Designing the offer of Rothera Mills with the participation of residents
Rothera Mills
Rother's Mills is a valuable monument of industrial architecture, a witness to the dynamic development of Bydgoszcz of the mid-19th century. The structure, consisting of a mill and two granaries, is located on the Mill Island, whose function has evolved from industrial to recreational and cultural. Today it is a place for leisure, amidst nature, and historic architecture, a green enclave surrounded by water in the heart of the city.
Since 2013, the Rothera Mills have again become the property of the local government, and the city authorities, through revitalization, intend to restore them to their former splendor and create a unique place, even on a national scale. The mills, as the headquarters of the Culture Park - an institution operating in the field of cultural and scientific education - are intended to serve not only the local community, but also visitors and tourists coming to Bydgoszcz and representatives of the business world.
Purpose and stages of the project
Our task was to develop a vision for the Rothera Mills as a cultural institution and to design the Rothera Mills offer with the participation of residents: representatives of the Culture Park, Bydgoszcz families, creative industry companies, NGOs and Business Environment Institutions.
Project stages
1. refining the vision for Rothera Mills
2. getting to know the needs of users
3. defining the functions of the Rothera Mills complex and verification with potential users
Applications
"Designing the Rothera Mills offer with the participation of residents" confirmed two broader phenomena that we as the Concordia Design team have been observing for a long time.
First, we reinforced our belief that professional design and research processes, effectively support the cooperation of local government units with the local community.
Secondly, we are sure that "creating space" itself goes far beyond building quality infrastructure. In order for this space to meet the expectations of its future users (e.g., residents), it is necessary to involve them in the design process as early as possible. Through research, we should learn about the needs of the audience, encourage them to share their thoughts or ideas.
Results
We carried out the process of designing Rothera Mills' offerings with the participation of residents according to the design thinking method: we focused on the user, designed for a specific audience segment rather than a hard-to-define "general public," and worked in an interdisciplinary team, drawing on the experience and insights of people from different backgrounds.
First, we worked together to develop a vision for the Mills - on the one hand as a cultural institution modernly managed by the Culture Park - and on the other as a place of social, "city-forming" importance.
Today we already know that the Rothera Mills should be the (im)pulse of the city.
We then learned about the needs of users from two key groups: Bydgoszcz families and representatives of the creative industry. During the research, we used both research workshops and in-depth interviews.
In the final stage of the project team's work, we defined the key functionalities for individual spaces in the Rothera Mills complex, and finally verified the assumptions together with the users: representatives of the cultural sector and community organizations.
We topped off the whole project with a report containing recommendations from the research.
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