MSA Live Showcase

Every year, students from Manchester School of Architecture work with local groups on projects to create social impact. We were delighted to see their amazing work at a showcase event in Chorlton Library in May.

Neighbourhood Swatch

The Neighbourhood Swatch team (pictured above) worked on the idea of 15-minute Neighbourhoods in partnership with Chorlton Traders Association, specifically Alan Williams from Unicorn Grocers. The team looked the principal features of successful, self-sufficient neighbourhoods, particularly with regard to a case study in Melbourne. They mapped the Chorlton area for its own 15-minute potential and created an amazing VR experience. They then offered ideas including allotment kiosks, pallet gardens, street art and a coherent brand for Chorlton to create unity. They also came up with exciting possibilities for branding through street furniture and a totally new kind of bus stop!

Read more about the project at the Neighbourhood Swatch mini site.

Green Gateway

The Green Gateway project was created in association with Chorlton Community Land Trust. The brief was to look at ways to bring more greenery into the commercial public realm: not only to look attractive, but to mitigate the effects of traffic pollution, reduce negative environmental impact and contribute to a sense of community wellbeing.

The students proposed more and better locations for parking, recycling facilities and cycle storage, as well as sites for murals and street art. They also explored possibilities for rejuvenating shop frontages through green interventions. At Jasmine, they suggested integration of the restaurant facade and the adjacent bus stop; At Zads, they looked at ways to incorporate greenery using the Victorian glass-covered pergola and at Cake Box, they proposed ways to make better, greener use of the wide pavement outside.

More information at the Green Gateway blog.

We’d like to say a huge thankyou to Manchester School of Architecture for the opportunities presented by MSA Live.

We’d particularly like to thank the teams of creative, energetic and enthusiastic students, who provided us with imaginative, yet practical solutions. This is exactly the sort of work that can play a vital role in improving Chorlton and we are very grateful to have had such expertise, so generously shared, to call upon.

We wish all the students well in their future studies and careers.