SETTING THE STAGE: Year 1 of RELAUNCHTOWIN

RELAUNCHTOWIN turns the refurbishment of a 1980s sports hall and the renovation of the surrounding public and green spaces into a stage for social innovation intertwined within the activities of implementing measures for carbon neutrality, climate change mitigation, energy efficiency and supporting biodiversity. The ambition of the city of Burgas is to create a vital neighbourhood centre with spaces supporting physical activity, public health and healthy lifestyles that are aligned with the health of nature. In addition, the project emphasizes the participation of the local community and the inclusion of all generations, especially children, youth and elderly as well as vulnerable groups.

The area of intervention is located at an important pedestrian connection between two of the most inhabited large-scale residential districts of the city and near one of the busiest transport nodes. It is one of the landmarks enhancing the major urban axis of the city. Initially planned as a local commercial and public center, the place has gradually lost its vitality since the decentralization of the economy and services in 1990s which changed the spatial distribution of shopping in the city. 

The project aims at reviving this local center within the spirit of NEB (beautiful, sustainable, inclusive) and in line with the principles of energy efficiency and net-zero buildings as well as according to the contemporary expectations for quality of living. Taking health as a headline, the program of interventions aims at creating spaces for sports, physical activities and therapy through contact with gardens and greenery. It is supported by a program of activities for activating the spaces with the active involvement of the local community, especially addressing the elderly, children and vulnerable groups.

The physical interventions address the hall – its architectural shell, its interior, the transitional entrance areas and adjacent terraces and as well as the surrounding open spaces – the public space in front of it, the green areas lining this small square and the lawn aside of the building. RELAUNCHTOWIN uses each of these spaces is a physical setting for creating social value: the hall is dedicated to sport and wellness; the transitional areas are the spot for informal learning and knowledge exchange; the square is the place for events; the green spaces include the playground, with environments for outdoor physical activity and a therapeutic garden; the lawn is dedicated to community gardening in the spirit of permaculture design and a green wall reducing the negative impact of the major boulevard forming the East border of the area.

The participatory activities merge three goals: creating the sense of ownership and belonging to the place among the people from the neighbourhood; raising the awareness, especially among children and youth, about the climate change issues and the principles of sustainable development; and fostering the social interaction and knowledge exchange between the generations for preserving intangible heritage.

During its first year RELAUNCHTOWIN opened the parallel implementation of a number of its thematic interventions – the reconstruction of the building the redesign of the open and green areas and the inclusion of the local community, as well as the transfer activities.

The building

The design documentation for reconstruction of the sports hall have been completed in advance, so the work on the project started with the procedure of issuing a building permit and the public procurement for the construction works. The managing urban authority completed the procedure according to the national requirements. Meanwhile a change in the legislation regarding the installation of photovoltaics was introduced with the aim of lowering the administrative burden and stimulating the use of renewable energy at national level. The technology and market context also changed in favour of the project – with the emergence of PV panels with improved efficiency which allowed reaching target energy production with lower additional load on the building structure. This supported the approval of the designs which included installation of photovoltaics on the sloped South facade of the hall – one of the measures for making it a Net-Zero building.

The completion of the procurement procedure allowed for starting the reconstruction works in September 2024. The uncovering of the hidden structural elements revealed a need for additional works on the load bearing structure. The study of these elements and the prescriptive measures were completed within tight and reasonable time frame followed by adjustments in the design documentation and the building permit as well as official approval of additional budget by the city council – a timely and essential support for overcoming the risks related to reconstruction works in the implementation of the project.

The digital twin

In parallel to the works on the spatial structures, the project partners started the works on the digital twin of the building. It aims at tracking the energy performance and the use of the building through real time data provided by sensors. A BIM model of the building was developed and the need for energy management was identified. The integration of the digital twin within the existing data platforms developed by the city for supporting the decision making and for providing open access to real time data was the main challenge. The project studied the opportunity of a more ambitious solution integrating sensors for monitoring the thermal comfort and counters of the number of visitors.

The interiors

The work on the designs of the interior spaces of four functional areas (multifunctional area with co-working and educational spaces in the foyer; multifunctional hall; SPA and physical therapy rooms) started with the initial designs for the therapy rooms. They were presented by the project partner Molt Design Group to the local community at the in-situ workshop in September 2024. The feedback was quite positive both regarding the functionality and the aesthetics of the interior spaces. Among the impressions and ideas proposed by the participants appeared the need for more spaces for play and activities for children in the building. Another important comment considered the need for balance between the accessibility and maintaining the quality of the therapeutic facilities. The approach to the design is aligned with the principles of sustainability and circularity – the existing flooring and finishes which are in a good condition will not be replaced. This will not only significantly reduce the construction waste but will also embed some elements of the initial interior design in the new aesthetics demonstrating continuity and will expose the specific technology of mosaic flooring widely used in the past but almost lost today.

The public space, green areas and green wall

The reconstruction of the public space and the surrounding green areas started from scratch with the elaboration of a detailed design brief outlining the requirement for implementing sustainable solutions, using local materials, reducing the effect of the urban heat island through shading and more greenery and creating welcoming design for both visitors and passengers crossing the area. The initial designs, created by the design team of Center Play (the partner involved in the reconstruction of the outdoor spaces) and presented to the local communities at the workshop in September received numerous comments and suggestions. The new functionalities of children playground, meditation area and green wall were welcomed by the participants. The main considerations were related to the need for more seating, shading and space for events, the protection of the existing tree canopy and reducing the sealed surfaces, the provision of water for the new plants, the need for resilience of the elements of the new design.

The community garden

One of the most attractive elements of the project – the community garden – merges the concepts of urban farming, shared management, inclusion and public health. Its design following the principles of permaculture was developed by Bioutiful – the project partner experienced in the design and creation of bio gardens and in bio farming. At the workshop the presentation of this design was most positively accepted both for the aesthetics and functionalities and provoked expressions of willingness for participation in the creation and maintenance of the gardens. The feedback confirmed the raising awareness on water scarcity and maintenance issues, based not only on the experience of a sequence of dry years but also on the benefits of designs for public spaces that are less demanding in terms of resources necessary for maintenance. The management model of the community garden is one of the main elements of the innovative solutions and one of the challenges for the creativity and of the team that will be addressed with the participation of the local community.

The participation

The focus of the project in its first year was on the activities directed towards the provision of the physical spaces both indoor and outdoor in order to create the setting for the social activation. The importance of participation for supporting designs and decision making underlined the involvement of the wider audience and the local community at the earliest stages. The participation and outreach of the project was facilitated by BG Be Active – the project partner experienced in placemaking. The activities and tools designed and applied by the experts facilitated the engagement and the communication.

The kick-off event in June 2024 aimed at both communicating the concepts and interventions of the project with the local community and uncovering the attitude and patterns of use of the sports hall, is facility and the open spaces. The study was done through an online questionnaire, paper forms and direct interviews in order to reach larger and diverse group of respondents. The results provide a baseline for monitoring the performance of the project interventions.

The workshop in September 2024 provided valuable fed back on the initial designs. It provoked dialogue between the project team and the people living in the neighbourhood who joined the event as well as some passers-by on the challenges and opportunities of the public spaces. The opportunity of face-to-face conversation provided an opportunity for the local community to share their expectations as well as a deeper understanding for the designers in the project team of the needs that should be tackled by the designs.

The project management

The management of the multidimensional activities planned by the project was challenging during the first year in terms of strengthening the collaboration among partners, time and resource management, risk mitigation and following the time consuming administrative procedures. An important task which demanded special attention was the elaboration of the evaluation methodology. Considering the available data, monitoring facilities and the project ambitions, the MUA decided to create additional indicators for measuring the environmental impact of the project.

Innovation demands some steps to be made outside of the paved way

For of the conservative and very restrictive and highly regulated area of construction and renewal of public spaces and facilities the implementation of new approaches and steps in the process is always challenging. The numerous requirements, technical considerations, normative restrictions, tight deadlines and budgets might stray the focus of designs from innovation towards familiar approaches. Overcoming the inertia in the work of experts is a challenge for projects targeting innovative solutions. It demands additional efforts, skills and time. Regular communication keeping everyone on track with the project goals and advancement, and clearly demonstrated support for embracing a flexible approach and not following the usual patterns of work are essential for keeping partners focused on innovation.

Participation is a process

Participation is crucial for the vitality of the completed spatial intervention but it has also a potential to inform its designs. Participatory events are the point where face-to-face communication allows the people to better understand the project goals, the necessary steps and the design approaches and on the other side it allows the project team to better understand the point of view and the drivers of the behavoir patterns of the local community. Supporting dialogue and sharing through different tools and application of placemaking approach may add value to the project designs and provide for the efficiency and resilience of the project results.

Participation happens as a series of events which are not isolated but rather follow a pattern of interaction with project life and activities. The scheduling of these events needs to consider both the convenience and availability of the participants and the timing of the project activities. Providing sufficient time for processing and analysis of the feedback and ideas provided is as important as the time for considering the relevance and possibility for addressing these results in the technical designs and evaluating the impact and efficiency of such decisions.

Reaching to local groups is essential

Getting people engaged is challenging. Traditional communication channels are not enough today when the information is abundant. Establishing contacts with local entities, NGOs and organizations is essential for reaching to the wider audience. Schools, pensioners’ clubs, associations of the owners, managers of the multifamily apartment buildings should be addressed as partners in the activities aiming to reach the local community. Moreover their existing attachment to the neighbourhood makes their involvement from the early stages of the project essential for better understanding of the local context and needs. Having reached the attention of the children, the project more easily reaches their parents, having reached the participation of the pensioners, the project assures continuous interest.

Distribute tasks and manage for coherence

Innovations are sometimes based on merging a number of existing solutions or at addressing a group of challenges with one intervention. Implementing a multidimensional project like RELAUNCHTOWIN demands expertise and experience from diverse fields to be assured in the project team. Distributing tasks to partners regarding their expertise is efficient and productive. Managing such a team demands a closer collaboration between project partners, efficient communication and purposely efforts towards achieving the coherence of the project activities, designs and results.