Co-Design in Practice: Starting Local

One of the key strands of this project is exploring how communities can actively shape the work, not just encounter it once it’s finished. That means testing what co-design actually looks like in a real setting, with real people, rather than keeping it theoretical.

As a starting point, I reached out to the team working at Kingswood Park in South Gloucestershire. We’d previously had a conversation about creating simple arches for the entrances to a community garden, so it felt like a natural place to begin. It’s local to me, already has community engagement embedded into it, and is part of a wider programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since that initial conversation, my practice has started to shift. The focus of this research and development project is on ecological, long-term public work, sculptures that don’t just sit in a space, but support planting, habitats and ongoing use. Alongside that, I’m interested in how people can be involved in shaping those structures, from early ideas through to long-term care.

I got back in touch to see whether there might be an opportunity to use the site as a case study. Not to complicate their plans, but to open up the possibility of layering in some co-design elements. This could take the form of small, focused workshops where local participants help shape aspects of the design, from how structures are used for planting, to the kinds of forms and details that feel meaningful in that space.

In the initial meeting, a few interesting threads started to emerge. There was already an awareness of local history and identity within the park, including references to the area’s mining heritage. One idea that came up was the potential to repurpose old mining equipment into sculptural elements. That immediately opened up questions around material reuse, storytelling, and how industrial forms might be reinterpreted into something ecological and future-facing.

This is exactly the kind of overlap I’m interested in. Not imposing a narrative onto a site, but uncovering what’s already there and finding ways to translate that into form, texture and use.

Alongside this, I’ve been thinking about more hands-on ways people could contribute. This might include designing and making smaller modular elements such as planters, vertical garden components, or habitats like bird boxes, which could then be integrated into a larger structure. It also raises questions around stewardship, who looks after these pieces once they’re in place, and how that care can be shared between local groups, schools, or volunteers.

At this stage, nothing is fixed. The aim is to test approaches, to understand what feels meaningful to participants, what is practical for partners, and where the balance sits between artistic direction and open collaboration.

Starting with a local site like Kingswood Park gives me a grounded way to do that. It’s a chance to learn not just how to design these kinds of works, but how to begin the conversations that make them possible in the first place.