At HemingwayDesign, everything we do is driven by people, place, and purpose. Whether we’re creating a cultural festival, or shaping the vision for a town centre, we begin by looking at what’s already there.
We were recently invited by SAVE Britain’s Heritage to speak at SAVE’s 50th birthday bash in Norwich, and it was a reminder of how deep our shared commitment runs when it comes to protecting and reimagining places that matter. Our collaboration with SAVE in 2014 on the refurbishment of 21 Madryn Street, in Liverpool’s Welsh Streets, was an early milestone in our work – an example of heritage-led regeneration that respected the built fabric while revitalising a community.
That spirit continues in everything we do. Here’s a closer look at how we’ve used heritage – architectural, cultural, industrial, and natural – to help shape places with meaning.
Blackburn – A Town That Makes
Blackburn has a proud industrial history – one that isn’t just in the past. With over 17% of the workforce in manufacturing (compared to 8% nationally), this insight became the foundation for positioning Blackburn as the UK’s pre-eminent making town.
We started with Blackburn is Open, activating empty shops as creative spaces for artists and entrepreneurs. Then came The Making Rooms, a heritage building turned digital fabrication hub that marries traditional skills with 3D printing.
That momentum grew into the National Festival of Making, launching in 2016 as a celebration of industry, craft and creativity, and is now a major national event that draws tens of thousands each year and reaffirms the town’s identity as a centre of creative and industrial heritage.
Dreamland Margate – That time we made a theme park!
Few heritage sites capture the public imagination like Dreamland Margate. First opened in 1870 and rebranded in 1920, Dreamland was once the jewel of the British seaside. But by the 2000s, it had fallen into serious disrepair, with its rides dismantled and buildings decaying.
After a community-led campaign and major funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, HemingwayDesign joined the project in 2011 to help reimagine Dreamland.
Working with local architects and creatives, we reused salvaged materials, restored historic rides, and turned burnt Scenic Railway timbers into furniture. Even the brand tone echoed vintage seaside charm – the tone of voice was designed to be cheeky, homespun, and gently subversive – true to Margate’s character and history.
Dreamland reopened in 2015 as a theme park that is both a museum of fun and a platform for new cultural life.
Morecambe – Vintage by the Sea
In Morecambe, we saw a stage set for celebration: the Midland Hotel, the seafront promenade, and an evocative coastal skyline.
Vintage by the Sea launched in 2013 as a festival of music, fashion, design, and performance spanning the 1920s to the 1990s. Drawing crowds of up to 50,000, it’s not just about nostalgia, it’s a way to use heritage as a canvas for cultural and economic revival.
MediaCity – We Invented the Weekend
While co-developing the place brand for MediaCity, a comment in a workshop turned into a revelation: “The weekend was invented here.” It was true – in the 1840s, Salford’s Robert Lowes helped secure Saturday afternoons off for workers.
That became our founding story for We Invented the Weekend, a bold and brilliant free festival celebrating all the ways people spend their free time, from gardening to clubbing, from activism to creativity.
We Invented the Weekend throws open every corner of MediaCity and Salford Quays, welcoming over 80,000 people to enjoy a programme of more than 270 activities.
Here, we’re working with a social heritage narrative – celebrating intangible legacies like workers’ rights and leisure time.
Andover – Reconnecting with the River
In Andover, our town centre vision & masterplan is now being realised, starting with a beautiful and meaningful intervention: reopening the River Anton.
This chalk stream has been part of Andover’s story for centuries, but mid-20th century urban development had buried it. As of 2024, thanks to funding support, the river is being made central to the town once again restored, landscaped, and made publicly accessible.
It’s a simple but powerful example of natural heritage and placemaking coming together, helping Andover reconnect with its ecological and historical assets, while also creating social and environmental value.
York – A truly human-centred city
York is often seen through the lens of tourism. But we worked with 28 strategic partners, and nearly 6,000 residents, to uncover a deeper story.
York is the UK’s first Human Rights City. It was home to the world’s first mental health retreat and first social housing. Today, it’s innovating in sustainable agriculture, health, and nutrition.
From these stories, a new place brand emerged – one that celebrates past achievements while inspiring future ones. The city’s actions followed: plans for a car-free centre, Passivhaus housing, and a trail of trailblazers replacing traditional plaques.
This is heritage reimagined – rooted in place, but pointing to the future.
Kidderminster – A Vision for 2040
In 2021, we completed a Vision for Kidderminster town centre – a sustainable, sociable, and forward-thinking town centre by 2040. Shaped by nearly 2,000 local voices, the plan centres on repurposing heritage buildings and sees culture, people, and environment as core to revitalisation.
Already, the town has attracted over £20 million in regeneration funding. We’re now working with Wyre Forest District Council to help turn this vision into reality.
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings – Innovation in Iron
The Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is no ordinary heritage building. Built in the 1790s, it’s the world’s first iron-framed structure – a direct ancestor of the skyscraper. It’s been a mill, a maltings and a WWII barracks.
In 2019, we were commissioned by Historic England to develop the brand and visual identity for the site’s next chapter – its transformation into a co-working facility, arts venue, cafe, and hub for modern living.
We distilled the story of innovation, working life, and evolution into a brand that would match the boldness of the original architecture.
At its heart is a custom typeface, inspired by two contrasting fonts on the building’s facades. This typographic contrast reflects the site itself: innovation vs preservation, history vs future.
The result is a visual identity that’s adaptive, inventive, and as unafraid of experimentation as the original mill was.
Lowestoft – East Coast Renaissance
Finally, to somewhere more local to Norwich – Lowestoft. In 2017, working with East Suffolk Council, we developed a vision for Lowestoft South Beach to rejuvenate the seafront, attract visitors, and help Lowestoft reconnect with its identity.
One of the standout ideas to come from early workshops with local creatives was the concept of a midsummer celebration, leading to the birth of the First Light Festival, a free, 24-hour multi-arts event celebrating the full cycle of the sun over Lowestoft’s shore.
The reimagining of East Point Pavilion followed, transforming a tired and underutilised faux-Victorian structure, into a vibrant, year-round cultural venue. It now hosts independent street food, a house bar, and a wide range of community events curated by First Light Festival CIC.
And now, looking ahead to summer 2025, working with Untitled Practice. we’re delivering the regeneration of Royal Plain, Royal Green, and South Quay Wharf. These spaces will become climate-responsive, inclusive, and vibrant environments, encouraging people to linger, interact and enjoy the town’s incredible coastline.
This is regeneration rooted in coastal heritage.
Whether it’s industrial legacy, seaside architecture, natural ecology, or social reform, heritage for us isn’t about preservation alone. It’s a starting point – for reinvention, creativity, and community pride.
From Lancashire to Lowestoft, we’re proud to be helping towns and cities rediscover their past in ways that shape meaningful, purpose-driven futures.