‘New Windows on Willesden Green’ Proposes New Solutions for the High Street

[Jessica Courtney Bennett]

London: The London Borough of Brent demonstrates a positive way to tackle the decline of the British high street, with the launch of Phase Two of the New Windows on Willesden Green initiative.  Following the success of a curated series of window displays that were revealed as a giant advent calendar in the 25 days leading up to Christmas 2011, expressions of interest are being sought from businesses, projects or individuals keen to take up short-term ‘meanwhile’ residencies in selected empty premises along Willesden High Road and Walm Lane. The focus on reviving vacant properties along the High Road aims to provide start-up companies, community groups, projects and individuals the opportunity to occupy premises at a reduced rate; in return occupants will be expected to animate the space and contribute in some way to the local community.

New Windows on Willesden Green is one of the Mayor’s Outer London Fund projects, which is being delivered for Brent Council and Design for London by The Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Meanwhile Space and Blue Consulting. This project is an exciting initiative to revive and improve Willesden High Road, bringing positive change to the area.

Brent Council with delivery partners The Architecture Foundation and Meanwhile Space are currently calling for those interested in taking up meanwhile residencies to submit expressions of interest. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be businesses, projects or individuals that enhance or complement the current high street offer. They will need to be prepared to ‘give back’ to the local community, and be accessible to local people, as well as adhere to a ‘made or procured locally’ ethos. In addition, the businesses or projects must provide evidence of their economic sustainability.

New Windows on Willesden Green has secured its first vacant premises for the project: 1-12 Queens Parade is a large building on Walm Lane that has been empty for five months. Previously home to a textile business, the landlord has made eight units available for the project.

Brent Council’s Lead Member for Regeneration and Major Projects, Cllr George Crane, said, “Projects like these offer new businesses the opportunity to make use of a retail space that they otherwise would not be able to afford while providing residents with the chance to get involved and learn some new skills.”

Sarah Ichioka, Director of The Architecture Foundation said, “As we have seen with the recent Portas Review, there is a new focus on reviving the British High Street, which we believe is crucial to the health of urban communities and economies. ‘New Windows on Willesden Green’ is beginning to creatively reactivate the Willesden High Road area, and this second phase, we believe, will catalyse long-term regeneration for the benefit of local people.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: "London's town centres and high streets have a hugely important part to play in the capital's economy so it's vital we pull out all the stops to make them attractive places to visit, work and do business. It’s great to see that my Outer London Fund is helping to kick start this reinvigoration."

In order to submit an expression of interest, all applicants must attend a Proposal Development Workshop, taking place on 28 January, and 1, 7, 8 February. These workshops form part of the application process and only those who have attended at least one workshop will be invited to submit a proposal. A full brief can be downloaded through the new Windows for Willesden Green website (www.willesdenwindows.com/vacant-shop/), and onsite at the project’s Pilot Shop, 45 Walm Lane, NW2 4QU (open 2-6pm, Monday to Friday).

In association with the New Windows on Willesden Green initiative, Architecture 00:/ will be launching a new LIBRARY LAB in Willesden Library Centre from February 18th, offering a series of workshops, lectures, and conversations focussing on enhancing business skills and assisting those wishing to become self-employed. These will be open to the Brent community at large.

Full details of the project are available on www.willesdenwindows.com

Final proposal submissions deadline is 14 February 2012, midday.

Notes to editors:

This project is an exciting opportunity to revive and improve Willesden High Road bringing positive change to the area. The project is delivered with support and advice from Design for London and runs from October 2011 to March 2012. A further exciting element of the Mayor’s Outer London Fund work in Willesden Green is the ‘Library Lab’, which will be hosted by Architecture 00:/ in the Willesden Green Library Centre.

People who wish to get involved in ‘New Windows for Willesden Green’ in any way should contact The Architecture Foundation on [e-mail] or 0207 084 6767.www.architecturefoundation.org.uk

Partners

The Outer London Fund

The Mayor of London’s Outer London Fund is a three-year initiative dedicated to strengthening the vibrancy and growth of high streets and their environs. At the centre of the initiative is funding of up to £50 million, supported by the offer of advice from the Mayor’s Design for London team that can be targeted at improving the character, quality and economic vitality of selected high street places.

Outer London Fund support is allocated in two rounds; the first provides an immediate opportunity to access funds and advice for clusters of readily deliverable projects. These should make a visible, contribution to the vibrancy and self-confidence of high street places in the near future. On 3 August 2011 the Mayor announced the Round One successful bids - the award of nearly £10m of funding to 20 boroughs across the capital. The London Borough of Brent received £500,000 for Willesden Green.

The second round will continue the package of support, adding more places and shifting the balance towards more substantial physical projects that can deliver lasting improvement.

www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/investing-future/oute....www.designforlondon.gov.uk

Brent Council

The London Borough of Brent is a located in North-West London, UK and forms part of Outer London.www.brent.gov.uk

The Architecture Foundation

Founded in 1991 as the UK’s first independent architecture centre, the Architecture Foundation is a non-profit agency for contemporary architecture, urbanism and culture. We cultivate new talent and new ideas. Through our diverse programmes we facilitate international and interdisciplinary exchange, stimulate critical engagement amongst professionals, policy makers and a broad public, and shape the quality of the built environment. We are independent, agile, inclusive and influential. Central to our activities is the belief that architecture enriches lives.

Meanwhile Space

Meanwhile Space are a Community Interest Company that incorporated in July 2009, stimulated by a combination of the directors’ track record for project delivery and a central government grant to the Development Trusts Association to deliver a nationwide initiative called the Meanwhile Project. The CIC is the delivery arm of the Meanwhile Project, which aims to boost community uses of empty properties and sites. The project has built a ‘library’ of ideas and information as a resource to make it easier for both the landlord and the project sides to realise Meanwhile opportunities, including the Meanwhile Manual, Lease and Insurance policies.  www.meanwhilespace.com

Blue Consulting

Blue Consulting is an affiliation of independent consultants specialising in the management of functions and projects from full time interim placement to task focused projects and professional input. Combined skills are in town centre revitalisation and renewal, marketing and branding, PR, and property development (residential, commercial and hospitality). Appropriate skills are matched to client needs with the right individual or team put in place for the job. Recent placements have included management of marketing and communications (Bena Properties, Syria), town centre regeneration management (Brent Council) and management of an enterprise agency (Brent Business Venture/Park Royal Partnership). Task projects have focused on feasibility, profitability and marketability of schemes including development planning and design, mixed use scheme (ASC Finance, Brighton), tourism and transportation development advice (Govt. of Equatorial Guinea), hotel development and branding (Mansouri Group, Sharm-el-Shiekh).

Architecture 00:/

Architecture 00:/ is a London based strategy & design practice. With a foundation in delivering award-winning architecture and commissioned research into the built environment, we are driven by an aspiration to create genuinely sustainable places founded on evidenced social, economic, and environmental principles.

We are currently working with a broad spectrum of clients and collaborators on a range of innovative projects from new civic institutions, neighbourhood development strategies, and self-led housing masterplans to new service delivery infrastructures for healthcare, learning, and creative enterprise, alongside a number of ultra-low-energy private houses.

http://www.architecture00.net/