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SSEN Internship 2025
As part of a three-week internship, I designed the Sheffield Social Enterprise Hub with geography student Niamh Bray, researching client needs and developing conceptual proposals focused on social innovation, equity, and sustainability. This experience enhanced my client communication, leadership, and self-management skills as I led the design process, set internal deadlines, and communicated architectural insights, gaining valuable experience in how architecture can drive social impact.
WEEK 1: An Introduction to SSEN
WEEK 1: An Introduction to SSEN
In Week 1, we explored the Sheffield Social Enterpise Network’s mission and values, identifying the need for a flexible, action-focused hub that supports workshops, events, campaigns, and capacity-building. Key takeaways included designing non-hierarchical, inclusive spaces, integrating digital tools, and creating modular layouts that can scale over time. These early insights set the foundation for a collaborative, adaptable environment that fosters social innovation and impact.
WEEK 2: Design Concept + Modular Kit of Parts
WEEK 2: Design Concept + Modular Kit of Parts
In Week 2, we moved into shaping the design vision, guided by SSEN’s values of collaboration, adaptability, equity, and social innovation. Drawing on the idea of a living ecosystem, we developed a modular honeycomb concept where hexagonal 'cells' act as flexible, scalable units, creating a hub that can grow, transform, and respond to changing needs over time.
Initial concept: Formula for a flexible workspace, showing how modules could be connected to create dynamic spaces
Example 1 of possible spatial arrangement
Example 2 of possible spatial arrangement including open courtyard garden
SITE VISIT: Hallam HUBS building
SITE VISIT: Hallam HUBS building
In Week 2, we visited the HUBS building, Sheffield Hallam’s student union, originally designed as the National Centre for Popular Music, a millennium-era project that closed just 15 months after opening. Today, it’s a controversial structure, seen by some as an 'eyesore' and by others as a Sheffield landmark. Working with a building designed for music, with no upper-floor windows, posed unique challenges, but it was an exciting opportunity to explore how we could preserve its identity while transforming it to meet SSEN’s needs.
Photo of the HUBS building (Source: Dave Parker Photography)
WEEK 3: Final Design
WEEK 3: Final Design
The final design transforms the HUBS building into a flexible, modular social enterprise hub while respecting the integrity of the existing structure. Using a honeycomb-inspired layout, individual pods — from focus pods and meeting rooms to workshops and co-labs — are arranged around a central courtyard and connected by an open circular circulation walkway. As the original building lacks upper-floor windows, the design introduces a large central skylight and internal openings so that every room has visual and daylight access to the core circulation space. This creates a bright, inviting interior that supports SSEN’s values of transparency, adaptability, and collaboration, offering spaces where social enterprises can thrive, connect, and grow.
Recommendation from Terry Murphy (SSEN CEO)
Recommendation from Terry Murphy (SSEN CEO)
"Dabinn worked with us as part of the University of Sheffield's Workplace Insight internship programme for 3 weeks over Easter. We were really impressed with what Dabinn was able to achieve in such a short space of time. She worked well to the specification we'd identified and developed and finalised a project designing a Social Enterprise hub prototype for our network. The design ideas developed were innovative, sustainable, adaptable and fit the project brief perfectly. The work was of an excellent standard and will inform the next stage of the project's development."
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