The Commons

You have arrived at The Commons blog – a place to share the journey

  • Taking Shape

    The Easter holidays have coincided with the installation of this drainage system which is being sunk several metres into the ground around the outside of the building. All activities inside the building have been postponed until this essential, deep ground work is complete.

    The builders have been on site now for nearly 6 months and the work in Phase One of the renovation is rapidly moving along. Every week there are changes to the reshaping of the back of the building where the Hearth, new office space, new kitchen and community host apartments will all be. Storage has been created which will soon be holding all the tables and chairs used for community meal, metal framing has been clad with stud walling, and stairs have been dismantled and moved.

    Below are a few slide shows with before and during photos to give you an idea of some of the changes that have been made so far.

    • Original stage area
    • Stage removed
    • Two storey storage space created
    • Upstairs meeting rooms
    • Steel frames for the walls of the community host apartments
    • Stud walls of the community host apartments
    • Symmetrical pipework

    In quite a few of the ‘in process’ photos, you will notice that the ceilings have been removed to reveal the most beautiful panelled vaulted spaces.

    • Board room
    • Coffee room
    • Kitchen
    • Storage in hall

    Apart from the building being closed for the drainage work, activities continue on their usual weekly pattern with exciting events recently such as an interfaith feast at the end of Ramadan and Lent and the Ormeau Community Cinema hosting a showing of Power Station . At the end of this week there is an exciting comedy cage fight event. Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook pages for other events coming up.

    Community Meal continues in our temporary home of the Good Shepherd parish hall just a few blocks up the Ormeau Road. We have been so grateful for the hospitality of our friends there. We’ll keep meeting up there throughout this new term, hopeful of course to be back in The Commons in the Autumn.

    Our next exciting milestone will be in May 2026. Things will look a little different in the grounds around The Commons building as we launch our Street Food Hub and Market Stalls. Many of you will already be familiar with the Tiny Tea Tuk Tuk and you would have enjoyed fresh coffee and street rolls there, but there is more to come. Keep an eye out on our socials as you don’t want to miss this new part of the journey!

  • Changes and celebrations

    The last 6 weeks or so have seen lots of activity in The Commons. At the end of September we had our last push at clearing out the building, in October the builders arrived and we also set our feet dancing to celebrate the beginning of the next part of the vision for The Commons.

    Clear out day involved skips and wheelbarrows and a lot of muscle power from a team of volunteers who represented some of the different groups who call The Commons ‘home’. I took photos to use for before and after references, and saw rooms I hadn’t even seen before. Looking at the building from outside is a deceptive perspective because inside the spaces just keep going. So much potential for all that lies ahead.

    In mid October the builders arrived! Now the building wears a new overcoat of safety fences and safety signs. At each turn of your eye you can see evidence of activity – high vis jackets, hard hats, mugs, architects’ plans, ladders, and even heavy plant equipment spending its weekends in what used to be the kitchen. There has been a lot of tearing down, but in a wonderful way that reveals even more of the beauty of this building – long hidden windows, vaulted ceilings, rich timber and brick face. In this very short space of time, not only is there stripping back, there is also building up and creating new things. Little glimmers of what is to come in the next part of this building’s life on the Ormeau Road.

    One of the very special things about this project is that the building is still being used every day. We haven’t closed the doors until the project is done. They are flung wide and welcoming to so many who make up the community in this area. Since the summer a homework club has been launched, peace vigils have taken place on the front steps, the TukTuk has taken up residence on a Monday and Friday, and Jane has started improv sessions – this is alongside the already well established regular activities. Check out this month’s calendar via the link at the top of this page and keep an eye on our Instagram page for any updates.

    You’ll remember that back in April we launched the vision of The Commons before the work had even started. It’s a bit of a back to front approach – most projects have a big party to announce things when all the work has been done. So in true Commons style, we celebrated the arrival of the builders and the beginning of the work with a ceili in what will eventually be The Ceili House. Lots of you came from different groups who use The Commons already – it was such a fun (and exhausting) night of music, laughter and dancing.

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