Brush Farm Activation Strategy and EOI
Client: City of Ryde
Location: Ryde, NSW
Year: 2020
Putting a heritage asset into the hands of the creative community.
Brief
Left Bank Co. were invited by the City of Ryde to conduct a strategic review of the historic Brush Farm House and determine an activation strategy to bring it to life with creative uses. The objective was to maximise accessibility and use of the 1820s home, increasing the availability of space for local creatives, and ensuring that a key Council asset was being cared for and utilised.
Approach
Working closely with Council’s arts and culture coordinator, Left Bank Co. undertook a study of the property and its potential as a creative destination. We assessed its history and the permitted uses set by its heritage listing, explored Council’s arts and cultural objectives and local needs, and examined the site to understand its strengths and limitations for housing different kinds of uses. We also tested Council’s appetite and policies to determine the best business model for activating the site. We narrowed the field of the kinds of creative activities and uses the building would best suit, and then worked with Council to develop a detailed expression of interest document to seek a tenant to lease the house.
Impact
The resulting expression of interest document clearly articulated the parameters in which Council could lease the building and lay out the opportunity for a potential tenant to operate the place as a creative destination. It presented a compelling picture of a creative community desperate for space to work and practice and drew on benchmarks to show the kind of outcome Council was seeking. The EOI was launched in late 2020.