Monday saw Rob take Greendale’s PR consultant, Nicky, from Seaberry PR, to visit the Lanterns Community near Ringwood, where Greendale are constructing two ecological and green as can be workshops. The workshops – a pottery and a weavery – will be used by the community’s companions; the 34 adult residents and 10 day placements, who have learning disabilities.
Preparing the site
The Lantern Craft Workshops are a social enterprise, a charitable business trading for a social purpose, created to make a difference, with a clear social mission to support and enable the 34 adult residents and 10 day placements with a learning disability, to experience meaningful day opportunities from 9-5pm, 5 days a week.
The design of the workshops, by CASA architects, has been developed to a very high environmental standard, planned to substantially exceed the energy conservation requirements, reducing the dependence on energy, reduced further by the proposed provision of PV and solar thermal panels on the roof of the weavery workshop. The new buildings are designed to work as a pair, of similar form, materiality and in detail. The roofs are proposed as cedar shingles with small elements of copper and the walls in materials to reflect the use of the internal spaces, so clay bricks for the pottery and flexible workshop with small elements of render and woven oak lathes between brick ‘book ends’ for the weavery and seasonal crafts areas within the buildings.
The project is scheduled to take 48 weeks and will incorporate a time capsule into the buildings.
Rob with Emma Borbely-Bartis of The Lanterns
It has taken over 10 years of fundraising and huge amounts of planning for the Lantern Community to reach this stage, so if you can assist them in any way, please do – funds are limited so they rely on word of mouth for advertising just what a fantastic gem of a place they have, set amongst gorgeous grounds just 15 minutes from Ringwood or 5 mins from Moors Valley.
Site Manager, Trevor, with Rob.
The Lantern Community café and shop is a stunning building in itself with oak beams and a warm inspirational feel to it. If you are out at Moors Valley, Ringwood, or passing that way on your way to The New Forest, do stop in for a coffee, cake or lunch, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the abundantly planted courtyard area. You can even buy freshly baked organic bread from the artisan bakery, and The Lanterns plant nursery grows plants using biodynamic planting methods – an educational as well as fun and tasty visit!
Check out their website for info and directions, and their blog and don’t forget to shout about them on Twitter and Facebook – a great place to take kids for a cake and a look around the gift shop. When the new workshops are completed they may even hold sessions for the public to learn pottery and weaving skills – so familiarise yourself with The Lanterns now and no doubt you’ll be back for another coffee and cake soon and see the progress Greendale’s are making with the new workshops!