Interiors students help imagine North Finchley’s future with workshop to transform ‘unloved’ spaces

MA students brainstorm ideas with local residents to improve underused buildings and spaces for community

Middlesex University’s MA Interiors students and staff hosted a workshop for local residents to explore the redesign of underused and unloved buildings and spaces in North Finchley.

Four students took part in the workshop at North Finchley Library which brought together residents, community groups, sixth form students and planning experts as part of the London Festival of Architecture, Barnet Climate Action Month, and London Climate Action Week.

Michael Westthorp, MA Interiors Programme Leader at Middlesex University, said: “This part of North London is about to undergo large-scale development and we wanted to facilitate a two-way dialogue between Middlesex University and Barnet residents in our unique position of being both part of the borough and having an international perspective on the planning issues affecting residents.

“The University is also integral to the communities around us and we seek to collaborate with local residents and stakeholders to make a positive contribution to the local area.”

Using a strategy of ‘Adaptive Reuse’ – repurposing buildings for new uses while retaining their historical or architectural significance – the workshop participants explored the redesign of five urban, unloved and underused buildings and spaces: Nether Street, North Finchley Bus Garage, the Tally Ho Triangle, The Grand Arcade, and parts of Victoria Park. Apart from Victoria Park, they are all areas identified for redevelopment in a planning document published by London Borough of Barnet.

A large three-dimensional model of Finchley recorded attendees feedback, with participants attaching cards with their ideas for improvement to the model. Residents then worked with the students to use Artificial Intelligence tools to co-design the future uses of the five buildings and spaces.

Students also presented their course work, which involved designs for spaces in North Finchley, to the workshop participants through a pop-up exhibition and they plan to incorporate some of the ideas from the workshop into their MA projects. 

After taking part in the workshop, the students reflected on what they had learned as well as contributed and a number of them said it would make them better designers.

Student Agatha Kho said: “Thanks to the engagement of the North Finchley attendees who shared their thoughts and concerns, and to Michael for creating a welcoming space to share ideas, I feel inspired to become a more thoughtful, community-centred designer.”

“After working on the area for almost a year on my course, it was eye-opening to hear directly from the local community - to understand what they love, what they want to change, and what they feel should stay untouched. As designers, we often propose from our perspective, but this interaction gave me a much-needed, real-world view. I really enjoyed engaging with the community and gaining fresh ideas through their lens.”

Student Afifa A Islam

Local residents also felt the workshop was a success and resulted in a number of perceptive ideas for the redevelopment of North Finchley.

Michael Levitsky, a member of The Finchley Society’s Planning Committee who attended the workshop, said: “The workshop was extremely interesting and useful. As a local resident involved in civic issues, I was fascinated to see the students' ideas about how our town centre could be improved.”

Local resident Alison Warner said: “I found the content very interesting. The idea of some of our heritage buildings being retained and repurposed was excellent and most welcome. I loved the AI image of the triangle near the Tally Ho pub.”

The North Finchley workshop follows on from similar work by Interior Architecture students in the Kilburn Lab project which involved workshops, talks and events gathering information for exhibitions that enabled visitors to explore Kilburn’s past, present and future through the eyes of its community.

Find out more about studying MA Interiors at Middlesex University.