A collaborative approach
Urbanism is the creative process of making places - expressing the distinctive vision behind each masterplan, using our experience in areas such as street design, accessibility, durability and working with artists on public art projects.
Our success in urban design is rooted in a collaborative approach. A strong, shared design vision and robust development and delivery strategy can only emerge from an informed and thorough understanding of the particular issues involved.
Our office includes architects with specialist training in urban planning and economic development who are able to tackle a wide range of masterplanning and urban design schemes.
A masterplan is a strategy for the development of an extensive site. It may be based around a physical plan, but is usually driven by a much wider range of issues including environmental sustainability, social, economic, and phasing concerns. We aim to satisfy the interests of the range of all constituents involved, as well as bringing them together to make beautiful urban places.
Recent work includes the development plan for Warwick University, West Cambridge; the masterplan for the deprived suburb of Dublin in Ballymun and the Phoenix Initiative masterplan in Coventry. We have received national awards for our work from the Civic Trust, Royal Town Planning Institute, the Irish Planning Institute, and were short listed for the 2004 Stirling Prize.
Research and development
The practice has carried out research and demonstration projects, and published papers on masterplanning and urban design, covering topics including suburban density, urban syntax and sustainable development.
The right team
Our skills are complemented by those of partner consultants with whom the practice has a working relationship. This provides the necessary flexibility in putting together a multidisciplinary team tailored to meet the demands of an individual project.
We can offer:
- Project management
- Team leadership and management
- Policy advice
- Briefing, opportunity analysis and consensus-building
- Community consultation including workshops, exhibitions and events
- Production of design guidelines including land use and density strategies
- Development of phasing plans and integrated delivery mechanisms
- Street design and circulation strategies
- Public art co-ordination, development and installation
- Follow through to detailed design and construction of key elements
Our partner consultants provide:
- Economic development / community development planning
- Retail / leisure consulting
- Quantity surveying
- Transport planning
- Traffic engineering
- Civil engineering
- Landscape design
- Environmental resource management
- Water and floodplain management
- Conservation
- Historical preservation
- GIS mapping
- Sustainable development and life-cycle costing
