Railway Street
CLIENT Green Squirrel
LOCATION Cardiff, Wales
SECTOR Community
TYPE Creative Green Space
VALUE Not disclosed
AREA 1340 sqm
STATUS Planning
The Railway Street project aims to transform a remnant piece of land alongside the railway in Splott, Cardiff, into a creative community green space.
Our clients, Green Squirrel, are a social enterprise creating opportunities for greener living, based in Cardiff. The vision is to transform the disused plot of land into an accessible space for local people to learn, grow, share and enjoy. An aspirational brief was established through intense engagement with the local community, through numerous events around the project to shape the project and build local support.
Alt-Architecture has been working with Green Squirrel since February 2019 to translate the aspirational brief and ideas from the community into a masterplan vision.
The site layout comprises a community building for workshops and events held by Green Squirrel and community use, 8 affordable shipping container business studios, and flexible spaces to host a range of events from pop-up markets to film screenings. Green house structures and a potting shed support the activities to be undertaken in the large community growing space.
A biodiversity corridor characterises the site and delineates an accessible route from the entrance yard to the edge of the site. The bio-swale and bio-retention planters form part of the sustainable urban drainage system which channels excess water from roofs and water butts into planted areas as part of the site’s sustainable urban drainage system. Opportunities to sit, meet and enjoy the site are integrated into the biodiversity corridor.
