The Lighthouse

The winner of the Design Impact Award 2014 is Ice Cream Architecture with their design - Beyond the Finish Line.

Not only were they awarded the prestigious Design Impact Award, but they also scooped the public vote award.

They won the judges prize because of the impact they had on employment, especially the creation of social enterprises.

Beyond the Finish Line:

Brief & Solution

BTFL was set up to mobilise young people to regenerate their local areas whilst harnessing the momentum of the Commonwealth Games. In a bid to empower the city’s brightest young entrepreneurs, BTFL’s multidisciplinary design team devised a structured, reactive business support programme. The team created a strong brand identity and transformed a disused retail unit into a versatile incubator and vibrant events space. Participants had direct access to the design team to enhance their own projects including the graphic design of In Bloom’s magazine and the creation of Burds of a Blether’s logo.

Design Impact Statement

Impact by the end of 2014:

• 10 new social enterprises set up and trading throughout Glasgow
• 35 young people running their social enterprise and developing career paths
• 37 events held within the space; 10 of which were large scale events
• Visible regeneration of Commonwealth Games Legacy areas; stimulating independent business and community participation
• More than 50 people engaged in movement to regenerate high streets through social enterprise including public sector, Govt Ministers, local entrepreneurs and support agencies

FirstPort said:

"The partnership we developed with icecream architecture was highly complementary and brought together Firstport’s extensive experience of supporting start up social entrepreneurs with Icecream’s keen design eye. This included hosting live prototyping events and the complete transformation of the space to accommodate different events and talents within the BTFL group. Design played a very important part in delivering Beyond The Finish Line. We needed to attract the right age group, create a space that they felt ownership of and develop a brand that they were proud to be associated with."