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Listening to less heard voices and delivering meaningful engagement to get better results in design, development and planning processes.

Our page provides regular updates of our work to inspire people about the built environment. Work includes Consultation services which support clients, developers and designers in undertaking meaningful engagement, whilst giving people a voice in local developments. Our Education programmes sees us working with schools and universities, giving young people the opportunity to learn about the built world, whilst supporting access into professional careers. As a Social Enterprise, we are committed to having a positive impact on local communities. The development of skills, increasing knowledge, raising aspiration and inspiring change are core to everything we do. Activities are delivered by a team of over 80 volunteer PLACED Ambassadors including architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, interior designers and university students.

09/10/2026

🎓 GOLD SPONSOR LIVE DESIGN SESSION: AtkinsRéalis

On Saturday, 26th September, we delivered the first live design session of our 2026-27 Studio programme, where young people from across the Northwest shared their vision for the Liverpool Central masterplan redesign, with Gold Sponsor AtkinsRéalis.

The workshop focused on transforming the site into a vibrant, mixed-use landmark. Working in teams, the participants acted as professional committees tasked with making strategic decisions regarding the site’s future. Teams evaluated the different transport hub identities the new station could adopt. They also navigated complex urban planning challenges, such as Liverpool's ‘Tall Building Policy’, debating whether to accept existing height limits or propose landmark structures of over 30 storeys to address the housing crisis.

The design process consisted of three phases: mapping access points, creating 3D massing of the site, and designing public realms and green spaces to complete the masterplanning process. During final presentations, each group highlighted the percentages each priority should meet as well as identifying which priorities they, as young people would want to see incorporated. Our cohort discussed their strategic choices, including the decision hub identity, and used their models to showcase whether they opted for low-rise, mid-rise, or landmark buildings, outlining how these designs would benefit the city.

🤝 A huge thank you to AtkinsRéalis for sponsoring and supporting the session. We would also like to thank Luke Ellis, Harry Walsh and James Wright of AtkinsRéalis and Bhavadharany Sivaji and Grace McGrath of PLACED Academy Pathways for giving their time to support the students and providing invaluable advice and encouragement throughout the day!

08/10/2026

📣 HAVE YOUR SAY! HOUGH GREEN AND DITTON PRIDE IN PLACE

Hough Green and Ditton has been awarded £20 million over the next 10 years as part of the Pride in Place Programme.

This funding will enable the delivery of projects that address the key issues facing local residents and businesses. Projects can be physical improvements or can support community initiatives and activities.

We've already engaged with schools and youth groups across Hough Green and Ditton to identify priorities and issues, and this further engagement with the wider community and stakeholders will build on those findings to help shape the Regeneration Plan and ensure it reflects the views of local people!

Share your views online now: 🔗 placed.mysocialpinpoint.com/houghgreenditton

We’d love to hear from you!

Halton Borough Council

07/10/2026

💥 What a session to kick off our 2026-27 Industry Mentorship programme!

On Thursday 10th September, we brought together our mentors and mentees for the very first time.

Generously hosted by Rider Levett Bucknall, we started the session with an introduction to the programme, followed by speed networking, lots of conversation and a fun creative challenge to get the mentors and mentees working creatively together.

It was a super inspiring evening witnessing these new beginnings for our mentors and mentees. A huge thank you to all those who could make the mixer, we’re incredibly excited to hear how you all progress on your mentorship journeys! 🙌

01/10/2026

🎉 Huge thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate PLACED’s 15th Birthday last night! It was amazing to have so many people in the room, to catch up, share memories and raise a glass!

💬 Words from PLACED Director Jo Harrop on PLACED’s 15th Birthday:

“I don’t think 15 years is something I expected.

But it's important to celebrate all that we’ve done together. Over the last 15 years there have been so many wonderful projects that I’m incredibly proud to have been part of.

‘Hidden Liverpool’, a year long, city wide programme which was ridiculously ambitious. Still a favourite of mine but really was me just living out my Masters in real life. Our urban rooms of Ed's Place and later BirkenEd’s Place, which helped us to test ideas, speak to thousands of people, and learn about what people want for the places they live. Our school workshops, holiday programmes and the amazing PLACED Academy.

Working with young people has always been at the core of what we do. Over the years, we’ve delivered tens of thousands of days of activity for young people in our region. This year’s PLACED Academy has the biggest cohort we’ve ever had, and we keep growing and improving.

Buying Ed, our campervan, to prove the people wanted to speak about the places they live in and the impact that could have, because very few people agreed that we should ask people what they thought. Today, we’ve worked on so many projects to deliver engagement that has shaped the end solutions and keep pushing for better and more meaningful engagement, despite the cynicism and the now less frequent "we already know what people want" attitudes.

And our events. From our conference last year to our learning sessions and networking. We love to bring people together.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey this far. To all those who volunteer, partner with us, commission us or sponsor our work. We couldn’t do it without your support. To my strategic ambassadors and directors, who have provided many words of wisdom and guidance over w**e.

And to my many amazing colleagues, both past and current. Each of you have brought your individuality, talent, energy and passion. I could never do it without you.”

HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY PLACED! 🎉

30/09/2026

📣 HAVE YOUR SAY! HOUGH GREEN AND DITTON PRIDE IN PLACE

Hough Green and Ditton has been awarded £20 million over the next 10 years as part of the Pride in Place Programme.

This funding will enable the delivery of projects that address the key issues facing local residents and businesses. Projects can be physical improvements or can support community initiatives and activities.

We've already engaged with schools and youth groups across Hough Green and Ditton to identify priorities and issues, and this further engagement with the wider community and stakeholders will build on those findings to help shape the Regeneration Plan and ensure it reflects the views of local people!

Share your views online: 🔗 placed.mysocialpinpoint.com/houghgreenditton

OR join us at our in-person event:

⏰ MONDAY 5TH OCTOBER, 2.30PM-6.30PM
📍Upton Community Centre

We’d love to hear from you!

Halton Borough Council

25/09/2026

🎉 Last night we are thrilled and genuinely rather emotional to have picked up the Social Impact Award at the Insider Media Liverpool City Region Property Awards!

The award recognises PLACED Academy, our free-to-access programme for young people aged 11-25 from across the region.

🎓 In its' seventh year, PLACED Academy continues to grow in size and impact, and provides a pathway of support for young people, breaking down barriers, developing skills and supporting young people from all backgrounds to access careers in our amazing sector. We're incredibly proud of what we're achieving with the programme.

PLACED Academy is possible thanks to people from across the sector working together and providing their support, many of whom were in the room last night including Cityheart, Avison Young, Sutcliffe and Brabners. We're a small company, but by working together we can deliver real sustainable social impact and help to ensure we support and retain our future talent!

PLACED Academy is also supported by the wider work we do. Our engagement and community voice work supports more diverse voices in equitably shaping the towns and cities in the region. As a social enterprise, any surplus from this work goes directly into PLACED Academy, helping it to grow and test new ideas and solutions.

It was a tough category and we were alongside excellent organisations delivering important work in our region. Massive congratulations to all those we were shortlisted with! 👏

23/09/2026

⏰ Over the last year, we’ve been supporting the development of the recently approved Denton Town Centre Masterplan and Public Realm Strategy for Tameside Council

PLACED have delivered a two-phased engagement programme that engaged 454 people from both the general public and local businesses, combining an online engagement platform with a series of in-person activities, including 5 pop-ups and roaming events, 3 targeted stakeholder workshops and youth activities across the town centre.

✅ This approach saw broad and diverse input, with findings directly informing the prioritisation and phasing of projects within the strategic masterplan.

Super excited to be on the winning team to develop this work further with local people and to deliver transformational public realm improvements in Denton Town Centre as part of the Destination Denton Programme.

🤝 Planit, Civic, Placemarque, SFP, Identity Consult, Tameside Council

Find out more about Destination Denton, at: 🔗 tameside.gov.uk/policy/destination-denton

18/09/2026

🎓 PLACED ACADEMY STUDIO SKILLS SESSION: Architectural Drawing

On Tuesday 9th September we delivered our first skills session of the 2026-27 Studio programme in both Liverpool and Manchester!

In total, 67 young people participated to hone their architectural drawing skills. The Liverpool session was led by Gold sponsor Buttress Architects, while the Manchester session was led by Bronze sponsor OMI Architects.

The session covered why architects draw and how drawings at different scales are used. Our cohort explored the difference between plan, section and elevations, developing each of these techniques into detailed drawings of their houses.

🤝 A huge thank you to everyone who gave their evening to support our skills session, providing advice, support and encouragement throughout!

📍 LIVERPOOL: Thank you to Dovydas Simkus of Buttress Architects, Ben Prince of Prince Architects, Mushtaq Saleri of EWA, James Orritt of 23consult, Ebiosereme Ekhuemelo of PLACED Academy Pathways and PLACED Academy Alumni Katrina Antypova.

📍 MANCHESTER: Thank you to Hugh Fish and Jake Delaney of OMI Architects, Maria Milickova of SLR Consulting, Harry Westwood of EPR Architects, Victoria Adegoke of MSoA and Bolton Council and Joseph Allen of PLACED Academy Pathways.

Thank you to Lucretia Ray and the Liverpool School of Architecture for generously hosting our session in Liverpool and to Rachel Newton and Manchester Metropolitan University for generously hosting us in Manchester!

15/09/2026

🎉 We are proud to announce that PLACED Academy has been shortlisted for the Social Value & ESG Initiative of the Year, at the Manchester Property Awards 2026!

🎓 PLACED Academy has always welcomed young people from Greater Manchester but in the last few years we have focused on expanding our offer and supporting more young people in GM.

Youth voice and greater diversity are crucial to ensuring the built environment sector is a welcoming industry that represents the people and communities it works with. We’re dedicated to playing our part in that and are thrilled to see PLACED Academy recognised amongst other brilliant organisations in the category shortlist.

To find out more about the impact we create with our wonderful Academy partners and sponsors, pleased head to: 🔗 placed-academy.com/impact

11/09/2026

At PLACED, we’ve worked on many public space projects but to ensure community views shape designs as much as possible, we start our work right at the beginning of the project and often hand over to local groups to continue shaping. This means it can be a long process from initial community engagement through to completion.

This week, we attended the opening of Leigh Civic Square, which was really special for us!

🤝 Great to catch up with Wigan Council, SLR and WSP colleagues.

When we listened to what local people wanted to see in Leigh Civic Square, they told us that they wanted more planting and greenery, connection to local heritage, more social seating, better lighting and sightlines and specific things like the option to spill out from the Library and Turnpike Centre.

Seeing these features delivered in the completed project is fantastic. Looking forward to the next steps for Leigh! 👏

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Liverpool

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http://www.placed.org.uk/

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