Plyscape - Unpack your Built Environment 

Type: Outreach

Client: Fingal Arts Office & Creative Fingal

Location: The Warehouse, Millpond Park, Balbriggan

Stage: Completed

Person holding a wooden board above a gray collapsible container in a room with a concrete wall.
Person assembling a piece of furniture with wooden panels and metal rods in a room with a concrete wall.
A wooden sign in a park advertising a 'Plyscape Workshop' for young people aged 14-18, scheduled for Saturday, June 11th, from 11am to 4pm at Mill Pond Park, Balbriggan, with skate ramps available.

Balbriggan town has the youngest population in Ireland, as a result, it consists of a larger proportion of teenagers who are emerging as key stakeholders in our public realm. The objective of Plyscape was to showcase the transformative power of architecture, to empower our younger people to develop an interest in suburban design that could have a positive influence on our planning policies in the future. To address the lack of dedicated public space for teenagers and recognise their importance as stakeholders for a resilient public realm.

This proposal was selected by Fingal Arts Office to represent North County Dublin for Cruinniú na nÓg, a day-long initiative for Creative Ireland’s Youth Plan to enable children and young people explore their potential for design-thinking.

Fingal Arts Office commended the proposal for recognising the lack of dedicated public space for teenagers and identifying the importance of this age group as key stakeholders for a resilient public realm.

Two young people closely examine an abstract, mixed-media artwork with torn paper pieces and painted elements.
Various wooden puzzle pieces of different shapes, sizes, and colors arranged in a grid.
Two people working on a yellow and black abstract artwork on a wooden table.

Sheets of plywood were laser cut into a kit-of-parts with mortice-and-tenon joints as well as finger joints strategically pre-cut to allow for a range of configurations.

These demountable plywood elements allowed the teenage participants to build, reconfigure, and then rebuild again to create better, more inclusive public spaces for themselves and their friends. All Plyscape participants kept their customised plywood elements for reuse in the future.

Plyscape exposed the participants to methodologies mirroring the architectural design process - analysis, design, construction, & spatial experience.

A group of nine young people, sitting on a low wooden bench in a large, unfinished industrial-style room with concrete walls and a high, metal roof. They are smiling and looking at the camera.
Group of people assembling a tall wooden structure in an industrial-style workshop.
Three young people assembling a structure with wooden pieces and a ruler in an indoor setting.
Two men are working on a wooden project in an unfinished indoor setting. One man is standing and wearing a blue jacket, reaching to place or adjust a piece of wood on a high structure. The other man, with a beard and wearing a green t-shirt, is supporting the structure while looking up. There are two water bottles on top of the wooden structure.

Islander Architects managed the entire process from designing, planning and marketing to prefabrication and workshop facilitation. In a short, intensive time frame they sourced all of the materials from local suppliers in Dublin, including the development of a prototype kit of parts to test proof of concept.

The experimental nature of this design approach raised unconventional questions around the opportunities inherent in flat-pack, glue-less components as an expanded understanding of design for disassembly.

A layout or pattern of variously shaped blocks in shades of beige, white, and brown, arranged in a grid with some blocks featuring cut-out designs.

In the context of the day-long workshop, these plywood shapes became standardised components, as the participants became more familiar with their capabilities and the different shapes could be traded or shared between groups of participants.

Together they explored their creative expression and in doing so transformed the public realm for the better; from a single chair to a performance space - the possibilities were endless. The assembly of thin sheets of plywood through simple joints gave strength to the whole.

Three young girls working together on a project with cardboard, assembling pieces on a table in a room with concrete walls.
People playing Jenga with large wooden blocks in an industrial space.

Plyscape approach showcased & re-run for adults as part of URBACT and iPlace, an exchange programme in Balbriggan between ten towns and cities across the EU, to understand local strengths and capacity for policy delivery. Participation in this program highlights the innovative nature of Plyscape and its potential to contribute to broader EU development discussions.

Plyscape was the first event to be held in a previously vacant warehouse building in Millpond Park, Balbriggan. This space has since been adopted by a local creative group Scéal and is now being used on a weekly basis, demonstrating the catalytic effect of our project in breathing new life into underutilised buildings as meanwhile spaces.

Drawings & Images: Islander Architects

Photography: Islander & Joseph Carr

Commissioned by: Fingal Arts Office