Designing for connection

In his Insight paper “Community at the Heart: Designing for Connection,” Jonathan Jones, Associate Director at Chapman Taylor, explores how authentic placemaking begins with genuine community engagement. He argues that successful places are not defined by transactions or aesthetics alone, but by how deeply they resonate with the people who use them. Through examples such as Pepper Street in Chester, Trinity Leeds, and Soapworks in Bristol, Jonathan illustrates how listening, collaboration, and adaptability create spaces that feel lived-in, meaningful, and enduring, proving that when communities shape design, places truly come to life.

In his Insight paper “Community at the Heart: Designing for Connection,” Jonathan Jones, Associate Director at Chapman Taylor, explores how authentic placemaking begins with genuine community engagement. He argues that successful places are not defined by transactions or aesthetics alone, but by how deeply they resonate with the people who use them. Through examples such as Pepper Street in Chester, Trinity Leeds, City Square in Cardiff, and Soapworks in Bristol, Jonathan illustrates how listening, collaboration, and adaptability create spaces that feel lived-in, meaningful, and enduring, proving that when communities shape design, places truly come to life.

Article first published in REVO Hub Insights 2025 - Click here.

Successful placemaking is simple: it is where people want to gather, connect, and return. Our ultimate goal is to create not just a space for transaction, but a place that seamlessly becomes a part of everyday life. Achieving this authenticity requires a fundamental shift in our design process: putting the community at the heart of every decision.

The Imperative of Authentic Listening

Listening is an essential and non-negotiable step in successful placemaking. The best outcomes occur when design is directly shaped by the people who will actually use the space.Taking the time to listen, regardless of the proposal’s scale, ensures that real community needs are addressed.

Consultation must be more than a formal hurdle; it must be truly informative. The promise must be tangible: “You said this, we’ve listened, and the design has responded”. This process requires making sure that the data collected is a true reflection of the community, actively engaging key stakeholders and active community groups.

While common challenges like empty units, poor navigation, and a lack of character or greenery are often the necessary first steps to address, it is the small details informed by the community that ultimately makes the real difference, ensuring each place feels tailored and personal.

Designing with People in Mind: Diverse Examples

Our work demonstrates that putting the community first can be applied to projects of any scale, from temporary interventions to major capital projects:

Pepper Street, Chester: Testing the Waters

Here, the task was to bring pop-up vibrancy to a car park rooftop. To do this, we introduced the concept of ‘Meanwhile Communities’ on the rooftop. Meanwhile, uses are a crucial part of the placemaking puzzle, offering a low-cost way to test community engagement and fit. By making space for local community groups, these temporary ideas can then inform and validate longer-term plans.

Trinity Leeds: Repurposing Existing Assets

The challenge at Trinity Leeds was how to enhance an existing destination while balancing the constraints of repurposing a major structure with the aspiration for a more animated social space. By reconfiguring inefficient layouts, our proposal was able to unlock new opportunities within the building for a defined social hub, with space for interaction.

City Square, St David’s Cardiff: Bold Civic Transformation

In a more ambitious move, our design proposal in Cardiff involved the demolition of a redundant department store to create a completely new community park and public square. This strategic shift introduced much-needed play, flexible event space, and colour into the heart of the city, using national design motifs and artwork to reflect a truly civic space for a capital city.

Soapworks, Bristol: Anticipating Future Needs

When designing a major mixed-use development that includes office space and apartments, the challenge lies in capturing the needs of an anticipated community. For this project, a massive effort was made to capture more than 6,000 responses to anticipate what future residents and workers would need. This extensive feedback shaped a design focused on flexibility - creating spaces that meet today’s requirements but can evolve to suit tomorrow’s.

Conclusion

True placemaking is about more than design; it’s about people. When communities are genuinely listened to and their voices shape the outcome, places become more than functional spaces; they become part of daily life. Whether through temporary activations, adaptive reuse, or large-scale regeneration, success lies in creating environments that evolve with their users. By putting community connection at the centre of every decision, designers can foster belonging, authenticity, and long-term social value, ensuring that every project not only serves its purpose today but continues to thrive for generations to come.

Designing with people in mind: Diverse examples

Our work demonstrates that putting the community first can be applied to projects of any scale, from temporary interventions to major capital projects:

Pepper Street, Chester: Testing the waters

Here, the task was to bring pop-up vibrancy to a car park rooftop. To do this, we introduced the concept of ‘Meanwhile Communities’ on the rooftop. Meanwhile, uses are a crucial part of the placemaking puzzle, offering a low-cost way to test community engagement and fit. By making space for local community groups, these temporary ideas can then inform and validate longer-term plans.

Trinity Leeds: Repurposing existing assets

The challenge at Trinity Leeds was how to enhance an existing destination while balancing the constraints of repurposing a major structure with the aspiration for a more animated social space. By reconfiguring inefficient layouts, our proposal was able to unlock new opportunities within the building for a defined social hub, with space for interaction.

City Square, St David’s Cardiff: Bold civic transformation

In a more ambitious move, our design proposal in Cardiff involved the demolition of a redundant department store to create a completely new community park and public square. This strategic shift introduced much-needed play, flexible event space, and colour into the heart of the city, using national design motifs and artwork to reflect a truly civic space for a capital city.

Soapworks, Bristol: Anticipating future needs

When designing a major mixed-use development that includes office space and apartments, the challenge lies in capturing the needs of an anticipated community. For this project, a massive effort was made to capture more than 6,000 responses to anticipate what future residents and workers would need. This extensive feedback shaped a design focused on flexibility - creating spaces that meet today’s requirements but can evolve to suit tomorrow’s.

Conclusion

True placemaking is about more than design; it’s about people. When communities are genuinely listened to and their voices shape the outcome, places become more than functional spaces; they become part of daily life. Whether through temporary activations, adaptive reuse, or large-scale regeneration, success lies in creating environments that evolve with their users. By putting community connection at the centre of every decision, designers can foster belonging, authenticity, and long-term social value, ensuring that every project not only serves its purpose today but continues to thrive for generations to come.

True placemaking is about more than design; it’s about people. When communities are genuinely listened to and their voices shape the outcome, places become more than functional spaces; they become part of daily life. Whether through temporary activations, adaptive reuse, or large-scale regeneration, success lies in creating environments that evolve with their users. By putting community connection at the centre of every decision, designers can foster belonging, authenticity, and long-term social value, ensuring that every project not only serves its purpose today but continues to thrive for generations to come.