AHRC Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre Project

AHRC funded Design Exchange Partnership (Design Museum/InnovateUK) Design Researcher: Zainab Mohammed Principal Investigator: Prof Tracy Harwood Organization Partner Lead: Stuart Frazer (Centre Manager)

This project evaluated passive design concepts that utilise renewable and recyclable sources of materials thereby emitting zero carbon and minimising materials waste. Design concepts proposed maximise use of natural daylight and ventilation creating a healthy built environment for users, and use renewable sources of energy which can be generated on site. The nature of the 15-acres flood plain site requires considerable environmental empathy to be built into its future development scheme. LOPC has 150 years of heritage as a venue for river, target, climbing and adventure educational activities engaging Leicester-based community groups and also has ambition to become a national centre for some activities in the future. The project team, comprising the LOPC manager, Stuart Fraser, Tracy Harwood, Professor of Digital Culture at the Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University and Zainab Mohammed, an architecture postgraduate researcher studying for a PhD in sustainable architecture at De Montfort University, have explored design concepts that address user needs on the complex LOPC site. The way in which stakeholder needs can be integrated into developments of this nature and how they are reflected in design processes are areas that the project team are interested in developing new insight into from the different perspectives of research and practice. The project outcomes are intended to assist LOPC to develop and prioritise plans for incremental redevelopment by identifying short and longer-term actions it may take that deliver its net zero goals. Data included comprises reports from completed project activities.

The project includes deliverables (presentations, report, drawings, renders) and instruments used in data collection.