The site has been at the centre of a long-standing campaign
Belfast students have proposed ideas for how a key site in the city could be redeveloped for housing.
Design work by Queen’s University architecture students is being showcased this month as part of the ‘State of Belfast’ exhibition in the MAC, focused on tackling Northern Ireland’s housing crisis.
Through the StreetSpace project at Queen’s, the students have partnered with Participation and the Practice of Rights’s (PPR) campaign Take Back the City and international research project Change Stories.
READ MORE: Evicted single mother urges Stormont to build houses on vacant site at Mackie’s factoryREAD MORE: Belfast housing campaign group to consult with public on plan for 500 homes
The students have been working on proposals for the redevelopment of the 25-acre Mackies site in West Belfast, which has been the centre of a long-standing campaign for much-needed housing.
Dr Agustina Martire, who is leading the project at Queen’s, explains: “Our students spent a year working on a collaborative project to design a spatial plan that could help address Northern Ireland’s housing crisis.
“They focused on the redevelopment of the Mackies site in Belfast and using a design-led, human-centred approach, they have engaged with communities, exploring housing, home and neighbourhood through storytelling and ethnography.
“Partnership has been key to the success of the project, and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with PPR and Change Stories. This has helped to reimagine public land for inclusive housing with all the services and amenities needed for a good quality of life.”
A year has passed since Take Back the City took the Mackie’s Masterplan for 500+ homes out to consultation as part of the planning process, with overwhelming support from the public who attended.
91% of respondents thought that the Mackie’s site should be developed, and 75% of them felt that the Take Back the City Masterplan should be developed, agreeing that the land should be used to address housing need in the area.
The new designs incorporate 31 homes in a mix of terraced houses and two low-rise flat blocks, with shared gardens, communal allotments, and a children’s playground, as well as access to the Forth Meadow Greenway on the eastern side of the site.
This will fit into the wider campaign for the 25 acre, publicly owned brownfield site to be used to address the crisis in social housing supply, in a way that respects communities, climate and health.
The ‘State of Belfast’ exhibition, runs at the MAC until 21st September. For more information on The State of Belfast exhibition, click here.
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
#Belfast #students #propose #redeveloping #key #city #site #muchneeded #housing
