An ongoing project looking at the reconfiguration and reactivation of the frontage to an Irish language centre in West Belfast. The centre has a crèche and hosts a variety of workshops in the evenings for the surrounding neighbourhood. However, the entrance is dominated by cars and lacks frontage to the street, appearing hostile with three layers of gates/ fencing. The approach to the centre is therefore unpleasant and whilst DDA compliant, lacks an appropriate standard of design. We were asked to re–envisage what this plot of land could be for the centre and therefore proposed that it became a new front garden for the community.

The proposed terraced garden includes a new gently inclining slope, completely DDA compliant, which journeys between themed areas of planting, including vegetable and sensory gardens, to facilitate learning. Security of the site still had to be considered so as a solution to fencing, we proposed that a row of sheds enclose the garden, simultaneously providing a flexible space for the community. Some sheds could be used as greenhouses with polycarbonate skin whilst others could house farmer’s markets on weekends and other community events. The doors of the sheds would be able to open out onto the street during the day and welcome residents into the centre through an amphitheatre space/ community piazza at the bottom of the terraced garden.