Our purpose is to positively impact how people experience their cities, towns and neighbourhoods. Through listening and questioning we identify a community’s User Experience (UX) of Place and what unique value it holds. We view this UX as the intersection of Community and Place where a dynamic value exchange occurs.
By understanding and leveraging this exchange we can create new value, positively impacting community resilience and transforming the experience of Place.
We listen to people.
A Place-led Process, Empathic to People and Place
SANS offers Project Positioning, Community Engagement, and Placemaking services.
We research complex systems, facilitate thinking, develop strategy, communicate aims, and implement actions. In all that we do we use a human- centred approach to the design of place-led outcomes.
Within a project life-cycle our input can range from pre-build positioning, build-period engagement, through to post-build activation and programming.
Project Positioning
Our early-stage involvement defines the DNA of a project, helping organisations navigate the central issues and identify stakeholder positions.
This process assists in facilitating effective collaboration, communication, and partnering. Resulting strategic outcomes define the roadmap for the engagement to come.
Actions
Strategic Design (Project Definition)
Systems Mapping
Stakeholder Mapping
Place Surveys
Value Proposition Development
User Segmentation
Project Ideation
Outputs
Engagement Strategy
Project Introductions
Place Value Reports
Bidding Documents
Project Briefs
Strategic Plans
Community Engagement
Through a combination of interviews, workshops, prototyping, and storytelling we use empathy to unlock a projects unique value proposition. Simultaneously, we work to connect top-down client resources with bottom-up community capacity.
We actively engage stakeholders in defining the value of a Place now, and help shape what it is to become in the future, creating a vested interest in the eventual outcome.
Actions
Stakeholder Workshops
Community Workshops
KOL Interviews
Co-Design Sessions
Place & Community Surveys
Proof of Concept Testing
Public Space Use Measurement
Qualitative Data Collection
Outputs
Reports & Findings
Actionable Insight Direction
Content Creation and Storytelling
Project KPI’s and Metrics
Social Data Infrastructure
Project Introductions
Place Value Reports
Bidding Documents
Project Briefs
Strategic Plans
Placemaking
We focus the directives developed through community engagement directly into actions. Through tactical and strategic interventions we shift perception and create positive changes toward people’s Experience of Place.
Through empowering and enabling communities to collaborate in such interventions we further develop authentic place-value and lasting impact.
We aim to make accessible the reframed social, cultural and place-value to grow real value for both client and Community.
Actions
Tactical Urbanism
Urban Curation
Content Production
Place Activation
Cultural Programming
Place Vision Development
Outputs
Publications
Events
Social Media Engagement
Leasing Guidelines
Pilot Projects
Community Spaces
Place Audits
Place-Centered Products and Services
Social
![Brewery ‘19/’20 is a year long project to re-activate part of Luohu’s cultural heritage, and lay the foundations of a new platform for Shenzhen’s cultural development. [Project Background]
The old Kingway Brewery is located at](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ac475ac2714e5d50487f92c/1567489493587-JB2HJRMH18XP9ELO3CS0/image-asset.jpeg)
Projects & Partners
Brewery for Cultural Production / Brownfield Cultural Development / Luohu Shenzhen (GDH Holdings Ltd)
The Global School / Program Development (Beijing-based International Think Tank - Bside Design)
Placing Shangsha / Shenzhen Urban Village Revitalisation (UABB2017 & Urbanus)
Shangwei Mechanism / Shenzhen Urban Village Revitalisation (UABB2017 & Future+)
Hong Kong International Flower Show / Narrative and Landscape Design (Shenzhen Urban Management Bureau)
CITIC PORT / Strategic Planning & Project Positioning (CITIC Publishing Group)
Village Reset / Rural Revitalisation Qingpu, Shanghai (Design Venture Forward - DVF)
Kwan Yen Project / Yantai Old Town Revitalisation (China Chuang Yuan 中国创源)
Dashilar Project / Beijing Hutong Revitalisation: Strategic Planning & Implementation (Guang'An Holdings Ltd & Xicheng District Government)
Shanzhai City / Founding Team: Social Impact Measurement & Blockchain Technology (SZC Holdings HK/SZ/SF)
Beijing Design Week: Design Hop Dashilar Alley / Curation, Exhibition Design & Operation (Guang'An Holdings & Beijing Gehua Culture Development Group)
Baitasi Remade / Beijing Hutong Revitalisation: Program Development & Community Engagement (Beijing Huarong Jinying Group & Beijing Gehua Culture Development Group)
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016: ACC: China House Vision / Visual Identity (Beijing Gehua Culture Development Group)
GSAPP Studio X Baitasi / Data, Insight, Value Co-creation Workshop (Studio X, Columbia University)
GSAPP Studio X Dashilar: Housing In-between / Exhibition, Symposium & Workshop (Studio X, Columbia University)
Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: Across Chinese Cities / Visual Identity & Content Creation (Beijing Gehua Culture Development Group)
Design-in-Progress / Exhibition Design & Content Creation (Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art - CGCCA, Manchester)
Bishan Project / Exhibition Design and Production (Auckland Triennial 2013)
Bishan Harvestival & Yixian International Photo Festival / Exhibition Design and Production
Get it Louder 2010 / Exhibition Design & Production (Modern Media Co., Ltd)
UABB (Urbanism and Architecture Bi-City Biennale) Shenzhen and Hong Kong 2009 / Assistant to the Chief Curator