Hastings Commons were pleased to commission live illustration artist Esther Springett to sketch a piece during the recent Radical Retrofit workshop which was held on 18th July as part of the Centenary Celebration for the Observer Building.
Esther is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and creative producer based in Hastings, UK. Esther’s practice is social and often stems from a period of time in one place with people, amplifying lesser-heard stories and changing perceptions through film and creative action.
During the workshop, participants, whom included leading architects and funders, explored the challenges of bringing old buildings back to life and how this can be done in the future. Their thoughts were captured in Esther’s piece (below).
The event also featured a panel discussion with leading experts: Sarah Castle from IF_DO (the architects who have worked on the Observer Building and Eagle House), Sarah Wigglesworth MBE RDI, Sinéad Conneely (a structural engineer and co-founder and director of Scale Rule – a collective that seek to promote diversity and public engagement in our built environment by encouraging better representation in the industry, and community participation), place shaping expert Rumi Bose, Laura Baron (Head of Sustainability at Purcell – our architects for 12 Claremont) and Hastings Commons CEO Dr Jess Steele OBE.
The event was kindly sponsored by 8Build – contractors who have worked on the Observer Buildings since the beginning. Richard McCracken, Darren Stones and Nathan Palmer from the company discussed their extensive work on the restoration of the Observer Building.
