Urbanism
Environment
Design

info@urbed.coop

Following a lot of intensive work over the summer by all involved, the first phase of works at 199 Oakfield Road is now complete! This mini-fit out has given us the luxury of a space for meetings and workshops that the wind doesn't blow through (and even some plush new indoor loos). The works involved creating a new opening between the shop and the kitchen - so when the building is back in use as a bakery full time, customers can see where their bread has been baked. Whilst we've created a very modern looking new space for the bakery, we've also kept a lot of the features of the building that make it a bit special - like the old tiles (which it took some serious scraping to clean the paint from), and the unique whisk light-fittings. And of course the 'cakes for auspicious occasions' sign.

Until the end of November, Homebaked will be open every Saturday from 11am to 3pm for a small 'taster' of what's to come - and so you can come and let the team know what you think they should be baking. It's also the finishing point for the 'Anfield Home Tour', part of the Liverpool Biennial festival.

And though we've just finished the first phase, we're still focused on what comes next. Urbed enlisted the help of landscape architect/ cake decorator extraordinaire Claire Symons to create a fantastic model of the full scheme in icing - complete with roof terraces and solar panels. You can see this for yourself on the second floor of the Liverpool Museum, as it forms the 'a piece of cake' installation by Jeanne van Heeswijk for the Biennial.

Jayne and Kealey outside the bakery, with LFC in the background

Sue waiting for visitors to arrive from the first 'Anfield Home Tour'

the cake model in Liverpool Museum, with one of the Mitchell family looking over it in the background

We recently held a design camp to progress the design of the bakery and shop. This involved a brilliant presentation by Franny about her love of vintage design and reclaiming and restoring furniture from French markets! We then split into 3 working group: One for the bakery - this involved all the technical issues to do with ovens and working areas; Another group concentrated on the interior of the shop and how the layout would incorporate space for staff and customers; the last group worked on the exterior of the shop and the window display. There is a report which sums up the day's event which can be downloaded to the right. URBED has also recently completed a progress report for 2up 2down which details the design process, progress and decisions to date and sets out plans for the project. This can be downloaded to the right.

There are some philosophical events coming up in the Home Baked bakery - check the Liverpool Biennial blog for more information.

With the designs moving forward fairly fast, we have created a few overview boards for people involved in the project to comment on. This was done through the workshop with the ABCC young people and at an Expert event where Debbie Clark, NW food adviser for Sustain and member of Unicorn Grocery Cooperative in Manchester came to speak about her experience working in a coop and also pointed out some great campaigns appropriate to the project. On 31st October Marianne talking to the young people about how their designs are translated into computer drawings. The young people made comments on the drawings about how they saw the design progressing and to show what we had drawn wrong. Then it was time for some apple-dunking and ghost stories - it was Halloween after all!

On the 9th November there was an expert event about how to manage the Bakery business. Debbie presented how the Unicorn Grocery is run as a cooperative, and gave us some tips on some campaigns on making real bread. Other experts attended the session such as a bakery teacher from Liverpool Community College and a baker who used to work in the area.

Today was the official opening of the Bakery, this will now be a hub for the project with weekly workshops happening with the young people from ABCC youth group.

Please go along to 199 Oakfield Street, L4 0UF (opposite Liverpool FC) on the following days over the next few weeks:

Monday: Bakery 12-4pm | Workshop 4-6pm

Tuesday: Bakery 12-4pm

Wednesday: Bakery 12-4pm | Workshop 4-6pm

Come along, meet the team and find out more about our plans for the bakery and 2Up 2Down in 2012.

This video shows the first expert meeting which gives a comprehensive introduction to the project.

Above: The Mitchells Bakery with comments from participants on the windows, making the project visible in the area.

Above: Artist Jeanne van Heeswijk

See Mark McNulty's short article about the opening

In order to integrate the stages of work, as set out by RIBA with the consultation activities this project is founded on, we have come up with a corresponding workshop timetable.