Designing for Belonging

The Levels

2022 / Public Space Design

The Project

The Brief: Design a space/product that promotes a sense of belonging in nature within the town of Bakewell.

This was a research heavy project with one of the most important stages being a visit to Bakewell to do ethnographic research, visual mapping and complete interviews with locals around the topic of belonging.

During talks with local young people they mentioned that they felt there was nowhere for them to spend time with friends and that they had to travel elsewhere to do this.

Our outcome was a series of curved benches, which when viewed from above create the shape of a Saxon Cross (Bakewell is known for having a collection of historical examples). Different segments of the benches are at different heights but there is no other visual difference between the segments thus allowing the user to impose their own ideas of how it should be used and encourage creative/playful interaction. The planters would contain plants that are native to the local area which could be cared for by local young people creating a sense of ownership and dedication- the idea being that if you are actively contributing and involved you are more likely to feel that you belong.

The wall-like design was used to create a boundary and a sense of privacy from the rest of the park.

For me, the cross-discipline nature of my team which contained both product designers and illustrators, allowed me to explore a greater range of outcomes and design within a wider scope than jut products.

My main roles as one of the two product designers was to develop the concept, shape of the seating and then create a physical, to-scale model to communicate it clearly.

After completing this project, I was asked to present it at three events: the Civic Lab Exhibition (2022), The Research and Good Practise Symposium (2022) and the Midlands Design Summit (2022), all of which gave me additional experience with public speaking.