LiveSpace

In the evolving speed, temporality and course of contemporary London, the relationship between land and use is as fragile as ever. Yet, in the City in 2018, at least 20,000 commercial units remained empty for at least six months, and 11,000 for over two years.

In the context of pledges to reach a Net0 built environment, meanwhile spaces expose opportunities to address this issue with re-use rather than re-build in an effort to better utilise land resources. The meanwhile space compromises a stance on urban land use and seeks to find alternative methods of property quotas in the city; offering an opportunity to inject temporary use into traditional leaseholds. The LiveSpace project defines meanwhile schemes as “the occupation of a vacant space for an alternate temporary use”. The project has developed from a recognition of the concentration of development sites in London. Around 1% of London’s land will be developed in the next 10 years — giving enormous opportunity for alternative temporary uses during redevelopment.

Our development model seeks to create a database to better utilise the temporary occupation of urban spaces in London. Through a 4D digital platform, vacant plots will be highlighted above, below and on land in an effort to facilitate the acquisition of space for meanwhile use. In the changing nature of city planning, our proposition looks to expose the benefits of temporary sites and make better available community schemes to the wider public.

In Public Practice’s study looking at, ‘How can local authorities facilitate meanwhile use for long-term community benefit?’ It is explained how, “for some communities the term (meanwhile) has come to be associated with gentrification and disenfranchisement.” In order to negate this risk LiveSpace prioritises community engagement and feedback to inform our 4D platform.

The three added values are generated by the uses of ‘meanwhile’s spatial outcomes. In congested cities like London, we’ve identified the potential added values: efficiency which explores the benefit of avoiding vacancy; economically sustainable which looks at the affordability and the benefits of inserting affordable space and lastly; flexibility which identifies the benefits of occupying the space on an interim basis.

Further Reading

‘Participative Design and Community Engagement: Beyond Pre and Post Occupancy Evaluation’ by Mathilda Durkin: How can we facilitate successful participant and occupant involvement in urban development sites, through the proposal of an informal data feedback loop for a meanwhile use platform

‘Incentive through threat; Speculative Powers for the Enforcement of Public Value Retainment’ by Matthew Rooney: Understanding the effectiveness of current developer contributions as a means to conceive greater statutory powers of public control over the fate and value of vacant sites within urban areas

‘Constructing a legacy’ by Abdulrahman Hassan: How to implement long-term social values based on an understanding of the under-utilized land and the surrounding context that allows you to use the land most productively

‘(Con)temporary Values’ by Henry Valori: Imagining Alternative Measures of Urban Success within London’s ‘Meanwhile’ Developments

‘[Re]defining Meanwhile; A discussion around the definition of Meanwhile space and ownership’ by Cessie Frangiamore: Understanding current ownership models, what is ‘value’ and the creation of a new form of ownership

‘The Gaia System’ by Adam Price: Towards a realignment of architectural education to better fit emerging students into the developing network of collaborative design — A specialised cell as a part of an interconnected body