Belfast Exposed & Savills 2023
Context
Multi-award-winning Belfast Exposed is Northern Ireland's leading photography centre enriching people's lives through photography by providing high-quality services for the public, businesses, schools and universities, health trusts, the arts and the community sector.
Founded in the UK in 1855, Savills is one of the world's leading property agents, with over 700 offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
“This project has enabled a world class artist to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement with a powerful, innovative film created by Donovan Wylie and Peter Mann. It allowed artists a safe space and working studio to create work and support their mental health and wellbeing. An additional, significantly important, aspect of the partnership provided safe spaces within the building to accommodate the facilitation of workshops where we engage with community groups and support their mental health and wellbeing.”
Deirdre Robb, CEO of Belfast Exposed
Challenge
Belfast Exposed developed a strategic remit where mental health and wellbeing are integrated into all of their activities and are now considered leaders in the UK delivering therapeutic photography. Although based in Belfast, they operate across NI and have been seeking opportunities to increase their presence in communities across the country as well as having a specialist ‘Healing Through Photography Centre’ in the heart of Belfast. With this ambition in mind, they reached out to Savills who have a portfolio of properties across NI.
Savills partnered with Belfast Exposed on use of a four-storey building in High Street Belfast which had great potential for Belfast Exposed to create a photographic wellbeing centre. Savills have supplied the building as in-kind support, creating better community access for people suffering from mental health issues, and creating safe spaces that promote healing through photography and enjoyable experiences.
Solution
The proposal for the use and refurbishment of the former First Trust building on High Street, Belfast was for the delivery of Belfast Exposed’s mental health and wellbeing programme to deliver workshops, the creation of a dynamic and accessible gallery space in the heart of the city, to provide studio space for artists and participants in need of therapeutic support, and to provide additional gallery spaces to showcase local, national and international artists whose work aligns with healing through photography. This new space has successfully delivered these objectives, and ultimately enhanced and complemented Belfast Exposed’s therapeutic photography programmes and has helped create more awareness of mental health and wellbeing to the public as well as the communities they support.
“Savills were delighted to have played a role in bringing Belfast Exposed to the former AIB / First Trust banking premises on High Street, Belfast. Belfast Exposed run a great program designed to support mental health through photography and the arts. They are an organisation that embraces the needs of the community and have intelligently set about delivering a program that meets those needs for many in society. This temporary reinvention of the building has invigorated and animated not just the building but also assisted in a repositioning of the neighbourhood”
Brian Gaffney, Divisional Director of Savills
Results
Belfast Exposed has used the building to deliver multiple workshops from their community engagement and mental health and wellbeing programmes, increasing their capacity to support those in need. The first exhibition in the building was very significant, as it enabled an internationally-renowned artist, Donovan Wylie, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement by showcasing a new film. Additionally, a number of artists have been using the building as studio spaces to develop their practice and therapeutic photographic processes.