Project

Place Lab pilot, Peterlee
October 2022 – June 2024

*Practice-led consultancy

In 2022 County Durham narrowly missed out on being named UK City of Culture 2025 and following the campaign, ‘The Culture County’ was established as a commitment to delivering a pioneering cultural activity with a lasting legacy.

Central to the original bid, and to The Culture County, was Place Lab, an ambitious initiative to “connect people, creativity and great ideas through a county-wide network of creative hubs plus a central research hub”.

Building Culture was commissioned to develop and deliver the first pilot for the Place Lab project, in Peterlee. It allowed us to use our unique brand of practice-led consultancy to embed ourselves in East Durham in order to lead by example and help inform the wider project as it progressed.

Following a successful pilot, Place Lab is now a funded initiative as part of the Into the Light programme.