Dance City Tour

Walker co-design team's first workshop

Steve, a Manager at Dance City described to us the effort and time that had been spent designing the 'social architecture' of Dance City. The designers of the centre wanted to create an experience of a building that was welcoming and that could accommodate all sorts of people with an interesting in dance - of who just wanted a comfortable place to meet or be.

The Co-design team from Walker were given an exclusive, behind the scenes tour of this learning and performance centre from the dressing rooms to the boiler room. The team set about listing all the spaces, people activities and things that they thought had been designed that together made up the experience at Dance City. We called this the same but different tour.

We mapped all the things that, for example, would work together to ensure people's safety if there were to be a fire. These included the architectural shape of the atrium in the lobby area that is designed to draw smoke out of the building through vents. We also looked at the fire-proof Emergency Refuges that would protect people if they got trapped on the upper floors. We learnt that the performance space smelt funny because of the fire retardant spray that is put on all the hanging fabrics so they don't go up in flames.

The team were impressed by the number of things that had been designed into the building - you could even sponsor a brick - and by the number of different people and activities that went on in the space. Back in the meeting, the team used the same approach to map Walker College. From here we began to discuss the aspects of the school that helped or made it difficult for students to learn.




Posted by engine on 01/26