PORTLAND WORKShops

6 April 2011

Yesterday John-Paul with Jo Lintonbon of Sheffield University had a busy day running a student exchange regeneration workshop between architecture students from Munich and Sheffield University.

There was a lot of ground covered through the day, starting at Sharrow Community Forum with an exchange of student work from the both school's of architecture and a presentation by Irena Bauman. The group then had a guided tour around the Portland Works, a former cutlery mesters in Sharrow, which has a controversial regeneration proposal that has excited much local interest. This was followed by a tour of some other industrial regeneration sites in the city, including Block Project and Academy of Makers where discussion continued over lunch at the wonderful Fusion Café.

The afternoon was spent at the Crookes Moore Building, the home of the School of Architecture, where Julia Udall gave a presentation on the Portland Works campaign. Following this the group divided into three and discussed potential future uses for the works, identifying the various conservation and regeneration issues involved. The day ended with a lively debate as each group pitched there proposal and voted on which was the most successful.

OK so the day didn't end there, there was a small contingent that continued the debate in the Cobden View Pub. A big thank you to our friends from Munich (my Augsburg tea-towel has pride of place on our coffee table!), my apologies that the day was a little no-stop. I hope the rest of your UK tour is fruitful.

Participants:
Irena Bauman (Bauman Lyons Architects)
Susanne Gampfer (TUM faculty of Architecture)
Florian Kossak (Sheffield Uni School of Architecture)
Jo Lintonbon (Sheffield Uni School of Architecture)
Elke Nagal (TUM faculty of Architecture)
Julia Udall (The Portland Works Committee, Sharrow Community Forum)
John-Paul Walker (Walker + Crowley Architects, Sheffield Uni School of Architecture MA Conservation & Regeneration)