Saturday brought an energising day of co-creation in Staines-upon-Thames. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside twenty local people, we developed a sketch master plan for the town centre in just eight hours. We divided into four groups, each exploring options for a different area of change, before drawing the threads together by the end of the day. We set ten simple ground rules to build confidence in the room, with chief among them that you don’t need to be a designer, and that local knowledge beats everything. The energy and generosity of everyone who took part gave us a solid base on which to build the next stages of this design-led project. This was a collaboration between Spelthorne Borough Council, David Lock Associates, Fathom Architects, HCUK Group and Feria Urbanism, with wonderful teamwork throughout. My thanks to all who gave their Saturday to shaping the future of the town.
