What people say

Quotations about our track record by people we have worked with

Pennine Lancashire Squared, international design competition, 2009

“civic Architects’ design for Burnley is inspirational. It is an intelligent scheme whose integrity will remain as the Weavers’ Triangle is regenerated. It is a scheme which responds to the particular character of the site and as such it will be unique and belong to Burnley.”

Reference: Chair of the judging panel, Stirling Prize-winning architect Stephen Hodder MBE

Sheffield University Masters in Architecture, visiting tutor, 2009

“Thanks ever so much for coming up to help me out with my studio. Your advice was extremely perceptive and useful and I got very good feedback from the students later. I think you clarified a lot of things for them and sent them off with a real focus on what to do next. It would be great if we could maintain the connection between the school and civic into next year...”

Reference: Carolyn Butterworth, Senior Lecturer, Sheffield School of Architecture

Forward Gamlingay! Eco Hub Project, 2008

“civic have been appointed as the architects for the Gamlingay Eco Hub project. civic had by far the most experience of community development projects and were offering the best value for money both financially and in respect of services and personnel.”

Reference: Bridget Smith, Project Co-ordinator, Forward Gamlingay!

CABE guide, design exemplar, 2007

“CABE Space has selected the Forward Gamlingay! youth design project to be featured in its guide for community clients. Local young people have worked with civic Architects to come up with a core set of design principles. They have used gaming software to study how the outcome will look from all angles and perspectives, reflecting how other users of different ages and interests will see it. And above all they have looked at improving the quality of the whole space rather than at making piecemeal changes. That is why CABE Space selected the project from over 200 other proposed case studies as a leading current example of a public space project where the community is the client.”

Reference: Deborah Fox, Head of Standards and best practice, CABE

Burnley Area Action Planning Residents Design Training, July 2006-March 2007

“[civic’s work] … had a really positive response and it caught the attention of the press and local agencies. It was different from our usual newsletters or leaflet drops.”

Reference: Louise Kirkup, Neighbourhood Action Plan Co-ordinator, Burnley Borough Council Planning Department

Charlestown and Lower Kersal NDC capacity building work as part of the master planning process, March 2007-June 2007

“[civic] … have really gained the trust of the residents, and believe me that is a real achievement, and I hope that is going to result in a look forward rather than look backward change for all of us involved. It's not going to be an easy ride, and we all have our reservations, but at least we have a bunch of people who won't be scared about challenging some of the assumptions of the professionals, and that's what I wanted to get out of this.”

Reference: Rob Ramwell, Principal Regeneration Officer, Charlestown & Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities

South Kilburn Granville New Homes Design Training and Study Tour, December 2004-July 2005

“…in the broad and long experience of Levitt Bernstein in social housing and urban regeneration we have never before had the benefit of consulting a representative group so clearly able to engage directly, effectively and authentically with the key issues involved. RSG members showed themselves to be cognisant of the fundamental issues - independent of received, professional or specialist jargon.”

Reference: Michael Holms-Coats, Architect, Levitt Bernstein

Design East Lancashire Spacelift Urban Design Training for Young People, May 2005-present

“Some of the young people were completely new to regeneration and the concept of planning and design, and we needed a way of generating enthusiasm while developing skills and confidence, so we developed a progressive training and development programme. We started with low-key design stuff: looking at sites, awareness raising and confidence building. Each time we did something, we tried to build on young people’s skills and interests.”

“What we have managed to do in all cases is to get the youth service talking and working more closely with local planners and housing market renewal coordinators about how to engage young people. This isn’t just tokenism, it is opening up a process for continuing to engage young people.”

Reference: Amanda Richardson, Strategy and Policy Manager for Elevate East Lancashire