10 House Project
The 10 House Project was our first initiative to identify and develop houses for affordable rent and ownership on Cairns Street. By 2019 we completed eleven 2-bed terraced houses, of which so far 5 have been sold while the remaining 6 are rentable, affordable homes. On top of this we opened the Granby Winter Garden, an indoor community and arts space with an indoor garden with a glass roof, converted from two adjoining houses.
Five of our homes have been sold and five now have tenants. We worked with Steve Biko Housing Association to prioritise tenants for our new homes based on our allocations of housing need, but also encouraged previous Granby residents to return to the community.
Design
Our architects, Assemble, have been instrumental in creating imaginative, contemporary interiors for the houses, which make them striking both in design and comfortable to live in. The design and renovation by Assemble won the Turner Prize in 2015, becoming the youngest “non-artists” to win an award typically given to visual artists. In collaboration with ceramics studio Granby Workshop and artist Will Shannon the houses are fitted with bespoke door handles, bathroom tiles and fireplaces, reflecting the creative vibrancy of the neighbourhood.
More information on the project can be found on Assemble’s website here.
Granby Workshop is now a highly successful independent community interest company, employing 5 people and getting national and international commissions. Please visit their website for their product range.
Greening Granby
Since 2006 the residents of Granby have been greening the streets, beginning with growing plants in and around derelict properties in Cairns Street and soon spreading to Jermyn Street, Beaconsfield and Ducie Street. The planting done by residents who formed ‘That Bloomin’ Green Triangle’ has helped create one of the cleanest, greenest and award winning neighbourhoods in the city. As well as painting the facades of hundreds of boarded up houses we’ve grown honeysuckles, clematis, virginia creeper, herbs such as rosemary, thyme, mint and fennel, planted apple and pear trees, vegetables and decorated the corners with plants where once stood empty plots.
During this time we’ve inspired people from around the area, from Dirt Liverpool to Liverpool Biennial to rethink neighbourhoods through green initiatives. In 2018 the Liverpool Biennial worked with Kingsley Road Community School and Andrea Ku to host gardening clubs on Granby Street, to coincide with the Resilience Garden installation by international artist Mohamed Bourouissa.
In 2019 we opened the Winter Garden, with Andrea Ku being our first Gardener in Residence, taking the lead in designing and planting up our indoor garden. The Granby Winter Garden is a wonderful community resource, an arts and creative space as well as a peaceful, social meeting space.
‘That Bloomin’ Green Triangle’ members and residents continue to maintain and extend the streets’ plantlife, and is a great way to grow and interact with the neighbourhood.
Four Corners
Building upon our success of the 10 House Project and our monthly street market we want to make the corner of Cairns Street and Granby Street the meeting place of community and creativity with our Four Corners project. With the financial support of Power to Change, the Arts council the Co-operative Foundation and Homes England we have been given planning permission to build on the demolished corner site.
The shop fronts of each corner once provided the lifeblood of Granby Street, and we intend to revive the Four Corners to provide for not just our newly developed houses but for the wider community. We are currently consulting our neighbours and friends on what these corners could be, ranging from local shops to public spaces for the community.
So far we have worked with the Community Heritage Project and Writing On The Wall to host a number of workshop sessions called ‘What’s Your Granby?,’ inviting local people to share their stories of Granby Street to then ask what could happen with the Four Corners.
