In July 2025, Culture in Common commissioned Designer, Abby Clarke to design and refurbish a space for the Waterside Food Project at the back of The Store (now Lucie’s Place) in Blackfield, New Forest.
The space will function as a pilot project to test if it will work as a Creative Hub for local residents to participate in creative activities, for fun and wellbeing, with an emphasis on recycling.
We held an Ideas Workshop with local residents of Blackfield and Langley in January 2025, asking locals to suggest the ‘look and feel’ and activity ideas for the space. Culture in Common put a call out for designers based on these ideas and after a competitive process, Abby Clarke was engaged to design and decorate this temporary space. The attractive and practical bespoke furniture is created from recycled materials, including Ecobricks and other interior elements respond to the community’s vision and needs for the space.
Together with proud owner Lucie, her volunteers and producer, Nobulali Dangazele, the space was brought to life over the summer using sustainable and environmentally friendly materials.
Over 300 people are already members of the food project and now they’ll have even more reasons to come in, whether it’s to learn how to cook, learn up-cycling sewing skills, or take part in other creative workshops.
You can see the refurbishment in the video below!
