PenistoneLIVE!

Year | 2017

Location | Penistone, South Yorkshire

Clients | Fiona O’Brien and Stephen Miller, Barnsley Council

Penistone is a small market town in South Yorkshire, not far from Barnsley, Sheffield and Huddersfield, that is currently underused and threatened by economic decline. Working with the local council and community, PenistoneLIVE! identified the problems currently facing the town and developed proposals in the form of a toolkit for the council to use to enhance Penistone’s future. This toolkit is based on a 3Rs strategy – Reconnect, Rebrand, Reuse. When PenistoneLIVE! first arrived in Penistone, the team discovered first-hand that visitors find it difficult to get around. In ‘Reconnect’, the team propose two new wayfinding routes through the town with new, creative signposting. Penistone was also lacking an identity as its traditional market culture is declining. In ‘Rebrand’ the team create a future identity focusing on the unique Penistone Paramount cinema via a logo and various graphical templates for marketing future events and the town as a whole. Thirdly, PenistoneLIVE! identified key buildings throughout the town that suffer from underuse and a lack of qualities and facilities. In ‘Reuse’, architectural interventions are proposed to solve these problems and enhance the value of these buildings within the community.

To tie these three strands of the project together, PenistoneLIVE! has focused on a film theme to emphasise the unique Penistone Paramount cinema as the future town identity. It is one of the only council-run cinemas left in the UK and certainly is a hidden gem of the community. This motif is used in all of the team’s outputs, participation events and also led to creation of a short film visualising our designs.

During the six weeks of the project, PenistoneLIVE! has presented to the client:

• Four documents presenting thorough research, illustrating the 3 Rs strategy and detailing more long-term strategic proposals to guide the local community towards its future

• Design of two new wayfinding routes through the town to encourage visitors and locals to rediscover Penistone’s landmarks

• A film visualising future wayfinding in Penistone and ideal reuse of the important buildings of the town (i.e. Paramount Cinema, town hall and market barn) to allow the town to achieve its full potential

• Merchandise and graphical templates for both the council and community for future events and marketing purposes that can be distributed as an immediate launch of Penistone’s future identity

To view the film inspiring a vision for Future Penistone, please click here.