Situated between the Bog Meadows nature reserve and the terraced streets of St James in West Belfast, a piece of vacant, publicly owned land was identified by local people as a potential community resource. A proactive group of residents decided to adapt the space as an urban farmyard, cultivating some crops and introducing a few livestock. The group was initially offered funding for several shipping containers. MMAS approached them initially on a pro–bono basis to help develop a more appropriate vision to spend the money on.
The design intention was to use a simple mono–pitch form to shelter a central community garden space protected from the noise and fumes of the dominant adjacent motorway, yet opened to surrounding terraced streets and the wider aspect to Belfast Hills and setting sun, to create a micro–climate conducive for growing, playing and community performances, discussions and events.
The outside edge of these typical agricultural portal frames is clad in corrugated, reflective metal to make a robust and secure ‘shell’ to the harsh environment of the motorway, while the inner facade to the main farm and garden is softer and more tactile, clad in timber gifted to the farm by a local builders yard and painted in a ‘red–oxide’ coloured oil stain. A playful ‘colonnade’ of ‘V’ shaped steels support a projecting roof to enhance enclosure, while giving a heightened expression to the humble building as a hint to its civic role. These columns are to be planted with trellised creeper species, allowing the buildings to embed within the garden as it.
Within a central bay of the linear portal frame, a covered space is left open between the animal stalls and workshop and orientated to the sun setting over the hills. This is the farm’s heart, a space for events and gatherings – but also about everyday farm functionality – with large sliding gates to open to grazing ground and passing public in the Bog Meadows.
St James’ Community ‘farm’ has become a much–loved aspect of the neighbourhood, with inner city dwellers waking to the stirring sound of a cock crowing, while a growing collection of animals graze adjacent Bog Meadow grassland given over to the group by Ulster Wildlife. Local children learn about life and food and gain new skills and interests within the peripheral space between city streets and landscape.
‘And the imagination fills
Bog meadow and surrounding hills . . .’
Michael Longley, ‘Letters’, from, An Exploded View (Gollancz 1973).
Situated between the Bog Meadows nature reserve and the terraced streets of St James in West Belfast, a piece of vacant, publicly owned land was identified by local people as a potential community resource. A proactive group of residents decided to adapt the space as an urban farmyard, cultivating some crops and introducing a few livestock. The group was initially offered funding for several shipping containers. MMAS approached them initially on a pro–bono basis to help develop a more appropriate vision to spend the money on.
The design intention was to use a simple mono–pitch form to shelter a central community garden space protected from the noise and fumes of the dominant adjacent motorway, yet opened to surrounding terraced streets and the wider aspect to Belfast Hills and setting sun, to create a micro–climate conducive for growing, playing and community performances, discussions and events.
The outside edge of these typical agricultural portal frames is clad in corrugated, reflective metal to make a robust and secure ‘shell’ to the harsh environment of the motorway, while the inner facade to the main farm and garden is softer and more tactile, clad in timber gifted to the farm by a local builders yard and painted in a ‘red–oxide’ coloured oil stain. A playful ‘colonnade’ of ‘V’ shaped steels support a projecting roof to enhance enclosure, while giving a heightened expression to the humble building as a hint to its civic role. These columns are to be planted with trellised creeper species, allowing the buildings to embed within the garden as it.
Within a central bay of the linear portal frame, a covered space is left open between the animal stalls and workshop and orientated to the sun setting over the hills. This is the farm’s heart, a space for events and gatherings – but also about everyday farm functionality – with large sliding gates to open to grazing ground and passing public in the Bog Meadows.
St James’ Community ‘farm’ has become a much–loved aspect of the neighbourhood, with inner city dwellers waking to the stirring sound of a cock crowing, while a growing collection of animals graze adjacent Bog Meadow grassland given over to the group by Ulster Wildlife. Local children learn about life and food and gain new skills and interests within the peripheral space between city streets and landscape.
‘And the imagination fills
Bog meadow and surrounding hills . . .’
Michael Longley, ‘Letters’, from, An Exploded View (Gollancz 1973).
