Community Space

A new covered seating area at Broomfield Park has been designed and built by local young people from Broomfield (Secondary) School in Enfield. Located in Broomfield Park’s community growing space, the seating area features colourful benches, a table and three reclined seats at varying heights, all underneath a brightly-coloured roof. The area offers a space for relaxation and shelter for the whole community.

The scheme was designed by 120 year 7s from Broomfield School through a series of workshops. Each workshop focused on a different phase of the design process: the park and its wider context; site context and analysis; generating initial proposals; and finalising proposals.  15 young people then spent a week building their scheme, supported by Build Up’s team of builders and youth workers. The young people learnt construction techniques on-the-job, working in teams to dig and ram rammed-earth foundations; to measure, cut, drill, hammer and bolt timbers together to form seating; and to sand and paint their structure to add colour and vibrancy to their final scheme.

The space was officially opened in July and the young people gave a presentation to the year 7 cohort of students and teachers from Broomfield School, as well as local community members, including representatives from Enfield Council, The Palmers Greenery Community Café and Friends of Broomfield Park.

The project was run in partnership with volunteer-powered The Palmers Greenery Community Café and Friends of Broomfield Park. The project was funded by surplus from the café, which is used to reinvest in park-enhancing projects.  The roof of the structure was generously donated by Filon, specialists in GRP construction products.