Not So Secret Garden, Altrincham – Bruntwood and Trafford Borough Council

The Not So Secret Garden hosts events from live music, markets, art classes, live poetry and everything in between whilst focusing on sustainability and supporting local businesses.

Where is the project located?
Stamford Quarter, Altrincham, WA14 1RH
 
Who is the developer/client of the project?
Bruntwood and Trafford Borough Council

Altrincham’s Stamford Quarter forms part of the town centre proposition for Bruntwood that was initiated by our joint venture partnership with Trafford Borough Council. 

Voted Best Place to Live the last two years running, Altrincham is the modern market town with a buzzing energy, unique high street, and a vibrant, independent community. Altrincham already has all of the ingredients that make a successful town and in 2018 was named the Best British High Street.

The Stamford Quarter, a pivotal location within the town is the epitome of a traditional prime high street but with two vacant department stores and unloved public realm, it has lost some of the spirit that made Altrincham the original success story. We believe there is a fantastic opportunity to regenerate the Stamford Quarter to create a new liveable neighbourhood that benefits the community, brings variety, reinvigorates the town centre retail and leisure offer, and provides long-term sustainable economic growth.

As we aim to inject new life into our high streets, we wanted to look at the meaning and role of a town centre, and specifically the part that Stamford Quarter has to play. Stamford Square is the largest pedestrianised public space in Altrincham, with the streets themselves lined with well-trading retailers; destinations for leisure and fitness; and a variety of independents.

We wanted to add immediate value by reconnecting people with the area, and Stamford Square in particular so through a placemaking meanwhile initiative the ‘Not-So-Secret Garden’, a green public space, was born.
 
Tell us what you did and how the project, event or installation enlivened the place in a creative way?

This new public space is an oasis for the community and supports Trafford Council’s priorities to create successful and thriving places, being green and connected and having pride in our areas. 

The space was designed with sustainability and wellbeing in mind, built with reclaimed and recycled materials, lit by solar-powered lighting, surrounded by air-cleaning greenery, and sustained with harvested rainwater.

The Not So Secret Garden hosts a number of events from live music, markets, art classes, live poetry and everything in between. We also collaborate with a number of local retailers to support their growth, increasing awareness of local businesses to enable the meanwhile project to fulfil its ultimate purpose of creating a thriving town centre with shopping local a key player in this.

All of the events work towards our objective of creating a thriving destination that is designed to drive footfall to an area where there had been some disconnect previously. The project has been a tangible link between the centre and the busy arrivals interchange and has created a more cohesive place that links the visitor population with the town centre network of creative residents and families who might not have interacted with this space previously.

Sustainability, well being and community are at the centre of the concept and it has been a hub of activity with a rolling programme of workshops and events centred around those values. Live music, free fitness sessions, regular sustainability/wellness workshops, live “art jams” and a rolling programme of family-friendly children’s activity.
 
Please share any data or figures that support your entry, for example increased footfall, happiness surveys, event attendance and/or observed changes in behaviour. 

The best indication that we have on how the NSSG is performing comes from verbatim feedback from adjacent businesses. We have taken monthly feedback from these businesses and the feedback is that since the NSSG they have seen new customers use their units or have seen variations to the usual sales trends. This is most noticeable for Orange Theory and for Flannels. Orange Theory has used the gardens at weekends to recruit new members (Membership is at record levels) and Flannels have seen more male shoppers go in unaccompanied, the presumption is these shoppers were waiting for a partner in the NSSG and came in. W H Smith and Wilkos have seen sales of staples such as bottled water and snacks and items such as newspapers and magazines increase since the NSSG garden opened and again the presumption is these are being purchased and consumed in the NSSG. Our presumption is that these are all indicators of an increase in dwell time in the Stamford Quarter. Waterstones have used the area to hold meet the author sessions for children and they have increased event participation levels and sales by doing this, similar results have been noted by third parties such as Inch Arts who hold events here as well
 
Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? Please provide any evidence or data to support this. 

In the surrounding square we’ve strengthened the local distinctiveness through introducing more independents to the area such as Stutter and Twitch and have launched the Stamford Quarter Pop-Up Shop which since opening in May we’ve seen a great mix of independents use the space, offering a range of products and services, with great feedback across the board from the retailers and our customers. 

Much of this has been successful because of the strong meanwhile use at the Not So Secret Garden - a curated programme of events outside on the square, collaborating with our retailers to demonstrate the potential of the square to the local community.

We’re really proud that what we’ve been able to develop is entirely different from what has been there before. Acting as a counterbalance to the market area of Altrincham, the ‘Not-So-Secret Garden’ gave people a reason to head to Stamford Square. As such it has immense social value to the community, the town’s eco-system and through running sustainability events we’ve mobilised people to repair, reuse, and reconnect with the environment.