Wash Your Words - Langdale Library & Laundry Room

It addresses localised issues of poor health, no access to washing machines, and lack of community and housing consultation space. The project has been co-produced, co-designed and constructed with the community within which it is situated. The local library was identified as an asset that was fragile due to exceptionally small premises that limited access and activity. The initial consultation process also found a vacant premises as the site, which was returned to being an accessible civic space. Involving the community in the development and decision-making process had the impact of making local people feel empowered and involved. Interacting physically with the site by taking building elements apart, utilising existing furniture, and drawing on walls as a performative design tool gave freedom to the participants to imagine future uses and formal ideas. This ethos was reinforced during the construction stage of the project in which volunteers and residents demolished, re-built and decorated the spaces and the furniture. A key aspect of this experience was an engagement with the digital fabrication facilities at the University of Central Lancashire, introducing participants to new knowledge and skills related to contemporary craft and making. The participatory model is ongoing, as the use and maintenance of the space is shared amongst the community. The playful overlap of library, art workshops and laundry encourages conversations and associations between different user groups as well as a sense of shared ownership and responsibility. The project’s joyful design raises expectations of the quality of architecture people should demand of social housing estates, changing the conversation from what people don’t have, to what community asset models should look like from a social, economic and environmental perspective.