Lucy Gannon
Programme Leader, BA (Hons) Interior Design
As Programme Leader, two motivations I have for the ID course include the ongoing well-being of our design students, alongside supporting future designers who care about sustainability and their role - summarised as Healthy minds, Healthy materials – as the beginning of an ID course manifesto. As a team we have worked on two initiatives, Green Week and Yellow Week with a range industry focused activities.
Teaching
As L6 Lead, I predominately work with students throughout their final year, when practical understanding meets with conceptual ambition. I design and lead the final year Degree show and external London Shows. Lucy recently works as the Educational Lead for Interior Design and meets regularly with the Education leads across the design department.
Module lead for Unit X has resulted in some exciting live projects, working on and winning Retail Expo student competitions and working with Lesley Batchelor from Hemingway Design on a live brief in collaboration with Shelter. Recently working with Exhitbion designers Mather & Co. These projects embed professionalism and are rewarding and fast paced.
I remain passionate about the link between studio design work and contextual practice or Design Context - and having meaningful conversations with students about research and theory that drives their design motivations.
I am actively engaged in CPD, work alongside the Educational Reader in design and have a SFHEA, Senior Fellow Higher Education Award, BA Hons in Interior Design, MA in Design and is currently working towards MA in Academic Practice at CELT.
Practice
Lucy is a designer that shares her time between Manchester School of Art and Broadbent Studio, where she forms part of a busy creative team. Broadbent Studio has a strong design philosophy with a varied and rewarding portfolio, from public art to urban regeneration and integrated art and landscape design. The demands of the studio are within design and also the making surrounding the expertise of sculptor Stephen Broadbent. Lucy’s practice by nature is cross-disciplinary, and she takes on a range a roles from facilitator, listener, mentor and researcher to designer, visualiser, communicator and maker.
https://www.instagram.com/broadbentstudio/
External Work
I am currently external examiner on the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture & Design within Lincoln School of Architecture & the Built Environment, and their L6 Top-up delivered in Hong Kong - SHAPE/HKDI.
I am also an active member of IE: Interior Educators – an organisation established by academics representing Interior programmes from across the UK – where I am a judge on the National Student Awards, which honour outstanding achievements in both design and writing, whilst aligning with IE's core values of social equity, inclusivity, diversity, sustainability, craft and collaboration.
https://interioreducators.co.uk/
Projects
Alsager - Square
I began by posting the phrase; ‘I’d like to see here…’ to local residents during the public consultation for the new town square. The most popular answer was; ‘…Live music’, which resulted in an overarching theme of performance and the need for the creation of a place that the people of Alsager could use for live events. Details…
Bradford Pit Memorial
NAME : Bradford Pit Memorial DATE : 2020 CLIENT : Lauren Murphy (BPP Lead) Sub Client: MCC & MCFC LOCATION : Sport City, Etihad Campus, Manchester PARTNERS : CB Arts, Manchester School of Art, Scribble-stone, Printed Film Co, Adrian Wright The aim was to create a physical Memorial to the legacy of the Bradford Pit - embedded within the location that it is remembering. The intention for this memorial to act as physical marker to the wider Bradford Pit Project, highlighting the unique process of engagement and layers of collaboration in it’s 7 year duration. Details…
Garden of Pooled Talents
Running with themes of the Greening of Sheffield, we created this bold garden in an unused space behind the new Diamond Building. We pushed the original brief and wanted to create a real transformation. Details…
Hope mobile
Seed was a commission for the atrium of Liverpool Hope University’s Gateway Building in 2008. By rolling laser cut weathering steel it creates a more 3D aspect and the accentuates the feeling of movement. Details…
Linear Garden
Working with Landscape Architects Planit-Ie, we created 5 integrated sculptural gardens for Daresbury Sci-Tech Park. The path through the park carries the idea of a pathway of light. Details…
Pavement Table / Meet me at the Precinct
Investigating the meanings, value and significance of a place to sit Pavement table represents a section of Chorlton pavement, riddled with cracks. It is a focal point to sit around. Details…
Propellers of the City - Sunderland
In 2012 Broadbent Studio was commissioned by Sunderland City Council to create an integrated artwork, which celebrates the lives of those important men and women who helped create a world class shipping industry. To create a square, we thought it would have to be impressive, inviting as well as meeting a number of practical requirements, but moreover it would also need to tell a story; it was shipbuilding that put Sunderland on that map. Details…
Research Projects
Research Lucy believes in responsive design that is grounded in layers of meaning, history and place. These are spaces designed for social interaction, community use, or shared public spaces. Details…
Unity Progress Strength: The Bradford Pit Memorial- Radical Research Exhibition
This installation presents a life size visualisation of a memorial designed by Lucy Gannon which commemorates the industrial heritage and community of the former Bradford Colliery in East Manchester, now occupied by SportCity and Etihad Stadium. It is the culmination of The Bradford Pit Project, initiated in 2013 by Lauren Murphy, a BA(Hons) 3D Design alumnus, and her research into memorial crafts. Details…
Research
Lucy Gannon is a member of the Design Research Hub.
Exhibitions
Cocchiarella, F., Shaw, A., McCullagh, J., Stephens, M., Grimshaw, D., Mulhearn, E., Kettle, A., McCullough, I., McCullagh, J., Hitchen, J., Egan, K., Aubrey, K., Raven, L., Gannon, L., Biggs, L., Setterington, L., Beecroft, M., McLeish, M., Threlfall, S., 2019. Radical Response exhibition in partnership with the International Association of Design Research (IASDR) Conference, Manchester School of Art, Manchester, 2/9/2019 - 5/9/2019.
Whadcock, I., Gannon, L., Hitchen, J., 2019. Radical Response exhibition in partnership with the International Association of Design Research (IASDR) Conference, Manchester School of Art, 2/9/2019 - 5/9/2020.
Gannon, L. Latham, Domanska, B., 2013. Design Lab, Manchester School of Art, Benzie Building, 26th September - 13th October 2013.
Gannon, L. Latham, G. Perrin, A. Mckenzie, E. Hadwin, R. Murray, R. Domanska, B., 2012. Meet me at the Precinct, Chorlton Arts Festival Hub, 9th January - 15th January 2013.
Artefacts
Broadbent, S., Davidson, P., 2024. 'Global Patterns', Rochdale.
Broadbent, S., 2022. 'Pilgrim Porch', Chester Cathedral.
Gannon, L. Davidson, P. Broadbent, S, 2015. 'Propellers of the City', Publication commissioned by Sunderland County Council and presented to all people who donated a face for the project.
Hanfling, P. Gannon, L. Latham, G. Perrin, A. Mckenzie, E. Hadwin, R. Murray, R. Domanska, B., 2012. 'Age Friendly Manchester', Publication of series of Projects and Collaborations with VOP (Valuing Older People).
Presentations
Gannon, L., 2013. 'Investigating the meanings, value and significance of a place to sit', VOP (Valuing Older people) Launch, Manchester Town Hall, 24th October 2013.
Other Outputs
Gannon, L., 2024. 'Bradford Pit Memorial'.
Broadbent, S., Davidson, P., Gannon, L., 2015. 'Propellers of the City'.
Gannon, L. Latham, G, 2013. 'Alsager in the spotlight - Workshop', Workshop with three schools for creative input into public realm scheme.