BLD supported the improvement of the dog meadow in the district. Manastirski livadi - Iztok based on ideas of residents of the neighborhood. Work on the dog park began at the beginning of the month with the active participation of visitors to the meadow and ended with a neighborhood festival for people and dogs on June 30 (Sunday). In parallel, BLD is working on the construction of a new section of the street. Bone Falls St. Vasil Stefanov, which will be a donation to Sofia Municipality and is the result of a public-private partnership between BLD and the Triaditsa District. The two projects for the improvement of the urban environment in the district of Triadad. Manastirski Livadi - Iztok, where BLD is building the MONA residential complex, are part of the company's long-term initiative to invest in shared spaces in the neighbourhoods where it invests.
The project to improve the dog meadow was the idea of local residents who actively use and care for the meadow, with the consent of the owners of the land and the support of Sofia Municipality. The project is coordinated by the experienced urban planners and urban designers from the |He|Formal Association, who have considerable experience in creating shared urban spaces with the participation of local citizens in over 20 Bulgarian cities. In recent weeks, they gathered and discussed ideas for the park with residents and drew up designs for dog facilities that will be installed with the help of citizens from 27 to 29 June. The project was also supported by the Triaditsa District of Sofia Municipality, which provided the cleaning and mowing of the area.
For the opening of the renovated meadow, a celebration was organized on June 30 (Sunday) with an educational and entertainment program for children, dogs and their owners. The professional trainers from AA Training did training for dogs and their owners, games and demonstrations of what proper dog handling would entail, how dogs and children can interact pleasantly and safely. In the pet race at the new facilities, prizes were provided by local pet store Slava Food.
The children's programme at the event included a flower planting workshop in the new planters at the entrance to the meadow and a children's architecture workshop - bird houses made from recycled materials.
"As part of AG Capital, the largest property holding company in the country and we have a responsibility to be actively involved in all development processes for the city and the neighbourhoods where BLD is building. That is why we created the Building Difference program , in which we identify problems of different urban areas and help solve them by involving citizens, experts and the municipality in the work," said Irina Kaneva, BLD's commercial and marketization director during the opening of the dog meadow.
The construction of the new section of ul. Kostenski Vodopad began last week and will be completed in the summer months, connecting the Blvd. Todor Kableshkov str. Vasil Stefanov and the area designated for the future construction of a kindergarten and school in the neighborhood.
BLD's long-term Building Difference program aims precisely to unite the ideas and energy of citizens, experts, students and institutions to work for common causes in different parts of Sofia. The program was created to support urban causes and to improve public spaces in the city and neighborhoods where the company invests. In the pilot edition of the program last year, BLD created shared spaces and new urban furniture in Lozenets near its Secret Gardens housing project. The project was carried out by first-year architecture students from UASG as part of their summer internship. This year, BLD is also participating in a public-private partnership with the Metropolitan Municipality to renovate the iconic central street of Malko Tarnovo and promote the historical narratives it holds, with the project expected to be completed by autumn.