Social Bite Village

The Social Bite Village – developed on a site in Granton, Edinburgh, made available for a period of four years by City of Edinburgh Council - is a unique project in both intent and delivery. The village houses people who have experienced homelessness, giving them back confidence, skills and a platform to rebuild their lives. The village itself will be transported to a new location at the end of its lease.

Wardell Armstrong led the design of the public realm, developing a design that not only furthered the project’s aims of creating a new community, but also responded to the site’s context. It was important to create public realm that offered the feeling of security, whilst not feeling temporary. One of our key design responses was therefore to create inferred or ‘invisible’ boundaries, offering a sense of public/private space whilst ensuring a greater sense of connectivity to the wider community. Occupying a sloped site with views to the Firth of Forth, it was important that residents had maximum opportunity to enjoy the view: orientation and site layout was key to achieving this. The layout also intends to create informal opportunities for social interaction amongst residents: a “landscaped high street”.