Stitching Stowe

‘Stitching’, (Verb) make, mend, or join (something) with stitches

‘Stowe’, Saxon for ‘The place’

Much like the thread that binds the pages of a book, there is a thread that runs through our community, binding those who live here to the history, the story, of ‘the place’. It stitches together all our knowledge, our inspiration, our hopes, and even our differences to create a tapestry of inclusivity and collaboration. It has the power to inspire others, to weave in and celebrate all that we can create together. What better place to reflect this tapestry than our library?

This is the vision we hold for the Stowmarket community garden. Our intention is to capture and tell the stories from local people by stitching them into our design process and artworks throughout the new garden. The stories will be captured by public engagement events and told via artist interpretations using the garden as their canvas.

‘Place Making through Storytelling’ is the seed from which our design has grown.

The project brief is one of place making which resonated with us when researching the history of Stowmarket and in particular the formation of its name which comes from ‘Stowe’ & ‘Mercatus’ meaning ‘place’ of ‘market’.

We see the library courtyard as a new welcoming Stowe (place). Linked with the storytelling that occurs in a Library, the concept of ‘Place Making through Storytelling’ was born.

Another link with a library is the concept of a book’s binding. The individual pages are stitched together to make a whole book. In a similar manner we want our design to stitch together the individual stories of local people and context and bind them into a place which can be communally enjoyed by all. The stitching theme has been taken as a symbolic approach to an inclusive process but it also finds literal manifestation in some areas of the design itself.

Our design for the library takes into consideration their desire to repurpose as much of the existing space as possible. We have planned our design around this, utilising the pavinstones and bricks to create colourful pathways and secret routes to hidden hideaways within the garden. We’ve put an emphasis on education too, creating a bug hotel and sustainable elements to proivde learning opportunities for children and adults. We’ve also worked to provide a more accesible space, We’re hoping to raise the level of the space to provide easier access, we’ve also designed raised planter beds to allow wheelchair users to take part in planting events with ease.

‘Stitching Stowe’ is a collaborative project between Fox Yard Studio, Modece Architects and their Kickstart team together with Suffolk Libraries, The Mix and Red Gables.

The Stowmarket Garden Project - ‘Stitching Stow’ has been commissioned by Suffolk Libraries who are generously funded by Arts Council England.