The document outlines a community-focused project involving design adaptations during installation, acknowledging challenges such as budget issues and site security. It highlights various elements, from ecological building practices to local engagement in gardening, aimed at improving community health. Additionally, it discusses safety considerations, risk management, and innovative solutions to enhance the project while preserving the environment.

1. Expect/encourage design adaptations during roll-out
Complex designs
emerge & adapt
during installation -
although original/core
patterns remain
intact.
E.g. 3rd hut (warden’s
cottage) eliminated
(planning/zoning/
budget issues) thus
site security issues
remain unresolved

2. Claiming the land - access at last!
An English picnic
party on a chilly day -
celebrating land hand-
over!
Locals and supporters
keep warm and eat
baked potatoes
Mike Isherwood -
standing, right, local
headmaster - a key
project ally

3. Claiming the land - another access effect!
Farmers & urban edge
dwellers are often
uneasy neighbors.
Dogs on both sides,
vandals & ‘borrowers’
all part of the iffy mix.
New fence makes for
new freedoms for
both parties - enjoy
that tree boys!

4. Contingency!
A (very) late search
response reveals18th
C coal mine (bell-pits)
entries may be buried
deep below grade.
Down we have to dig
- add 16 tons
concrete & steel then
fill it back up - nearly
broke the bank!
Better safe than sorry.
Chris Mackenzie-Davey & Sons plus me consider safety implications of
amphitheatre option - No! is the clear answer

5. Community advocate No.1
Connie Kiely
Connie, currently Chair
of Holmewood
Executive, along with
Mike Isherwood pressed
City Challenge for
Springfields to happen.
Thanks for the
persistence, Connie!
Vision of better
community health
through active gardening
for food and amenity
both key drivers.
Chris Mackenzie-Davey & Sons plus me consider safety implications of
amphitheatre option - No! is the clear answer

6. Local government advocate No.1
Council Chair
Chair of Council
rescued project when
Council professionals
balked at Clivus
Multrum composting
toilet & stalled planning
process.
Mains sewage
connection would have
consumed half total
budget & required
pumping station - not
exactly eco!
Anything unusual around sewage is always controversial ...

7. Ground works start - just as winter rains do
Swales go in to catch &
soak-up excess winter
water, to make the
basis of a people
barrier (public walking
route above swale,
core site below) & to
add varied habitat.
Risk of slope slip due
to duplex soils not
anticipated but, so far,
all’s well.

8. Overview of all the swales and ponds
Significant additions of
water collection made
overall.
Major increase in
habitats and general
interest of site -
changes a ‘wet’ and
difficult site into a site
with wet and dry
harmonics allowing
more access and
differentiated uses.

9. Pre-fabricated ecological buildings required
Original plans to community build
workshops & warden’s cottage
scuppered by needs of ‘instant results’
culture & winter start due to planning
delays. Pre-fabricated buildings thus the
best option.
Model shows reciprocal beam roof
structures & Graham Brown of Out of
Nowhere rose to challenge of
fabricating 2 of these & supervising
installation at short notice so that we’d
have dry spaces available for 1995
season.
Uninterrupted floor spaces &
ambience both a welcome treat.
World’s loveliest potting shed!

10. View of installed buildings
Left building for potting shed
& general garden functions.
Right building for Farmhouse
Kitchen and social space to
meet needs expressed by
locals.
Toilet in-between.
Visual appearance also
signals a project with a
difference.
Developed cluster shown in
bottom picture.

11. Looking good - road design a feature
Careful routing of
roadway to avoid any
carting of materials to &
from site & to finish with
gentle gradient suited to
wheelchair access.
Major effort required to
avoid over engineering
here - kerbs, street
lights, pavements,
tarmac, drains all
energetically resisted.
Working outside of conventional specifications takes time & attention

12. Roadside revetment and planting
Re-using tires to make
sturdy retaining walls
along the roadside &
using the spaces for
decorative planting

13. Community artists at large
Artist Jeremy Cunningham
leads projects designed to
engage local creativity, lift
the spirits of the site and
mark special features -
including the spring at
‘Springfields’
Jeremy in overalls in center picture

14. Everyone gardens
Clockwise from top left:
1. Mark Fisher in the thick of
it. 2. Second home to a pre-
teen. 3. Here her mother
sells plants for home gardens
4. Folks with learning
challenges enjoy tutorials.
Note salvaged granite setts
in background

15. Gardening experiments
Large scale sheet mulching for potato bed and for
composting surface vegetation in situ. Leaves area
free of ground cover and nutrient rich whilst
avoiding all that digging!
Companion planting using rows of flowering plants
between the vegetables in order to attract beneficial
insects that consume harmful pests
Tree nursery (a small business intended to earn
income for the project by suppling well grown stock
for local landscaping) mulched with ‘wulch’, a felted
wool product and a legacy of Bradford’s pre-
eminence as a wool market in earlier times.

16. Willow structures workshop for local
primary school students.
Constructors take well earned rest from
making demo garden showing house
holders what they could do at home.
Spring festival procession
Chatting over the fence (trad.).

17. Time to go home
Thanks for
stopping by!
Andrew Langford now at
www.gaiauniversity.org