlife Trust.
This was great as a community event and enabled us to get to know our neighbours better. It also struck me as being a (small) step towards transforming the street into a cohesive communal space, especially when closed to traffic as it regularly is for children playing outside or street parties. Whilst the initial reasoning for the planters was to increase biodiversity, it also has a strong positive social impact.
Gardens and landscaping are usually one of the most important aspects of any cohousing scheme, such as the designs for our projects in Bridport and Abbotts Leigh.
We’ve been exploring how growing spaces can work in our scheme for Nettle Cohousing group on a site in Easton – including a vegetable bed, greenhouse and planters defining outdoor dining areas. Along with an indoor communal room, these shared outdoor spaces will enhance social interaction and build a sense of unity essential to any cohousing community.
As a North-east facing garden on the Easton site, there is limited direct sunlight - but by using 3D modelling and daylight simulation, we were able to track the movement of the sun to help figure out where the best spots for each of the spaces would be (see below).
The greenhouse position on the terrace also acts as a screen to help with overlooking (which is often an issue in obtaining planning permission).