Communications & Engagement

Assemble & Join (A&J) first operated in October 2012, as a community based workshop and design space, based in a converted commercial space on Lower Marsh, London SE5. Situated in a former cafe, A&J offered local residents, school children, shopkeepers, market traders and community groups the chance to collectively imagine, design and build changes to the public realm to better suit their needs, as well as those of the community as a whole.

The project was part of a Lambeth Council funded arts project in conjunction with the local BID (Business Improvement District) team Waterloo Quarter, as part of the on-going regeneration of the local area, and paid for via S106 contribution. The commission was won through open competition, with the original project brief to create a single piece of public art, created through a period of public engagement.

The A&J team was comprised of four collaborative designers – Lucy Smith – Partner at HTA, Theo Adamson (past HTA employee), Tom Tobia – an engagement led designer and social innovator and Christopher Jarratt – a woodworking artist. The team took a short-term lease on a former cafe at 19 Lower Marsh, and took about refurbishing the space, ultimately forming a new gallery and workshop which would house the main piece of equipment – a CNC machine (Computer Numerical Control); a digital manufacturing tool that can be programmed to accurately cut complex shapes from sheet material (predominantly plywood).

The workshops are centred around participants designing collectively along themes:

A number of apprentice opportunities were available whilst we were operating at Lower Marsh, with three regular volunteers assisting with the running of workshops as well as learning new skills, in design, carpentry and digital manufacturing. In total we ran over 100 free ‘Design & Make’ workshops for over 450 local people of all ages with varying abilities, as well as more informal drop-in workshops for passers by. Activities that are generated within the A&J workshop are created and flourish because of the individual participants taking part. Workshops succeed by encouraging people to work collaboratively to think about community need. Assemble & Join is a creative catalyst, encouraging communities to come together and collectively contribute to their own environments. This enables all participants to have a voice, engage with and take ownership of something that they themselves have created.

As part of the public engagement programme at the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark Assemble and Join was housed in two shipping containers on the site that is now occupied by Plot 18 – the new public square. Over a four week summer pop-up, the project attracted hundreds of local people, all designing and building items for the local area.