Engedi 2.0: A Regenerative Catalyst
A feasibility report setting out the vision for transforming Capel Engedi into a regenerative community hub for digital skills, creativity, wellbeing, Welsh culture and local resilience.
Completed in July 2023 with support from the Architectural Heritage Fund, this feasibility report sets out the wider vision for Engedi 2.0 and the future of Capel Engedi in Caernarfon.
The report explores how the historic Grade II listed chapel could be brought back into active community use, not simply as a restored building, but as a place designed to support learning, creativity, wellbeing and long-term local resilience. It presents Engedi as a regenerative catalyst: a project intended to create change that reaches beyond the physical restoration of the chapel and contributes to the wider social, cultural and economic life of Caernarfon.
At the centre of the proposal are three interconnected areas of activity: digital technology skills, creative development and personal wellbeing. Rather than treating these as separate programmes, the report considers how they can overlap and strengthen one another through creative technology, therapeutic creativity and digital wellbeing.
The proposed spaces reflect this interconnected approach. They include a community hackspace for practical technology learning and experimentation, a creative arts space supporting artists and local cultural activity, a wellbeing dojo for physical, mental and emotional practices, and flexible shared areas that encourage collaboration between different communities and disciplines.
The report also places Capel Engedi within the history of Welsh chapel culture. Chapels once served not only as places of worship, but as centres for education, debate, music, literature, mutual support and community organisation. Engedi 2.0 aims to reinterpret that historic role for a contemporary and secular context while continuing to celebrate the Welsh language, local identity and the chapel’s relationship with Caernarfon.
Alongside the vision for its activities and spaces, the study considers community engagement, local needs, governance, partnerships, restoration options, potential sources of funding and the project’s broad financial viability. It records the thinking and assumptions that shaped the project in 2023 and provides an important foundation for Engedi’s continuing development.
The full report can be read or downloaded below.