Digitally Assisted Co-design

Designing and Leading a Spatial Co-Design Workshops for East London Waterworks Park

Skills I used

Facilitation
Workshop Design
3D modeling

This summer, I worked full-time for East London Waterworks Park, a project aiming to turn an abandoned Thames Water Station into a beautiful park with a natural swimming pond, unique of its kind in the area. It is urgently needed in the Lea Valley, where many currently bathe in the hazardous, poor-quality water of the River Lea.

A swimming space can take many forms and meet diverse needs. While we know there is demand for swimming ponds, preferences will vary: some may want expansive open areas, while others may prefer secluded spots for more privacy. To capture the community’s vision for the swimming ponds, we decided to organise a co-design workshop.

A workshop not like the others!

To improve:

engagement during the workshop
spatial immersion in the park
understanding of scale
testing and iterating

I created a 3D model of the park for each of the 3 groups participating and updated it in real time according to the ideas suggested.

Live editing of the models: adding reeds to the ponds!

Click on the videos below to immerse yourself in our participants’ three different designs!

GROUP 1: Co-designed vision – East London Waterworks Park

GROUP 2: Co-designed vision – East London Waterworks Park

GROUP 3: Co-designed vision – East London Waterworks Park

The 3 main aims for the workshops were

Understanding the challenges in designing swimming ponds that meet the community’s needs.
Deciding on the placement of the reed beds, which need to cover 65 per cent of the swimming space to ensure the water is clean enough to swim in.
Creating a visual representation of the swimming ponds, beaches, and surroundings to illustrate design solutions that address the challenges and needs.

Outcome

This co-design workshop successfully fostered a shared vision for the park. Participants converged on a similar reed bed planting design, assigning the ‘family pond’ – which should be visible from the cafe – to families with children. Other agreed priorities included ensuring that swimmers enjoy a pleasant view of the meadow and surrounding nature, and incorporating accessibility features unobtrusively.