03 Dec Community brings life back to unused buildings
How does a community organisation beat the commercial sector to bring disused buildings back to life? The Assembly Line founder, Diane Cunningham, headed to Hastings on a Don’t Waste Buildings tour to find out.
A landmark building
The Observer Building in the East Sussex seaside town has a rich local history. It was where many people worked and was a bit of an architectural landmark in the town. The newspaper and printing business it housed moved elsewhere, and by the mid-1980s, it sat unused and unloved.
Over the years, multiple owners tried and failed to bring it back into use, submitting a total of 17 planning applications.
The landmark building finally got its long-awaited new lease of life when the community group Hastings Commons stepped in.
What was the approach, and what lessons can we learn about breathing life back into buildings?
Hastings Commons is a community-focused non-profit made up of four organisations
It aims to bring buildings in the town back into use in a way that is inclusive and accessible to local people. This means capped and living rents on workspace and residential space.
The neighbouring Rock House had already been bought and converted into six living-rent flats, commercial workspace and co-working space for start-ups.
With a strong belief in their goals, Hastings Commons’ Dr Jess Steele OBE remortgaged her house to buy the Observer Building. With ownership secured, work started on finding additional funding so it could be brought back into use.
The refurbishment was done piecemeal as and when funds allowed, often in the form of grants.
Hastings Commons have secured more than 130 funding awards since 2014 from more than 60 funders. In fact, the organisation successfully applied for 133 grants.
Today, the space has been transformed into a mix of commercial and community uses, including co-working space, fitness studio, café and events spaces. To capture the building’s important history within the local community, there’s an exhibition in one of the spaces.
Ongoing plans include creating capped rent housing on the upper floors.
The Observer Building’s successful reuse is down to tenacity and persistence, coupled with a deep understanding of the community.
Hastings Commons knows what is genuinely needed and endeavours to find uses that alleviate community challenges and provide an accessible resource. Delivering affordable, rented homes is part of that, as is providing space for a youth club.
Understanding the grant system has also been critical for the Observer Building, Rock House and the other buildings it now owns. Monitoring applications and timelines for deploying resources all take skill and time. The organisation is also having to navigate the paperwork to become a registered housing provider.
Hastings Commons takes on and manages the risks for the buildings it owns until they are financially stable. The modest returns from commercial uses help cover running costs and provide community amenities and events.
Taking this approach requires a lot of skill and understanding and isn’t for the faint-hearted, but it shows what can be achieved when the community takes ownership.
Find out more
Sign up as a member or read more about Hastings Commons or on their website.
Read more about The Observer Building online.