← All projectsProject 22 / 32 · Syctom

Open day at the Romainville site

Opening a working industrial plant to the public, and bringing local residents inside the project.

Kitting out the visitors

01 · The brief

What had to work.

Open a working industrial site to the public for a day: take local residents, invited by post, around the plant, and show them the future sorting centre where it will actually stand. Two requirements held together: explaining recycling and the area's circular economy, and keeping safe a crowd with no experience of such a place.

The challenge

Open a working industrial site to the public, without compromising on safety.

Our scope

Consulting and project management, site visits with the operator, zone layout and signage, public reception and security, visitor equipment, the guided-tour set-up, activities and catering, show-calling on the day.

02 · The set-up

What we put in place.

Signage from the metro to the gate, then wayfinding along the tour route
Reception and screening at the pedestrian gate: hosts and security staff
Every visitor kitted out: hard hat, hi-vis vest, and safety shoes where needed
Guided tours by registration, with tablets and audio headsets to follow the guide
A central hub: speeches, video relay, press area, marquees in case of rain
An activity area: local exhibitors, children's workshops, a wish wall and a giant game on the life of waste
Food truck, water fountains, dry toilets and a first-aid post

03 · The method

How we ran it.

Stage 1

Site visits with the operator, zone layout plan, street-closure permits

Stage 2

Supplier coordination, then a joint briefing of everyone on the morning itself

Stage 3

Show-calling from 9.30am to 7pm, get-out and reinstatement of the site

In pictures

An industrial site, open to its neighbours.

5 photos

A guide explaining sorting to a group of visitors — Explanations along the route

Hard hats and hi-vis vests handed out at reception — Kitting out at reception

A sorting demonstration in front of a group of visitors — The sorting demonstration

FormatOpen day

The activity village and the food truck, outdoors — The activity village

Visitors in front of bales of sorted material — The bales of sorted material

Participants300

300participants

The outcome

Eighty thousand households invited by post, guided tours by registration running all day, and a working plant walked through by local residents, elected representatives and community groups. The future sorting centre presented not on a drawing, but on the ground.

DateJune 2023

VenueRomainville (93)

Keep exploring