Stepping Stones

In recent years Dewsbury, a medium-sized town in West Yorkshire, has suffered from a general economic decline and a series of controversies.

In 2009 Bauman Lyons Architects were commissioned by Kirklees Council to develop a strategic development framework for Dewsbury. A key element of their ideas is a series of temporary “Stepping Stone” projects aimed at producing quick improvements within limited budgets.

Studio Dekka were commissioned to deliver these exemplar projects. These included a candle-lit fish and chip dinner hosting the nascent, community-led “town team” within the historic market building and a pop-up bakery-bike shop-art gallery-cafe that both demonstrated imaginative re-uses of vacant and under-used spaces within the town centre. A fashion shoot involving students from Dewsbury College and a pop-up badminton court illustrated ways in which a better relationship may be formed between successful institutions on the periphery and the town centre itself.

For Kirklees Council, with Bauman Lyons Architects.

Related Projects: New Picture House

Photography: Rachel Codling.