woodhouse: becoming an alive neighborhood

MA Landscape ArchitectureMA Urban Design

CITIES ALIVE 2015Marc Bori, Linn Svanh, Martina Maria Taroni

2ResearchIntroductionResearch objectivesAimsGardens benefits Introduction to urban agricultureUrban agriculture gardens typologyLand accessFood growing principlesGrowing food in schoolsChildren relation with foodNational curriculumSustainability networksCase studies

Site analysisLocationContextTopographyInfrastructureGreen spacesLocal activitiesBuilding useHouses typology

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3This study is focused on the idea of creating an alternative green corridor to the existing idea of the String o Breads, connecting Woodhouse Moor (Leeds Edible Campus) to Woodhouse Ridge. This idea comes after the observation of the lack of green spaces in the Woodhouse neighbourhood. This project will be focusedin more then one area, trying to create a real green network. It will involve two public ground and the local primary school (Quarry Mount primary school) ground. The idea is to involve all the residents withoutdistinction of genre, age, background.

It will be use as a social connector, as health, environmental and economic benefit,but also as educational instrument to make the children aware about the food production and preparation and to give more skills in term of the nature.

String o Breads LEC green expansion

Project green expansion

Sites green spaces connection

Connection with outside green

Leeds Edible Campus

Green spaces

Green spaces in the study area

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4Examination of key principles of designing natural playground in school and green spaces for the community, both productive and for leisure.

Relating to the school, having a productive ground is important under different points of view. First of all it will increase the social benefits as it will help to create stronger friendship, to improve children behaviour inside and outside the school, it will help to promote outdoor activities (then exercise) and to revise the school curriculum including gardening and cooking programs.

Regards to health benefits it will help the children to have a healthier diet and to avoid the problem of oversize/obese children and to overtake the problem of deprivation which afflict many families. Indeed the idea is to expand the project also outside the school and to involve parents and other members of the community to start to grow their of vegetables and fruits giving them the proper collective spaces or promoting the Back to Front project which can be easily realized in every garden.

The whole community will benefit of this project because it will help to increase the quality of public realm, the social cohesion. Through the outdoor activities it will help to improve the lifestylestandards and the mental health, which is directly connected with happiness and satisfaction.

It will limit the deprivation as if the people will start to produce their own food they will become self-sufficiency, reducing lifes costs.At last it will give to the area environmental and ecological benefits as it will help to build a sustainable landscape and to increase the biodiversity.

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5AIMS

6GARDENSBENEFITS

SOCIAL BENEFITS ECONOMIC BENEFITS

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

HEALTH BENEFITS

A garden gives an higher value to propertiest

HOUSE VALUE

Gardens are an expense but the investiment is returned not just in enjoyment but in actual financial

benefits

Urban and street planted trees en-chance economic stability of locali-ties and community by attracting

business and tourists

IMPROVE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Around 20% of the value of a house is tied up in the landscape

Trees absorbe CO2

Trees filter the air and help remove harmful particulates from the atmosphere

Every garden plant is a bio-filtration system for the planet

Plants can prevent floods, drought and soil erosion

Plants help to preserve biodiversity and wildlife

There is a community amongst gardeners. Gardening has always served as a way to break down some of social

barriers

SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

IMPROVE SOCIETY

Gardening is utilised to build teams and

educateThere are benefits to the individual via the com-munity gardening such as improved life quality,

personal satisfaction and enjoyment

BENEFITS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

Promote a community atmosphere and allowing people an opportunity to meet others, share concerns, share skills and solve problems together

BUILD COMMUNITIES

EDUCATION

Yard care and gardening activ-ities have a direct impact on the neighborhood and com-

munity environment

Gardening is a preferred form of exercise across age, gender and ethnicity

The presence of vegetable gardens in innercity neighborhoods is positively correlated with decre-as in crime, trash dumping, young delinquency,

fires, violent deaths and mental illness

Garden links different sector of cities; diverse age, race, ethnic and socioeco-

nomic group

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE

Green triggers a response in the sympathetic nervous system to

relive tension in the blood vessels and lowers the blood

pressure

GARDENING BENEFITS YOUR HEALTH

AIR FILTRATION

SOIL CARE

WILDLIFE

As an activity it is a means of aerobic, isometric and isotonic exercise, the combination of which benefits general health but specifically enhance

strenght, endurance, flexibility

RELIEVE STRESSThe physicality of gardening releases endorphins which helps to alelviate stress and

its side effects

EAT HEALTHIER

CONNECT WITH NATURE

Gardening offers a relationship with nature which provides a

sense of psychological wellbeing

Families with home veg-etable garden eat more fruit and vegetables for

improved nutrition

People who interact with plants recover more quickly from everyday stress and

mental fatigue

School based programs have significant health effect on young people, help to promote active lifestyles that counteract the pas-sivity associated with the obesity

epidemic

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7Urban agriculture plays an important role as part of an environmental sustainability program. Physically, it increases green space, which reduces the urban heat island, storm water runoff, and improves air quality. Because food is produced locally, urban agriculturealso reduces energy consumption and pollutionassociated with transportation. Urban agriculturealso provides social benefits by providing inexpensiveaccess to locally-grown produce.

Growing food in cities is becoming more and more popular. Not only are older generations of allotment holders still gardening happily, but also a new wave of younger people are seeking land in and beyond allotments. Small, intensive urban farms, food production on housing estates, land sharing, rooftop gardens and beehives, schoolyard greenhouses, restaurant-supportedsalad gardens, public space food production, guerrilla gardening, allotments, balcony and window sill vegetable growing and other initiatives are just a few examples.This wide range of initiatives is more and moreoften referred to as urban agriculture.

Urban agriculture (UA) is defined as the growing, processing and distribution of food and other productsobtained through plant cultivation and animal husbandryin and around cities, generally with the aim of beingsold locally (rather than exported).

POSITIVEEducation about seasonality of food, which can lead to more sustainable consumption habitsSoil rehabilitation bio and myco remediation of polluted soils, increased soil fertility andbiodiversity

Recycling of organic waste to keep nutrients local

Increased community activity, physical exercise

Re-education of taste: possibility of eating vegetables not usually available in the supermarketsImproved mental health and relations with the local community

Affordably of fresh, organic food all year round

Reduced carbon footprints of food, when recycled materials are used, waste is minimised and organic agriculture is practiced

Reconstruction of food commons (when public land is managed collectively but not appropriated),renormalizing the possibility of foraging andgath-ering food, grow food collectively

Increased consumption of sustainable locally pro-duced food (increased self-reliance) and building alternative food regimes, food sovereignty

Snowball effect and greater reconnection of hu-mans with nature

Alternative, visionary urbanism, which reconciledsociety and nature, an embeds food productionin the urban realm

Misuse of commercially available chemicals as fer-tilisers, insecticides, herbicides, whose traces in the environment endanger human health

Increased groundwater pollution and loss of soil nutrients from poorly managed soilsCouncil encouragement to local food growing as justification for substantial cuts in welfare services (public health budgets)Increased energy inputs to grow vegetables unsuitable for the local climatePoor management of community gardens, con-flicting projects, unequal sharing of produce

Increased rent of allotments due to high demand

Increased carbon emissions for food production,when gardening involves the use of a numberof carbon impacting things such as commerciallyproduced compost, plastic netting bought annually, slug pellets, plastic pots and labelsfor seedlings that are not re-used, plasticsheets and other consumables

Enclosure (or privatisation) of public land for food growing, justified as saving council management costs, which reduced public access andownership of common resources

Strengthening unjust ecological security policies (self-sufficiency aimed at maintaining neoliberal regimes and unsuitable consumption patterns)Uselessly long waiting lists of allotments, and little beneficial/productive use of allotment land

Gentrification of neighbourhoods and the conse-quent displacement of the lesswealthy population

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Chiara Tornaghi (2014) - How to set up your own urban agricultural project with a socio-environmental justice perspective.

A guide for citizens, community groups and third sector organisations - Leeds, The University of Leeds

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Guerrilla Gardens - These gardens are a quite wide family of projects, linked together by the fact that they are created by someone, on someone elses land, without asking permission. These can be flower meadows on derelict land, vegetable patches on

Enclosed Community Gardens Many community gardens are not located on public land, but are rather located on private land. Most of the time this implies a restricted definitionof which community can potentiallybe involved. Examples could be hospital community gardens, projects

Vertical Gardens - They are usually growing projects that extend vertically along a wall, or a window, or occasionally the plants themselves constitute the wall, and grow in containers attached to vertical cables.

Healing Gardens - These are growing projects specifically dedicated to healing. They tend to grow medicinal/aromatic plants, are designed in ways that please the senses, and are run to support specific groups through gardeningor creative activities around and in between the plants. They are often

Display Gardens - Small edible beds, former flower planters or communitygardens set up in public, openly accessible space that are planted with edible plants to inspire people to grow. They lend to be man-aged by local authorities, and to be aesthetically pleasing, therefore the plants are not

Educational Gardens - Food growing projects that have as their main goal horticultural, envi-ronmental and/or food-related education (i.e. cooking, healthier lifestyle, etc.). Almost all the existing gardening projects have an educational element.

Public Accessible Community Gardens - this is probably the most known type of urban agricultural initiative. These gardens are located

Public orchards A number of local councils are investing in the future and planting fruit and nut trees on public land. The

usually harvested and people are not encouraged to pick the fruit and veg.

reclaimed land scattered around the city. Guerrilla gardens tend to be temporary but if the project gets permission, then thisbecomes a community garden.

managed by, or run in partnership with, health institutions.

for young single mothers or female victims of violence, asylum seekers and refugees, street drinker rehabilitation projects.

in parks, street verges, urban greens,city squares or other locations where they can be accessed by largerpublic all the time. Plants are grownin containers, dedicated raised beds, greenhouses, or straight into the soil.

act of planting itself is sometimes done in partnership with local community organisations or institutions, such as primary schools. Public orchards constitute the basis for a bountiful harvest in a few years time.

9Allotments - Probably the most widespread form of urban food growing. While most forms of commercial and household food growing have progressivelydisappeared from the urban fabric in the last century, allotments have been re-introducedor become regulated by public authorities. In the UK it is a statutory duty of local

Market Gardens and Commercial Farms

Private Gardens - Alongside all these types of urban agriculture we also have to consider the wide range of interstitial practises that grow food within the fabricof the city: balcony pots and window sill containers, front and back garden

authorities to provide allotments when there is demand. Allotments plots are usually of a standard size (originally 10x30), and can be rented by individuals (a smaller number of plots can be rented by community groups). Allotments sites are usually fenced and restrict access to members of the public. Produce cannot be sold commercially, but can be sold when it is excess produce, with the purpose of raising funds for their allotment association or can be exchanged/sold among members of the allotment association.

These are profit oriented versions of the above. They also tend to be middle-sized projects, but are less likely to receive ex-ternal funding. Some have adapted to the growing demand for leisure and educational services, and combine vegetable (and meat) production with recreational activities for family and children and offer some educational opportunities, in the form of short courses. Some of these, smaller in size, specialise in the propagation of specialist plants for edible landscaping.

plant growing and animal rearing, beekeeping and seed sprouting.

Community Forest Gardens Forest gardens are usually woody areas planted with edible (perennial) species following permaculture principles. This means that the gardens are designed to mimic the positive interaction between species that we spontaneously find in nature, but maximising the number of

Indoor Growing - Urban agriculture does not only occur outdoors. More and more projects are looking into how to convert empty buildings into food growing projects, using natural or artificial light, or for activities that do not need much light such as mushroom growing and fish farming.

Urban Farms - Urban farms are usually middle sized sites within the city, that combine vegetable growing, animal husbandry, leisure and educational activities. Sometimes they run a caf or small restaurant with the local produce, they have play areas and offer growing spaces for local schools,

Landshare Gardens - Landshare gardens are privately owned (usually front or back gardens) that property owners decide to share, or to let people(landless) who are willing to grow use for free. Landshare provides a number of benefits: it encourages the exchange of skills, pro-duce sharing, community

edible species. While less common than vegetable gardens, edible forest gardens are increasingly becoming a preferential choice of local communities that have discovered the benefits of choosing perennial edible plants.

community groups or families. In the UK they are usually co-foundedby local councils and other charities for the educational services that they provide.

building and personal and emotional support to lone householders.

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ONGOING LEASE This type of lease is especially designed for farmers. The ongoing term is particularly suitable for new projects seeking start-up fund to buy the infrastructured needed.

TEMPORARY USES These are occupational leases, or growing licenses, signed on atemporary basis, which usually are renewed annually.

MEANWHILE USES These are temporary leases for a space that would normally be used for other activities. This can be idea for container growing, as the soil might be concreted over or not fit for agriculture and structures that can easily be moved elsewhere once the lease ends.

SQUATTING It means taking over someone elses land (usually abandoned) to grow food, establishing some sort of infrastructure thataims to be permanent. Squatting is usually more long term than guerrilla gardening, but to make it sustainable needs an energy and financial investment in legal battles to claim your right to grow food on this land.

GUERILLA GARDENING It is the cultivation of a plot/portion of land without permission, but without appropriation/enclosure of the land. This is usually atemporary and unsecured way of accessing land. Guerilla approaches dont secure you a harvest.

LAND SHARE It is an informal agreement between a landowner and one or more food growers. Several organisations promote forms of land share.The most know is the nationwide LandShare (www.landshare.net)

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PATHS - Paths provide space to work comfortably in the gardenand they allow the garden to breathe without them, the rowscan get trampled and the tiny air pockets that are essential tosoil healthy can get choked off. Ideal to mark the paths are straw,wood chips, bluestone pavers, brick or stepping stones.

SUN It absolutely one of the main requirements of the plants, which need at least six hours of sun a day. When growing in the lower range of sun exposure, its better to choose carefullythe plants species, such as herbs, all of the leafy greens and somesmall fruiting as cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Carrots, potatoes and other root vegetables need at least eight hours of sunshine, and plants such as tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash will not producelarge fruits that ripen to colour without full sun. Plants draw energyfrom sunlight, and producing a large, colourful fruit requires much more energy than producing a small fruit or leafy vegetable.

IRRIGATION Key components of any irrigation system are well, pump and proper size main and lateral lines. Frequently these components are undersized for the area to be watered, and serious inefficiencies occur. Since proper engineering of a watering system is necessary, it is important to carefully determine the area to be irrigated with consideration towards increased capacity. Overheadsprinkling is one of the most commonly used methods of irrigatinggreenhouse. Other irrigation methods include drip or trickleand subirrigation. General information on each of these systemsfollows, with mention of some of the major advantagesand disadvantages associated with each method.

SOIL - Well-prepared soil acts as the immune system of the plants. Its ideal to have 12-18 inches of nutrient-dense, deeply aerated soil to give plants what they need to thrive. If a plant is well nourishedby healthy soil, its less susceptible to disease and less appealing to insectsbecause pests attack sick or weak plants first. Compost supercharges the soil with beneficial bacteria, carbon and nutrients.

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The Feed Leeds co-managed project builds on existing food-growing and biodiversity projects in the city centre to Hyde park corridor (and beyond), linking schemes run by a number of organisations, and encouraging new plots, to help create an inspirational demonstration of how Leeds could be more healthy and more sustainable through the creative, ecological growing of edible plants. Leeds Edible campus sites include Edible Beds outside the Civic Hall, Leeds Unis Sustainable Garden, the Bardon Grande project, LCC Parks and Countrysides edible beds on Woodhouse Moor and other food and biodiversity planting schemes. The aim was to create an ediblecorridor incorporating a variety of projects and to explore ideas and designs for incorporating edibleplants into the city landscape to create aesthetically pleasing, productive planting.

Back to Front is a community organisation set up to promote food growing in front gardens so that they look good and taste better. Growing food at home gives people a chance to exercise, eat fresher food, spend less money on groceries, feel better and help the environment. Front garden growing improves the look and feel of your street and is super-convenient for growers. But Back to Front gardening is much more than this; it is about how neighbours talk and share and grow together as communities.

It is an innovative, creative and dynamic environmental community organisation. It works with local communities to improve theirsurroundings, designing and creating attractive, exciting, safe and useful places for people to live, work and play. Improving the wellbeing of people and communities is at the heart of what they do. Through our work we facilitate the Five Ways to Wellbeing, encouraging people and communities to Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learn-ing and Give.

Feed Leeds is a plot to plate project supporting food growers and would-be growers, shop and markets, schools, caterers and cooks, in fact anyone who feels that fresh, local, affordable, sustainable and healthy food should be widely available in Leeds. The combined aim of all the different projects and organisations is essentially to develop and support local food growing and consumption in Leeds, and to research and promote the significant economic, social, environmental and health benefits they potentially bring to the city.

Leeds Edible Schools Sustainability Network (LESSN) has been formed to help promote local food growing and consumption, healthy lifestyles and sustainability in Leeds schools and communities. We aim to recognise, enhance and share great ideas, to celebrate achievements large and small, to help connect schools with local support, volunteers, and national initiatives, and to provide interactive curriculum-based online learning resources, practical help and more.

The Healthy Living Network have delivered a number of projects across the city- including our incredibly successful Community Health Educator programme, which trains local people to support their communities in making small changes towardsimproving their health and wellbeing. It delivers health education sessions in deprived areas of the city.

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Rotherfield Primary school is situated in Islington, London where many of the pupils live in flats without any gardens. The government and head teacher decided to do something about it and came up with the idea of transforming the grey schoolyard into a green garden as a learning resource.

The edible playground has been a huge success among the children and has improved the school in many ways. Not only do they use it for gardening but for different subjects such as math, English and writing. They also got a woodland area with grown up trees for relaxing and assembling, an outdoor classroom where the children could gather for story times or reading a book in the woodhouse. The pupils got taught how to grow and harvest the vegetables in a practical way which encourages them to cook and eat healthy.

The garden is maintained by the pupils where every class is responsible for their own planting bed. They also got volunteers by the children, their par-ents and grandparents who look after the garden during the holidays.

West Jesmond is a suburb just north of the central of Newcastle upon Tyne. 14 years ago a parent of a pupil in the primary school, together with a member of the Highbury South Allotment Association organized an allotment for the school to take care of. This project have now grown and exist today of several plots, all maintained by the pupils. The plots are self-sufficient by selling the produced plants to the school and to private persons on different sales.

The school is using these plots as an outdoor classroom for the older pupils, where they today got a lot of different biotopes. The allotment room raised beds, greenhouses, an orchard, a pond, a marsh garden, picnic tables and a willow tunnel. This gives the pupils new possibilities for practical learning and they use the plots on a weekly basis to dig, weed, plant out, harvest etc.

Rotherfield primary school - Edible playgrounds - London

West Jesmond Primary School Gardens - Newcastle

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The garden along Leaf Street in Manchester was an act from the local residents in 2000. The area existed of a wide pathway, full of weed, in between two rows of red brick buildings. They wanted to turn it into a community garden where the residents could interact with each other and grow food together. This is a good example of the phenomena Guerilla gardening were the locals decided to do it on their own and started to dig up the pathway. Fruit trees and shrubs were planted and they built a big herb spiral made of railroad ties. A pathway of wood chips meanders through the park and has replaced the former wide concrete pedestrian walk.

The garden is loved and has a strong identity by its locals and is now a good example of a resilient community. Here they produce their own vegeta-bles, fruits and herbs together in the community which makes a positive impact on the climate. It is an inspiration for other communities to grow food locally and stop importing vegetables from all over the world.

This Pop-Up Garden in Philadelphia, U.S. is funded by the non-profit organization Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) on a vacant lot that has been neglected for many years. It was in 2011 that they transformed this waste land near 15th and South Streets into a temporary urban resort. The land is situated just six blocks from the City Hall which makes the area perfect to attract city dwellers to step by and take part of all the activities that goes on here.

Among the activities, food growing is one of them. Here they produce vegetables for local restaurants and to families in need through the PHS City Harvest program. The food is grown organically in dozens of raised beds and is maintained by several community garden groups. Other activities going on are workshops, yoga-classes, movie nights, parties, gardening walks etc.

Philadelphia Pop-Up Garden - Philadelphia, United States

Leaf Street Community Garden - ManchesterCA

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In Nottingham a lush community garden has been raised on parts of a disused playing field by its local residents in 2001. It is situated in the meadows, a central place in Nottingham that is very underprivileged and got residences from all over the world. With partnership from local communities and volunteers the garden started to transform in 2003. From the beginning, a hedge, fruit trees and raised beds were planted, but now the community has grown a lot more.

The garden now holds 19 small plots that measure 1.5 square meters, where the locals could grow their own food. A tyre garden made of recycled tractor tyres are used for raising herbs and strawberries. The big growing circle in the garden provides crops for every season of the year and is maintained and harvested by the community. The garden today even got hens that lay eggs and keep slugs and snails away from the plants. The hens even help out with the compost area where they move around the weed and food scraps.

An eco- building where built in the garden after getting funding from the Big Lottery Found in 2012. This made it also possible to employ staff and go on with the work for four more years. In the new eco-building they got training rooms for meetings and lessons, a kitchen and office. It keeps the community active even during the winter and is even available for leasing to other groups and communities. The community holds activities apart from gardening such as dancing, yoga, and cooking. This is a good way to bring the different people in the community together and let them try new things from all parts of the world.

The Arkwright Meadows Community Garden holds a lot of events where they celebrate the cultural diversity of the community and sales when residents could come and buy vegetables. They aim to sell organic fruits, plants and vegetables with reasonable prices for the community to eat healthy and local. The community garden is a place for relaxing and recreation as well as work and education. They train their volunteers to get qualifications and therefore be able to get a job in the green sector.

Arkwright Meadows Community Gardens - NottinghamCA

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Woodhouse is a largely residential area just north of the city centre of Leeds (West Yorkshire) and home of the University of Leeds, which is in the Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward of City of Leeds metropolitan district.The name Woodhouse is likely to derive from Old English wudu (wood) and hus (houses).

Woodhouse is now a largely working-class area, with a racially diverse population and a sizeable student community.

The area climbs a hill rising from Woodhouse Moor, adjacent to the University of Leeds, and backs onto woodland known as Woodhouse Ridge, a part of the Meanwood Valley Trail and the Forest of Leeds.

Older residences are largely redbrick back-to-back and through terraced housing. There are also concrete councilhouses (the Holborn Estate) and a mixtureof more modern buildings, particularlystudent accommodation.

Furthermore, there are other older buildings like the Anglican parish church of St Marks, currently disused but being renovated for use by Gateway Church Leeds, the Quarry Mount Primary School, and several public houses that provide historical character and architectural value to the area.

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The local topograhpy consists of ridges and spurs of land, but in general it slopesto the city centre. Travel into the city generate the general impression of descending to the city centre, beinginvolved into the urban building mass.

This fact, reflects how the green spaces around the area have been adapted to the tophography. Creating a diverse urban landscape and allowing the creation of a great green infrastructure around the city enabling to find from small private gardens to woodlands.

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Primary roads

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Secondary roadsLocal roadsPedestrian paths

The area is well supplied by a great infrastructure network.There are few main road crossing it, which can guarantee an easy move-ment by car. There also few bus lines driving through them, which means that also the residents which dont have a car have the possibility to move around.There is a good network of minor roads which are safer and better used also by the cyclist and pedestrian. This is really important in an area mostly populated by young people and students.

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Semi green spaces

Playground/sport pitches

Buildings

Cemetery

Allotments

Farmland

General greenKEY

Woodland

It can be seen from this map that there is a great quantity of different green spaceswhich connect Woodhouse Moor to Meanwood Farmland through Woodhouse Ridge.

The main concerning about them is the quality as not always they are well maintain and the value of the green featues is sometimes really low. Our main aim is to take the existing green spaces, improving them and thenconnecting them with new potentialgreen spaces with different function:community allotments, neighboor parksand school projects.

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Community centre garden

Friends and volunteers

CPULCommunity and public harvest

Strings o breads

Mill field primary school

Pennington street community garden

Council allotments

LEC

Bedford forest gardenKEY

Meanwood farm

This map shows the different activities which are already going on in the area. Most of the projects still involve a small part of the population or a restricted group of people, but they are trying to be more popular and spread out into the population. Anywayis really good that something is alreadyhappening, because it will be easierin the future to create a wider grid.

Three different big aims for the futureare represented by CPULs, LEC and String o breads route which try to connect every place in a green way.

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Community services

Commercial

Meanwood Urban FarmGreen spaces

Industrial

Student accomodation

Church

ResidentialKEY

Schools

This map shows that the project area is mainly dominated by residential buildings. There is an industrial area on the north east, but it is not that relevant for the project.There is the Quarry Mount Primary School and Nursery, with who it could be interesting to work, as it is exactly in the centre of this neighborhood. There are also another nursery (The Tiny Tree) and a high school (The Leeds Academy).There are also few shops which help to make this district more vital but they can be involve in a bigger project of improvement.

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Back to back houses

Terraced houses

KEYSemi detached houses

From this map we can see that almost most of the houses in the area are semi detached or terraced, so in most of the cases they have the availability of a garden.Some of them are bigger and well maintained, others are mainly just a back or a front garden without enough space to grow. But nowadays some projectslike Back to Front are becoming more popular and these little spaces have the potential to become greener. Con-cerning to the back to back houseswho dont have a garden at all is importantto develop public green spaces where theycan enjoy outdoor activities.

QUARRY MOUNT PRIMARY SCHOOL

Design

Location & contextSites picturesSite analysisConcept planDesignDesign sensitivinessPhasesMaterials & featuresVegetablesHerbs & fruits treesVisuals

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Leeds city centre Leeds edible campus Quarry mount primary school

Residential

From the context's map is clear how this district is mainly dominated by residential buildings. This is a great potential as there is the opportunity to involve more people and to have more "workforce" to help to build the new green spaces.Furthermore it can be see that there are few green spaces, which could represent a great oppurtunity to create a green corridor from the south to the north.

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Shops

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HOW THE SCHOOL LOOKS LIKE TODAY...

School buildings

School buildings

Entrance

NurseryAbandoned green space

Basket ground

Grey playground

Grey playground

car park

North playground

South playground

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School main facade with grey playground

Car park on the west side Kindergartens playground

Abandoned green space Abandoned green space

View from the north east

Car park on the south side

Grey playground facing the main front Existing beds on the school edges

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Sun path

Nursery

Primary school and kindergarten

Grey playground

Grey playground

Abandonedgreen space

Car park

Car entrance

Pedestrian entrance

Pedestrian entrance

Pedestrian entrance

Predominant winds from south-west

District roads

Green area with trees

Sunpath

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CONCEPT PLAN

KEY

KEY

Green space for outdoor classroom

Chicken cage

School buildings

Compost bin

Car park

Sitting area

Car park

Grey playground

Bracken edge primary school

Bracken edge primary school

Bracken edge primary school

Bracken edge primary school Bracken edge primary school

School buildings

Edible beds

Green and grey playground

Grey playground

Herbs and perennials beds

Car entrancePedestrian entrance

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DESIGN

Compost collecting

area

Understand how the waste of the agriculture and of the kitchen can be reused to grow again

Learn more about animals and how to interact with them

Learing while having fun in

a healthy environment

Chicken cage

Outdoor teaching space

Car park

Playground

Playground

Beehives

Kindergartenplayground

Basketball ground

Growing vegetables and foods principles teaching

Growing vegetables and foods principles teaching

Fruits trees

Two different beds types, one for herbs and perennials which help to make the school ground much prettier and stimu-late the senses, the other one which is more productive for vegetables growing

The playground enclosed between the edible beds has the scope to stimulate the children and to inspire them

to be closer to the nature

To increase the wildlife and the biodiversity and to make the children aware about the

food production systems

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KEYDESIGN SENSITIVENESS

Car access

Pedestrian accesses and routes

Special play areasentended to be enclosed by plants bed, to make feel the children confortable and stimulate the senses

Plants which stimulate View of the south playgroundthanks to their colours, smell, texture and different flavour they can

cause curiosity in the kids and help them to make them knowledge about plants wider. In addition some of these plants attract insect as bees and these make it more interesting as the pupils are seduced also from the buzz.Near the fruits trees they will have the possibility to observe the birds, their nest and to listen to their different way of call.

The main idea concerning this design is to make the children feel protected by the planting structures, which separate them from the pub-lic roads, which could represent in a way a dangerous and unhealthy environment. The intention is to make them playing and starting a relation with the plants and mainly with the foods plants at the same time.

The design would like also to induce the parents who come to the school to pick up the children, to have a better knowl-edge about the food, and to know how important is to make it having a first place in the childrens education and in the childrens life.

This design would like to increase the beauty of the schools ground and to permit also to the residents in the area to enjoy this new way of growing.35

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PHASES

As this is a school project is impossible to imagine that everything will be realised at the same time, first of all because the childrens workforce is not enough to do something as big as this design is in once and second because they dont have enough money, and they need to be helped by association, volunteers or sustainable networks.I have predict that this project could be realised in six different phases.

The first one concerns the herbs and perennials beds as they help to make the school ground prettier both from the inside and the outside and they dont need a lot of mainteinance. At the same time some fruits trees could be planted in the green space. The second phase is the core one and it is represented by the vegetablesbeds, how help the children to understand how to plant and harvest them, to observe their cycle, to understand from where the food come from and to have a clearer reward of their work. Once the grey playground is become much greener, the attention can be foocused on the back green space, which now has already the fruits trees. It can be improved by the building of an outdoor classroom area, which give the opportunity to the teachers to promote an alternative way of teaching and reciprocally give to the children the chance to experience it and to be closer to the nature. At the same time the project provides the placement of a compost bin, which permit to reuse the waste of food for helping the plants growing faster and healthier.The same area will be provided later with new vegetables beds.After that a chicken cage will be located with the scope to make the children understanding processes also about animals and not only about plants.At last some beehives will be place on the flat roof, where will be plant a sort of wildflower meadow, which they can pollinated. This will help to increase the biodiversity and to make childrens knowledge wider about this important insects.

1st phase (herbs and fruits trees)KEY

2nd phase (vegetables)

3rd phase (outdoor classrom area and compost bin)

4th phase (vegetables)5th phase (chicken cage)

6th phase (bee hives)

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MATERIALS and FEATURES

RESIN BOUND SURFACINGIt is the perfect pavement for the playground has it is made with materals which are shockabsorbent, its ecological as it is water permeable and it permits to create different texture, so it can be used as a game in the game

CONCRETE for the car park

WOOD CHIPSto have an ecological pavement, which is softer than the resin so the pupils can experience also different type of materials.

WOOD TRUNKfor the outdoor classroom area

WOODEN CHICKEN CAGEwith an appropriate box where the eggs can be taken by the children

WOODEN COMPOST BINwhich help the pupils to understand the natural cycle of plants

PLANTING BED WITH SEATSThis seat typology as been thought for the borders beds, so when the parents come to take the children they could have a waiting seat while the observe the edible plants and they enter in relation with them

PLANTING BEDSfor the primary school children

PLANTING BEDSfor the kindergarten children

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VEGETABLESBeta vulgaris - Beetroot

BeetrootBeetroo

t

Beetr

ootBeetroot

These vegetable has been chosen as they need to be plant and to be harvest in different time of the year. In this way the activities can cover all the terms and the pupils have the possibility to see the full plants cycle.Main of them could be harvest in the school seasons, in order to be used from the teachers and the staff to show the children what the vegetable colud become as edible food, so that cycle could be close, and the food waste can be reused to help new vegetables to grow.

Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis - Broccoli

Broccoli

Broccoli

Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata - Cabbage

CabbageCabbageCabbage

Cabbage

CabbageCabb

age

Cabbage

Daucus carota - Carrot

Carrots

CarrotsCar

rots

Carrots

Carrots

Carro

ts

Brassica oleracea L. var. italica - Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Capsicum annuum - Chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper

Allium ampeloprasum - Leeks

Leeks

Leeks

Leeks

Lactuca sativa - Lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce Lettu

ceLettuce

Solanum tuberosum - Potatoes

PotatoesPotato

es

Potatoes

Raphanus sativus - Radishes

Radishes

Radishe

sRadishesRadi

shes

RadishesRadishes

PLANTING

HARVESTING HARVESTING HARVESTING HARVESTING

PLANTING PLANTING PLANTING

Solanum lycopersicum - Tomatoes

TomatoesTomatoes

Tomatoe

s

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HERBS

HERBACEOUS PLANTS BENEFITS

perennial

low maintai

nance

good for borders

indicated for cooking colorf

ul

therapeutic proper-ties

Perennials

Annuals

FRUITS TREES

BIRDS

Coriander sativum

Malus domestica

Turdus merula - Blackbird

When to see them: all year round

Where to see them: Found everywhere in gardens and coun-tryside and from coasts to hills, although not on the highest peaks.

When to see them: They begin to arrive from October and numbers build up as the winter progresses. Birds start to return in March and some may stay into May.

Where to see them: In late winter grass fields, playing fields and arable fields with nearby trees and hedges are a favourite place

When to see them: All year round.

Where to see them: This is a widespread bird in the UK, found almost everywhere except the highest, barest ground, and ab-sent from the northern and western isles of Scotland. It can be seen in woodland, parkland and gardens.

When to see them: Migrants arrive from September, with most in October and November. They leave again in March and April.

Where to see them: In open countryside it likes hedges and orchards as well as open, grassy fields. Will come to parks and gardens. Often joins with flocks of fieldfares.

When to see them: All year round.

Where to see them: Woods, hedgerows, parks and gardens across the UK - wherever there are bushes and trees.

Turdus pilaris - Fieldfare

Turdus viscivorus - Mistle trush

Turdus iliacus - Redwing

Turdus philomelos - Song trush

Pyrus communis Prunus domesticaMelissa officinalis Mentha spicata

Ocimum basilicum Allium schoenoprasum

Origanum vulgare Salvia officinalis

Thymus vulgaris Foenicuilum vulgare Chamaemelum nobile Rosemarinus officinalis

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HOW THE SCHOOL WILL LOOK LIKE...

before

before before before

after

after after after

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BOOKS & ARTICLESSustain org. (2014). Every school a food-growing school. Available: http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/?id=186. Last accessed 22th January 2015. Royal Horticultural Society. (2007). Gardening in Schools: A vital tool for childrens learn-ing. Available: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgar-dening/uploads/documents/rhs-gardening-in-schools-aug10_852.pdf. Last accessed 22th January 2015.

Oldroyd, E; Summers, R; Clavin, A; Andrews, J (2011). Back to front manual for growing food in garden. Leeds: Infrapress. 37. Department for Communities and Local Government (2012). Food growing: Case studies. Lon-don: Uk goverment. 39. Tornaghi, C (2014). HOW TO SET UP YOUR OWN URBAN AGRICULTURAL PROJECT WITH A SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PERSPECTIVE A guide for citizens, community groups and third sector organisations. Leeds: The University of Leeds. 57. Quayle, H (2007). THE TRUE VALUE OF COMMUNITY FARMS AND GARDEN: SOCIAL, ENVI-RONMENTAL, HEALTH AND ECONOMIC. Bristol: The Greenhouse. 91.

WORKSHOP: how to set up a school garden promoted by Leeds Edible Schools Sustainability NetworkWledig, A (2012). Community grown food in Wales. Cardiff: Welsh government. 145

Scotland, G (2014). Community growing in Scotland: towards a frame for action. Stirling: Sco-tish government. 75.

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