Empty shops in Plymouth city centre are to be turned into exhibition spaces, art installations and homes for “experimental” start-up businesses under a new scheme.
Plymouth Culture in partnership with Vacancy Atlas are leading on the Meanwhile Use project and guiding creative organisations through the process of refitting disused shops for a cultural transformation.
The idea is to bring empty buildings and urban areas to life with “vibrant exhibitions, interactive experiences and inspiring installations” that celebrate the city and its heritage.
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From this Spring, spaces in the city centre that are empty will be reborn as powerful light installations, welcoming social spaces, fledgling experimental businesses and inspiring learning centres, according to those behind the project.
One of the first units to be reimagined is 107 Cornwall Street, which will become a pop-up shop managed by Vacancy Atlas, specialists in unlocking the potential of empty spaces for use by local businesses, new start ups, community and cultural organisations.
The unit will be an information hub for the Meanwhile Use project as it develops through 2022, with a rolling programme of pop-up initiatives and online information platform.
The scheme aims to make use of empty spaces until they are commercially occupied and will give a platform to cultural initiatives by the city’s creative community and bring innovative projects to the city centre.
People visiting the city centre can expect to see:
● Light installations created by the renowned Still/Moving in collaboration with community groups, who created the globally-recognised No New Worlds sculpture on Mount Batten Pier in 2020.
● Inspiring artworks by Plymouth’s skating community.
● A giant chalk map of Plymouth that people can get involved in “renaming”.
● A Climate Hub led by polar explorer and environmental educator Antony Jinman.
● A civic skater centre celebrating Plymouth’s skate culture.
● Artist retail and workshop space.
● Projects by IGNITE festival of creativity run by University of Plymouth and Plymouth College of Art.
● A new zero emissions cargo bike initiative led by Plymouth’s BikeSpace in partnership with sustainable delivery company Zedify.
The scheme will start with a series of events and workshops involving citizens and creative groups in shaping what the projects will look like with opportunities to take part and learn new design skills.
The first projects were chosen following an open call to the creative community in Plymouth and will take place in unused spaces thanks to partnerships with landlords and property managers.
The chosen projects have also been able to develop their plans within a programme supported by organisations including Outset Plymouth business start-up advice service.
The Meanwhile Use scheme, which was pioneered in the autumn of 2021, is being spearheaded by Plymouth Culture, Plymouth City Council and Plymouth City Centre Company.
It is funded through Historic England (Heritage Action Zone Culture Programme), Interreg (C-Care), Plymouth City Council and Plymouth City Centre Company.
The programme’s launch comes after the adoption of the Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP) in March 2022, which highlighted the opportunity for “meanwhile use” to play a valuable role in reviving the high street.
The plan sets out what makes Plymouth city centre special, its specific character and setting and what can be done to manage change and inform decision-making in the future.
A 2021 survey by tech firm Property Inspect, found Britain’s Ocean City has the fourth highest number of empty shops of the 50 cities and towns investigated, with 9.67 empty properties per 100,000 residents.
And the Cities Outlook 2022 report – Centre for Cities’ annual economic assessment of the UK’s largest urban areas - said Plymouth was the worst in the region for an increase in empty city centre shops during the pandemic and the sixth highest nationally.
But the Plymouth City Centre Company has pointed out that actually more businesses opened than shut during this period and said it is attracting a “new wave of entrepreneurs of all nationalities”.
Hannah Harris, chief executive of Plymouth Culture, the organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for the creative and cultural sector in the city, said: “There’s a need to diversify away from relying on retail in our city centre that’s backed up by multiple reports and studies.
“Meanwhile Use gives us a chance to use empty shops to give our cultural community a platform to display their talents and spark everyday cultural encounters for everyone who comes to the city centre. The response to our call for proposals was inspiring with an extraordinary array of creativity on show. We’re extremely excited to see the results and the project take shape from this spring and through the year. We very much see this as a first phase and will be inviting further proposals when other property has been identified.”
