Transport poverty is an often overlooked topic, but the implications of such poverty can be detrimental for entire communities who are physically isolated from accessing opportunities in other surrounding areas. The concept of the bike as an affordable and sustainable mode of transport can be seen as an opportunity to connect deprived districts of Manchester, such as the Miles Platting & Newton Heath area, with the city centre and more rural suburbs.
However currently these communities are denied access to affordable bikes and suitable cycling infrastructure, which is something architects need to investigate to offer a possible alternative where transport poverty is greatly diminished. Further to the site boundaries we have suggested the implementation of a cycle highway to connect the most deprived areas of Manchester, allowing people to cycle into the city centre and to also make use of the existing cycling parks in East Manchester.
As this project was sited at Manchester Abattoir we explored the processes of cattle slaughter and how this can be compared with bike repair. It became apparent that there were many overlaps between the two processes, suggesting various possibilities to utilise the existing infrastructure in the abattoir to enhance the bike repair process. The path that a bike takes through our site mirrors that of how cattle were taken through the slaughter process.
The master planning of the site is influenced by the Garden City concept of Ebenezer Howard, as the round market hall building is defined as the social epicentre, with more private spaces radiating from it, fringed by the industrial buildings where bike repair takes place. On this site we have brought together in a web of connected responsibilities; single mothers in working poverty, female asylum seekers, elderly people, and children with disabilities.
RIGHTS GROUP - DESIGN TEAM
Caitlin Boyd,
Jessica Bell
Luke Thomas,
Luvsansambuu Luvsansambuu,
Muhammad Ifwat Bin Zunaidi,
Ximai Ma,
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