Positive Disturbance – Realising Brownfield Potential
FLOC, MAZi, Hyem, Stef Leach, Broaden, Thurston Illustration, SHED, Artis, Henna Asikainen
Positive Disturbance: Unlocking Brownfield Potential
Clasper Village, Gateshead, a patchwork of ghost pavements and feral vegetation looking across the River Tyne.
Look closer though, down and up. Rich layers of growth, stories, networks, activity -possibility.
We propose embracing the brownfield. Redefining urban living as a dynamic, evolving ecosystem—rooted in place yet adaptable anywhere in the UK. Instead of imposing static development, we see a living landscape, where housing becomes a carefully curated ‘disturbance’— one that enriches rather than erases.
The Right Place: A More-Than-Human Community
This neighbourhood draws on positive ideas of degrowth, fostering coexistence between humans, wildlife, and ecology while reimagining resources, movement, and sustainability.
- Brown is Green: Re-evaluating the full spectrum of a site’s value and harnessing its potential. Design that respects existing ecology and allows it to evolve. Phytoremediation and soil management grows the site clean, foraging routes become food forests.
- Connectivity & Mobility: Leveraging existing paths, roads, and waterways for a low-car, high-movement neighbourhood.
- Produce > Consume: A place that produces energy, food, and exchange. Agency for all.
The Right Way: A Living, Adaptive Neighbourhood
A flexible, interwoven community—a graft, a stitch, a weave into the existing landscape.
Lifetime Neighbourhood: Diverse tenures, intergenerational living, and co-housing models. A two way housing ladder.
Resilient Construction: Fast, economic, and lightweight methods for sustainability at scale. Adaptability, for living and working.
A Place to Grow
This adaptive framework fosters a mosaic of human and more-than-human interactions, where homes, landscapes, and economies grow together—a place to thrive, adapt, and reimagine the future.
MAZi Architects
Despoina Papadopoulou, Architect
FLOC
Zoe Hayes, Architect
Adrian Philpotts, Architect
Hyem Landscape
Scott Matthews, Landscape Architect
Stef Leach, Landscape Architect
Broaden
Bryony Simcox, Filmmaker & Urban Experience Designer
Thurston Illustration
Tyler Thurston, Architectural Illustrator
SHED
Marc Horn, Structural Engineer
Consulting
Sean McKeon, Cost Consultant
Henna Asikainen, Artist Consultant