Year 2010
Further to extensive staff consultation with
both University, Worcestershire Hub and County Council employees
the name "The Hive" was recommend and approved by the
Project Board in December 2010.
The new name 'The Hive' represents three important aspects of
the building and the experience that will be contained within it:
- Visual design (colour and shape)
- Behavioural (community and dynamic)
- Environmental (organic and sustainable)
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Year 2009 - 2010
The preferred bidder was selected in
April 2009 and the contract closed in January 2010. At this point,
building user/staff involvement in design development was expanded
and will be maintained until project completion in 2012.
Showcasing Interactive Technology: 24th and
25th November
2009
Members of the public were invited to test out a number of
different audiovisual equipment which may be purchased for the
centre, and to give feedback on what they liked best. Amongst the
attendees were Oldbury Park Primary School students and teachers,
and parents from the University’s crèche.
Equipment including ScreenXtreme, TableFX. Turning the Pages and
The Cube were tested out, and from the feedback, the IT workstream
has been doing further research into what to purchase, with a
number of staff demonstrations taking place around the Turning the
Pages application.
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The Citizen's Panel: August 2009
The Worcestershire County and Worcester City Citizen's Panels
were given the opportunity to comment on the project. The Panels
are made up of self-selected residents who anonymously answer
questions about the services provided in the County/City.
The initial response to the questionnaire indicated that more
than 85% of Worcester City residents and over 57% of county
residents would visit the Hive.
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Crown Gate Shopping Centre: 22nd May until
12th June 2009
A full display of theGalliford Try proposal was moved to the
Crown Gate Shopping centre as part of the planning consultation.
The Joint Project Team members and Galliford Try representatives
were available throughout this period to meet the public and
explain the scheme. The public were asked to leave their feedback
on the comment cards provided.
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| Preferred Bidder Scheme Exhibitions at:
Guildhall, Worcester City Council: 9 April
2009
The Exhibition was used as part of a Development Forum meeting,
the first of its kind in Worcester. The general public had a
further opportunity to view the final design of the
new Worcester Library and History Centre building and
leave their comments.
University of Worcester: 6 April 2009
The Exhibition was moved to the University of Worcester giving
an opportunity for the University staff to see the display of the
selected proposal and leave their comments.
County Hall:
3 April 2009
WLHC Project Stakeholders were invited to view the chosen
design prior to it being made available for the general public. The
Stakeholders also had an opportunity to meet the team and leave
their thoughts on the comment cards provided.
2 April 2009
After the Cabinet approval of the Preferred Bidder, staff of
Worcestershire County Council, Worcester City and the University of
Worcester were invited to view the selected scheme and meet the
Project Team members to ask any questions they had. Comments cards
were available.
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Year 2008
Throughout the year 2008 various interest groups and
other WLHC Project Stakeholders were consulted on the
proposals of the three shorltisted bidders. Because of the
confidentiality required by this stage of the PFI process no formal
public consultations could be held.
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Arts Workshop: March 2007
The following are some of the themes taken from the day:
- Identify Worcester and it's Uniqueness
- Visual views across the city
- Outside spaces facing the City Centre
- Seeing the inside form the outside
- Quality of design – not art to decorate
- Importance of interior design
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The Consultation Workshop - What does Worcestershire
mean to you?: February 2007
This event attracted 50 attendees, including SAF, Friends, Young
Archaeologists, volunteers, attendees from race forum events,
bio-diversity, students. They were required during the course of
the day to produce their own A-Zs of Worcestershire; i.e. what the
City and County meant to them in alphabetic terms.
Also, they were asked how they thought it would be possible to
design the County into the building, such as using interactive maps
and local materials. The complete A-Z from the day and some of the
ideas from the afternoon sessions have been included in the Design
Statement for the new building. The A-Z part of the day was also
undertaken with four local schools.
Some of the things that represent Worcestershire as part of the
A-Z:
- Asparagus and Almshouses.
- Lea and Perrins.
- Metalbox.
- Pershore Plums.
- Vesta Tilley.
- Zebras at the Safari Park.
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The Consultation Workshops - The Children's Workshop:
February 2007
The next consultation day had a rather younger audience, 24
children, aged 5-11, representing the School Councils of 6
Worcester primary schools.
All the children had already talked about the new Library and
History Centre within their school context and produced some ideas
in advance about what they hoped for from the new Library and
History Centre.
On the day, the facilitators gave the children a number of
tasks, such as prioritising services and thinking about the needs
of difference client groups and produced lists, diagrams and
drawings related to the tasks given. It was a day thoroughly
enjoyed by all.
The following are some of the themes taken from the day:
- A welcoming place.
- Clean light and airy.
- Somewhere safe to be outside.
- Adults available to ask for help.
- Clear direction so we can find our way around.
- Accessible for all.
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The Consultation Workshops - Redefining Library
Services: January 2007
This session was led by the Head of Cultural
Services at Worcestershire County Council and the Director of
Information and Learning Services at the University of Worcester.
The attendees came from a broad range of backgrounds such as local
societies and other similar services in neighbouring counties. The
day was intended to formulate ideas as to how future library
services would or could develop and the synergies between the
services being brought together. It was a very successful event,
with all thoroughly engaging with the activities. A further
exciting off shoot of the day was discussions on the 'wow' factor
for the building and what it could offer.
The following are some of the themes taken from the day:
- Enthusiasm and support for the project
- Wide range of environments within the building: silent
space to vibrant, lively spaces, learning from retail
- Comfortable seating spaces, a 'living room in the city'
- Clear signage
- Meeting differing needs of a broad range of service users
- An emphasis on cultural activity within the building
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The Independent Consultation Report: July
2006
In July 2006, it was agreed that the Market Research Company BMG
should carry out formal consultation, building on the work already
achieved. The purpose of this further consultation was to ensure
that the new building was suitable for use by the public.
BMG carried out the following consultation activities,
contacting 1,000+ people:
Qualitative
- Student focus group
- Academic Staff online discussion forum
- Two Older People focus groups
- High School focus group
- 5 Current Teenage library users – paired depth interviews
(these involved one BMG interviewer and two participants having a
discussion following a topic guide and answering questions)
- 8 Black, Minority, Ethnic residents – paired depth
interviews
- Headteachers' telephone interviews
- 2 Parent and Carer focus groups
Quantitative
- Face to face questionnaires with users of the City Library,
Customer Service Centre, History Centre branch of the Record
Office
- Business online survey
- Partner college, special interest, partner heritage online
survey
- Virtual workspace questionnaire with 14-19 year olds
The report showed a positive picture for the Project. Most
people interviewed were excited about the development and pleased
to be consulted. Common themes emerged across the groups. Here are
some examples:
- Light and airy, natural light, modern feel is wanted, but
sympathetic to surroundings
- A wide entrance/appearance of no door
- Clear visibility of all the floors from other floors eg:
Selfridges
- Maximising the spectacular river view is suggested
- Bringing the outside view inside is suggested, with the
Pompidou Centre being provided as an example.
- No desire for 'meeters and greeters' but 'floating' friendly
and helpful and knowledgeable members of staff are desired
- Co-ordinating public transport with opening times is
important
- Children should have a noisy area, well away from the quiet
area
- More space needed between computers; need for private working
space
- Disabled access is very important
- Toilets need to be spacious and continuously clean
- A mix of hard and soft seating is desired
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The Citizen's Panel: November 2005
The Worcestershire County and Worcester City Citizen's Panels
were given the opportunity to comment on the project. The Panels
are made up of self-selected residents who anonymously answer
questions about the services provided in the County/City.
These questions also appeared on the University of Worcester staff
site and linked from the County Council's cultural web-pages to
pick up the views of people not on the Citizen's Panel.
Some of the responses were:
- 'The proposed library centre is a superb project'
- 'It's highly commendable that you are engaging in a
consultation process with the public. I really look forward to
using the facilities in the new library and history centre'
- 'A new library complex would be an ideal situation for
voluntary organisations to meet and promote their work'
- 'The Centre will be an excellent facility for students at the
Worcester University' but concern about continuation of local
County facilities if one new super-library to be built in Worcester
City
- 'Am looking forward to the new Library and History Centre –
hopefully I will still be alive when it opens! We have
wonderful history on the doorstep and this should provide a unique
celebration of local and British culture and history'
- The design 'must be in keeping with the general structure of
Worcester itself'
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The Jigsaw Puzzle: September and November
2005
People were invited to stop and see a large jigsaw puzzle
in the Crowngate Centre, Worcester. They could scribble their views
on the puzzle or on a postcard to send in later. The jigsaw was
split into 9 separate sections; History, Exhibitions, Design Ideas,
Meetings and Conferences, Food and Drink, Quiet Study, Children,
Busy Zone, and finally, What Else? for anything we had
missed.
More than 200 people visited over two days.
This same jigsaw puzzle appeared at the University of Worcester
library and foyer over two days in November 2005 for staff and
students to add views. The puzzle made a third appearance in
Worcester City Library for a visit from Bishop's Perowne School
Children in November 2005, who spent nearly an hour writing and
drawing their ideas for the new building. Hundreds of ideas were
written onto the jigsaw puzzle, with the most common theme being
good quality IT equipment and comfortable seating.
A sprinkling of some of the ideas and feedback include:
- Bright, colourful children's area
- DVD viewing and music areas
- Coeliac friendly, diabetic, Halal food
- An in-depth history wall depicting local history
- Adjustable tables for wheelchair use
- Radical design and eco-friendly
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