What’s On
Our extensive events, exhibition and discussion group programme brings together members of the public, local businesses and ambassadors for topical discussion that stimulate conversation on the regeneration and repurposing of Derby city centre.
The Lab is home to the new Derby City Model, a 300-year timeline of the city and the City Living Room. Visitors can also view the University of Derby’s DUST project on Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition.
View the brand-new
Derby City Model
The Lab’s centrepiece is the brand-new Derby City Model – a detailed 3D model of Derby city centre, which aims to help visitors visualise the city’s ongoing regeneration story.
The model features over £1.9bn of investment projects and £672m developments in the pipeline, the 2.5-metre-long model is the first comprehensive Derby model of its kind.
The model stretches from Derby Train Station to the University of Derby’s City Hub, and from Green Lane to North Riverside.
Viewers can pick out the river Derwent running North to South, as well as iconic buildings such as Derby Cathedral, the Quad and the two ‘Pepper Pots’.
Upcoming events and exhibitions
Our events and exhibitions programme has something for everyone. Keep up to date with our plans here.
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Ongoing event
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INVITATION ONLY10th September
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Ongoing event
The Lab is open 7 days a week
Find out when the award-winning Derby City Lab is open to the public..
Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST)
Watch Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) unfold before your eyes.
DUST is a co-creation project, collaborating with multiple agencies across Derby to produce interactive visualisations for a more connected, accessible, sustainable, and prosperous city for future generations.
The DUST team has visualised concepts for various sites across Derby including proposals for a natural restoration of Markeaton Brook, a culture-led renovation of Friar Gate Bridge, and a flood-resilient transformation of the “shoulder” of river Derwent.
DUST is hosted by the University of Derby and led by Professor Chris Bussell, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the College of Science and Engineering. The project is kindly funded by the Osborne legacy.
See the future visions of the city by visiting the Lab.
Derwent Wharf – North Riverside
Living Streets Study
The Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) project team are also inviting the public to take part in their research study titled “Living Streets”.
The purpose of this study is to humanise Derby’s streets and neighbourhoods.
Please visit the Lab for further information, alternatively you can click the link below if you are interested in finding out more or participating.
Film Footage
The Lab’s City Living Room includes aerial and computer generated imagery (CGI) footage of key city centre regeneration sites including:
Castleward – The £100m regeneration is a new, highly sustainable, mixed-use neighbourhood, delivered in a number of phases over a 15-20 year period and will provide ca.1000 new homes, with mixed tenure,
Friar Gates Goods Yard – Plans to redevelop this 11.5-acre site will deliver 276 new homes and £100m investment on the site and include the reanimation of two landmark Grade II listed buildings, the Bonded Warehouse and The Engine House.
Nightingale Quarter – an 18.5-acre site, previously home to the Derby Royal Infirmary hospital and will deliver 925 units and £175m investment.
Cathedral 1 – £100m plans for the redevelopment of one of the final plots of vacant land within Derby’s Cathedral Quarter, include a mixture of one and two-bedroom apartments that rise to nine storeys overlooking Cathedral Green and the River Derwent.
View the footage by visiting the Lab.
Have your say..
An essential part of the Derby City Lab is our ‘Engagement Corner’, which allows visitors the opportunity to share their views and opinions to help shape their place.
The Lab has already engaged thousands of visitors and obtained hundreds of opinions and comments.
Our current engagement activity includes:
My Dream for Derby – write down your dream for Derby;
Tree of Truth – read schoolchildren’s dreams for the city and help bring the tree to life by attaching your ‘Derby Truth’;
Visitor Comment Book – add more details thoughts and ideas to our comment book;
‘What would make you visit Derby city centre more frequently’? – cast your vote on our latest poll.
Destination Culture Feedback – The Lab has partnered with the University of Derby’s CivicLAB and Derby City Council to run a poll asking for people’s opinions on the city’s arts and culture scene. Click here for more information.
A View of Derby Drawings
Produced by visitors of A View of Derby: The Alfred Edward Goodey Collection of ‘Old Derby Pictures’ at Derby Museum and Art Gallery from March to May 2024.
These drawings are kindly on loan from Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
Walking Tours
Join a free Insider Tour to get the inside track on Derby’s regeneration story and learn about its future development.
The walking tour offers participants a unique opportunity to learn about Derby’s past, present and future aspirations.
Past exhibitions
Here is a snapshot of the exhibitions the Derby City Lab is proud to have hosted.
Down to Earth Derby
The first exhibition in the Derby City Lab was hosted by Down to Earth Derby, in partnership with the Eden Project. Together, they showcased their plans for city-wide nature based regeneration
Victorian Market Hall
Derby-based architects, Lathams, hosted an exhibition on the transformation of the Market Hall into an attractive and flexible market and event space, reopening in 2024.
Dust – Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition
The University of Derby exhibited its DUST research with a mission to envisage a sustainable, resilient, and attractive future for the city of Derby.
A new vision for Derby City Centre
Derby residents, visitors and business were invited to have their say on Derby City Council’s new Ambition document which outlined ideas for a bold, transformational vision for the city centre.
North Riverside
The University of Derby architectural students presented their masterplan concepts for a redevelopment of North Riverside to create a new city centre destination and vibrant community.
Culture Derby
Culture Derby hosted an exhibition to refine plans, engage with stakeholders and gather feedback on immediate activity and long-term, cultural vision for the city.
FORMAT International Photography Festival
Throughout FORMAT, he lab hosted an exhibition called The Sustainable Photobook – and be home to SPP’s Case Study Reading Room, which seeks to engage photobook makers and consumers in a discussion about sustainability.
Derby Book Festival: Children’s Book Drop
Derby City Lab hosted a children’s book drop, as part of the Derby Book Festival week. Over 800 books were collected and distributed across the city to local school and to those that need them most.
ARTCORE: Building Bridges
The exhibition featured the work of artists from both Derby and Osnabrück and aimed to serve as a bridge between the two communities.
The exhibition of artwork followed an international residency in Osnabrück and Artcore Gallery in Derby
CRZyBest & Friends at Derby City Lab
The Lab was home to some of the city’s most talented creatives, as over 16 businesses displayed and sold their work. Demonstrations and hands-on workshops were also on offer.
Rams Heritage Trust: Back from the Brink – Derby County, A Year On
The exhibition explored the club’s turbulent recent history through contemporary objects, images and supporter testimony, with an emphasis on the special position Derby County holds within the city and how a fanbase united to help save their club from extinction.
Artcore: Cultural Threads
The project celebrated the diversity of Derby through free paintmaking and pottery sessions. The event concluded with a showcase of work with Diwali celebrations.
Derby Book Festival: Autumn Children’s Book Drop
After the success of the previous event, Derby City Lab hosted a second children’s book drop, as part of the Derby Book Festival Autumn Edition. Hundreds of books were collected and distributed across the city to local schools and to those that need them most.
North Riverside – Masterplans 2024
The University of Derby architectural students displayed a range of posters and models sharing their visions for a new city centre destination.
The visions fully exploited the riverside setting, improving the quality of green spaces whilst presenting a vibrant waterfront pedestrian realm within the heart of the city.
