Designing Community Spaces

This book is essential reading for architects and community groups working together to create lasting, meaningful places: a practical toolkit for architects and communities reimagining places together.

As more groups take ownership of the buildings, spaces and services that matter to them, architects are being asked to work in new ways. This hands-on guide introduces a community design lens to help architects and community-led organisations collaborate effectively on projects for long-term public benefit. If you are part of a community-led organisation, this toolkit will also enable you to get the most out of working with an architect.

This must-have book sets out a flexible approach to build shared language, navigate complexity and co-create from the very start. It explores the history and policy of community ownership, governance and economic models, funding, fees, systems thinking and how design can be woven into wider operational and business planning.

Emphasising trust, dialogue and genuine collaboration, it is packed with real-world case studies. With clear guidance and templates, it shows how architects can support fundraising, long-term stewardship and stakeholder engagement.

Projects featured include: - Otley Common, Otley - Fitzherbert Community Hub, Brighton - Holgate Mill, York

Stefanie Stead MBE is Director of Stead & Co Architects, a practice based in Yorkshire that specialises in community, faith, education and residential projects. She is a tutor at York College teaching on their HNC Construction & the Built Environment programme. Her projects have helped a pre-school pass an OFSTED inspection, significantly improved safeguarding in primary schools, enabled a theatre goer to get into a building and simplified access to food banks She has extensive experience of facilitating consultation and design workshops with a range of participants, ranging from Elected Members through to school children. For Stefanie, the key to creating sustainable and inclusive places is to put the users at the very heart of it. She is a judge for the RICS and Constructing Excellence Awards, and previously judged the RIBA and York Design Awards. Stefanie is a Design Council Expert (Specialist) and sits on the Construction Industry Council Inclusive Environment Review Group. She was awarded an MBE for services to Architecture and Construction in the 2018 Honors List.

Mandip Sahota is a policymaker and researcher with a background in social, economic and foreign policy across the public and non-profit sectors, experienced in designing and advising on complex, cross-sector initiatives. Her work is rooted in co-design, systems and futures thinking, and spans hyper-local programmes to global strategic initiatives.