Everyone needs well designed open space

In this space

A poem by Adisa the Verbaliser

In this space
We are the architects
We decide what this canvas will become
In a sea of a thousand faces
We’re swallowed whole, yet we stand as one

In this space
global stories brush shoulders
Some hardback like concrete
Others soft like the mud in the river
Trampled under our city feet

In this space
The bridges are our horses
We straddle the ancient and the new
Riding the big dipper, like an astronaut
Until the crown of St. Pauls fills the view

In this space
We gather to meet
We gather to makes sense of the day
We gather to break city bread
We gather when there is nothing more to say

In this space
We gather to exhale
We gather to take in something new
We gather to share our personal manifesto
Which reads
I am alive and I was here too!

In this space
The extras are all movie stars
And the movie stars queue
With pen and paper
Praying for just a glimpse of you

In this space
Pinstriped suits
Meet laced up boots

And wooden handled umbrellas
Become skateboards on a graffiti track
And even when we fall from grace
This space welcomes us back

In this public space
Where we sit and talk
Where some jog, whilst others walk ,

Where we play and ponder
And great minds create a new genre

Of music that rolls like the river
Picking up culture along the way
This space is multi lingual
And it’s got so much to say

SO, LETS LISTEN!

We need to activate our streets

Architecture delivers the widest benefits when we make the most of how buildings hit the ground, says founding partner Roger Hawkins.

Sometimes our commissions are all about streets, enhancing space between buildings, removing traffic, improving accessibility and signage. But other times, it is our role to consider how the built environment can be best used to create new public realm and to identify the opportunities to design spaces that are open and welcoming – for everyone to meet, relax, participate in their communities, and be well.

It’s not always possible to integrate public space into a project – particularly retrofit or infill sites but it’s always part of our work to look at how buildings are contained within space; to make sure they connect with the public at ground level, even when they can’t be accessed. Is there a small rear space that we can upgrade and share? Or can we make more of a frontage to bring activity to the street?

At Earls Court – London’s most important opportunity area – we are developing a strategic framework in collaboration with Studio Egret West to demonstrate how the 40-acre site in central London can benefit not just the occupants, but all the people of this exciting new piece of the city. The Earls Court Development Company has a bold and ambitious vision ‘to bring the wonder back to Earls Court’, opening up this former exhibition site, giving back to local communities, addressing the climate emergency, and providing a blueprint for future generations.

We see Earls Court as an amazing opportunity to offer a rich and diverse mix of accommodation and a variety of open spaces. The emerging proposal is to transition from low rise at the sensitive edges to taller buildings in the centre – the tallest clustered around an existing 31 storey building – and to create all this wonderful open space around them. It’s a landscape-led approach; the transition in heights enables us to deliver a place which respects and stitches in with the neighbouring streets.

Our driver is to think about the public space; well-designed open space that is an integral part of cohesive, successful, and sustainable communities. We need to work hard with all our clients and stakeholders to make sure it’s part of every project.

Ryoko

We should strive to blur the boundary between public and private, drawing the social fabric into the site and even into the buildings.

Thom

Public realm can be the arena to collaborate with the community, to build trust, to solve problems, to stamp identity, to deliver meaningful change to people’s lives.

Streets for the people!

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Ryoko

We should strive to blur the boundary between public and private, drawing the social fabric into the site and even into the buildings.

The pandemic magnified longstanding social conditions, such as loneliness and inequality, and highlighted the importance of having access to civic and community infrastructure within the local neighbourhood. Somewhere to escape the home and to be part of the society.

Waltham Forest Town Hall was completed just as the UK was exiting the last lockdown. The aim of the project was to reclaim much of the space, both inside and outside, for the benefit of the local community. Externally, space that had been given over to vehicle movement and parking was transformed into a multi-use civic square, and internally, years’ worth of clutter along with layers of barriers were removed to dramatically increase public access. These new spaces host activities, from mundane to extraordinary, throughout the year.

The project has brought the Town Hall and the Council firmly back on the residents’ map. The next few years will see the completion of the masterplan, which will further expand the range of spaces available, to cater for different needs and ages.

Thom

Public realm can be the arena to collaborate with the community, to build trust, to solve problems, to stamp identity, to deliver meaningful change to people’s lives.

Northumberland Park is one of the largest council-owned post-war estates in North Tottenham, London, recently the scene of a multi-billion-pound investment at the new White Hart Lane stadium. However, in its shadow, residents have been slowly dispossessed of their open space through a sustained period of under-funding and poor maintenance, exacerbated by the ASB and crime that flourishes in the complex post-war landscapes of Council estates designed with a now-disproven image of urban living.

In the wake of such a stark contrast, the need to tackle inequality and deprivation can only be facilitated by providing access to safe, healthy, and engaging space to dwell, play, and socialise.

At Northumberland Park we are working alongside the Council to test this through a co-design process with the community that starts with improving the public realm; developing a resident led framework to test new housing, improved open space, safer neighbourhoods, and enhanced management strategies on the back of immediate and positive intervention.

How can our designs improve the nation’s health?

A Royal Celebration

Where the Wild Things Are

How can our designs improve the nation’s health?

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Where the Wild Things Are

Everyone needs well designed open space

We need to activate our streets

Ryoko

Thom

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