00:00:00 – Introduction. Leo Hammond.
00:03:40 – Heath Park Masterplan. EcoResponsive Environments. Soham De and Prachi Rampuria.
00:15:09 – Discussion.
00:26:35 – Luton Town Centre Masterplan. Allies and Morrison. Jane Manning.
00:39:39 – Discussion.
00:49:25 – Shrub Hill Quarter. AR Urbanism. Amanda Reynolds.
01:01:36 – Discussion.
01:11:12 – The result.
Okay then we’re going to kick off now so welcome everyone to this Urban Design Group master class on small to medium Master plans my name is Leo Hammond I’m an urban designer and planner almost the vice chair for this award category uh the other judges um were Anna Rose from
Space syntax Mark Pearson from Exo city council and Mayan ashkanazi so just by way of background this session is the first in the series of Urban Design Group master classes uh where we’re taking the opportunity to share the finist from each of our 2023 national award categories and exciting
To announce the winners uh future events in this masterclass Awards series you might have seen on the Urban Design website include large Frameworks and master plans which is going to be next week design codes in a couple of weeks time completed schemes in three weeks and then policy strategy and design
Guidance in late October um so they’re all upcoming and this is the first in the series so what is the small to medium master plan for us in the war 12 for the purposes of this um award category will be generally in the ballpark of kind of 25 hectares and
Under what were the criteria we used to judge the awards um I hear you asking well we included uh some or most of the following criteria people friendly Planet friendly context sensitive identity built form movement nature public spaces uses homes of buildings resources lifespan and importantly Innovation uh the format for the session
Today is that each of the three finalists you might have seen it um on the adva on the website so each of three finalists will present their scheme for no more than 10 minutes following which there’ll be 10 minutes for questions at the end of the presentations and then
Drum roll I will announce the winner uh for the questions please feel free to putp them in the chat or put your hand up at the end of presentation so I’ll come around people pretty much in the order that kind of questions um come in
Um but yeah feel free to put your hand up and ask your question that’s more fun than me reading your question out and I’ll try and come to people in in the right order and given that we’re quite tight on time I will ask each of our
Three presenters um to present for 10 minutes presenters I’ll give you a one minute warning if that’s okay and then the same for questions because otherwise we’re going to we’re going to run out of time in these things because snowball otherwise I can say from experience of
Two and a half years being chairing The Design Group um so okay on with the show uh we have three great schemes to present just as a quick kind of heads up um we’ve just switched the running order so the first is going to be the heat Park master plan by ecoresponsive
Environments which is a mix use master plan for the former iciq Heath business and Technical Park in ranco near Liverpool second scheme is going to be the luta master B by Al Morrison a mix use Town Center master plan L Council and finally we’re going to have the
Shrub Hill master plan by AR urbanism a strategic mix master plan for a complex in a city site in Worcester which was done for the local County and city council so without further ado let’s crack on and let’s have first master plan and 10 minutes from Eco responsive
Environment on the heat par master plan so I’m going to hand over to you responsive environments can you all see my screen yeah we can see that fine thank you cool thank you um uh hello everyone I’m soam I’m a co-founder director of uh ecoresponsive environments um we are a
London-based um design um architecture and urban design practice uh we led a multi-disciplinary team to regenerate this 57 um acre heat business and Tech Park in rancon uh near Liverpool so Heath Park was once the um headquarter of Imperial chemical Industries otherwise known as ICI uh
Which um you may know was the one of the largest manufacturers of Britain uh but before we came into the scene our clients s so group had already developed um it into from um single occupancy site uh into Britain’s leading business and Tech Park uh with 120 scientific and
Research Le businesses with their corporate facilities increasingly linked into existing communities now s so want he spark to move forward as a beacon of Innovation Health and well-being inspiring climate appropriate ways of addressing ronon’s serious health and deprivation issues um that includes obesity lack of access to Nature car
Dependency and loneliness we are addressing this challenge through a complex systems design approach integrating landscape public spaces um buildings and details into a hall um that’s more than some of its parts um to show realistic ways forward we had to balance the Project’s long-term economic social and ecological Beacon values against shorter term
Financial benefits our design team evolved this balance uh collaboratively by working with s so and with regional and local authorities uh more locally an interactive Heath live website was engaged uh was launched uh to engage with um local residents and uh businesses alike uh throughout the recent lockdowns um the resulting uh yeah
Uh so therefore U you know we addressed uh this these challenges uh to our complex system approach and resulting uh feasibility study supports an ethical investment criteria uh that was showcased uh into International um to International investors uh as one of uh 35 green Innovation projects in UK’s
2021 Global investment Summit um the key master plan and Architectural principles will be explained upon um through the following sites so starting with uh the Water System um we tried to or our approach was to create a local water cycle and we did that through a gravity fed circular water system that minimizes
Our demand for external systems of supply and treatment whilst maximizing biodiversity and Amity value surface runoff is minimized uh with green roofs and permeable Pavements and drainage from roads and parking areas are captured by SRS and Rain Gardens creating a nature rich um environment gray and black water from
Buildings are treated on site through a constructed Wetland system that recycles treated affluence and also doubles up as a social environmental Learning Center now on to the green system our landscape strategy integrates a variety of new ecologically Rich productive spaces connected through treelined Street streets and Courtyards with wider
Existing framework of nature reserves Sports pitches and traditional Parkland to create an extensive Park system across and Beyond the side boundary um the green desert of a national g grid easement um becomes a 500 meter long wild flow Meadow ride that offers an extensive natural Corridor for pollinators analysis by Liverpool John
Mo’s University using the natural Capital accounting uh framework assesses the scheme as net positive in terms of six key ecosystem Services indicators now on to the street system uh heat Park is well connected internationally nationally and regionally but uh the space syntax analysis um where the warmer colors or
Hotter colors indicate um more connected streets um the is reveals a corser grain disconnected pattern of local connectivity uh which therefore imposes car dependency even for shorter Journeys we reimagine this system to support healthy walking and cycling for local travel within a fine grain interconnected Street layout that
Stitches the site to its wider context low traffic neighborhoods use planting and Bas to filter cars into small scale one-way loops uh thereby reclaiming streets as safe social and play spaces um within uh within electrical with electric cars and car clubs and by schemes and increased public transport
Frequency our travel plan works towards Liverpool City’s Region’s 2030 uh Net Zero targets now on to the land use system uh we tried to maximize land use uh Potentials in terms of its social and financial value by locating um activity to take the advantage of Street connectivity and the therapeutic value
Of um natural infrastructure and to build relationships with uh wider communities uh future commercial value Builds on an already thriving research economy um which are being developed by culture of business Innovation U breaking out of current Arts and Sciences silos uh which is quite um prevalent in um current days uh and we
Our intention was to break that cob right bridging uh arts and high-tech workers together in vacant buildings uh and repurposing them as affordable Studios um supported by um discussion program and meanwhile public exhibitions uh our phasing strategy enhances the commercial and social offer from day one and enables existing facilities to continue operation
Throughout construction so existing communities can grow together with newcomers around jobs housing Leisure health and green opportunities um now moving on to the plot system uh enabling vibrant and convivial places plots form fine grained mixed juuse perameter blocks with mixed chos U frequent Street entrances and private back Gardens enclosing resident
Only communal Gardens um that helps to Foster uh unsupervised play and intergenerational living to build uh this social efficacy uh from relationships beyond the family these communal spaces include Community Kitchens tool sheds allotments and areas for relaxation and Leisure uh we are committed to the idea of slow architecture um the creation of
Adaptable building that remain useful um through Rapid cycles of Social and economic change uh following this approach uh the existing buildings with concrete frame structures and 12 M deep floor plates support a retro first approach uh reused as affordable LIF work units and office lab spaces um
Housing whether it’s new build or being repurposed um uh is designed to address today’s tide of social isolation um put in especially you know during put in stock Focus during coid uh multifocus Living Spaces incorporate small scale Nooks bays and window seats uh to balance individual privacy with uh
Family togetherness so just say you got a minute left sure heat Parks sustainability strategy uh response to climate crisis and environmental degradation at three levels site cluster and building scale at site and cluster scale the regenerative uh microG grids of renewable energy waste and Water maximizes Energy Efficiency and share
Resources amongst diverse users uh accommodated within buildings all new res potential is net zero with existing buildings upgraded to the highest levels of Energy Efficiency using locally sourced natural materials with timberframe structures and modular components designed for easy dis disassembly and reuse uh at a perceptual level we learn
From human affinity to therapeutic effects of nature known as vilia by building in fractal organization that’s typical of natural systems with increasing level of details as being revealed um as we approach a surface we draw on this Attunement with nature scaler structure to reimagine Aesthetics of buildings and public spaces uh using
Sustainable materials and today’s technology but turning today’s design culture on its head by replacing current minimalist Aesthetics with multiscale fractal complexity uh closeup details also offer potentials for new creative businesses digital craftsmanship enables uh users to create their own small scale details much as The Village Blacksmith would have once done creating a
Forward-looking place identity that is rooted but not stuck in the past so in conclusion our complex systems approach empowered us to identify a reimagination agenda for healthy placem across a range of skills enabling design to address the needs of today today whilst adapting to the future we can
Foresee and to the others that uh we cannot yet Be Imagined thank you thank you very much that’s that’s absolutely correct uh okay do we have do you want to come off share do we have any questions no one anything in the chat yet so anybody want to put their hand up
And be Brave and ask a question okay so we have got Rachel Rachel do you w to come off mute and ask a question rather than me asking it you there hi yes I’m here yeah intrigued by The Mention Of The Community Kitchen when you was talking about the sort of intergenerational
Living and I was just Keen to know um what provision is that physic what does it look like on the grounds and um yeah how does that operate what’s the intention with that please sure um PRI please feel free to fill in yeah I can I can jump in if
That’s uh helpful so home hi everyone I’m PRI I I work with Soom on eor responsive environment so just jumping in on the question um yes so Community Kitchen so this just to clarify this is not a delivered project on ground uh the project is at a stage where we submitted
It for outline planning uh and we are awaiting the outcome but we did undertake quite a detailed feasibility study for the client uh so that we are able to measure the social environmental uh impact of the master plan uh whilst ensuring that we do do deliver on the
Minimum residual land value uh that needs to be achieved um so just coming back to your question on the Community Kitchen it did involve spaces obviously to cook but also for Community to come together and and eat together food is a lovely way of sort of breaking boundaries um obviously uh the Community
Kitchen which is why the idea of having that in a sort of shared communal space um we could also sort of have uh Community Kitchens and other such shared facilities that do have uh a bit more public space interface as well uh but for this master plan we did focus it in
On Spaces which are sort of within residential Courtyard so that they are secure and within the operation and stewardship of sort of the residents of the block um does that answer your question I don’t think we are at right at the stage at this point in this
Moment to say how it look like on the ground if I if I may just um sort of fill in um I think U the idea of Community Kitchens and tool sheds they are um more about creating opportunities uh through our special design you know where PRI mentioned uh of internal
Private communal space and I think that as a design parameter enables those those possibilities um is what we are basically trying to say here yeah but it does entail thinking about stewardship management and maintainance and you know sort of who would be the entity responsible which could be community-led
Resident Le or it could be other ways uh and forms of stewardship but I hope does that answer your question Rachel yeah that’s great thank you and now I understand it’s part of a um sort of community block it was just getting understanding whether that was one for
The whole development or you know how it waser that’s how thank you brilliant thanks okay next question is from Amanda do you want to ask a question directly Amanda um sure it it the I love the visuals great great drawings um nestled in a very Green Landscape but um what
About wider connectivity public transport how close is it to places of work is there a I’m run Corn’s quite a small place I understand what about getting to um places where work and school Etc would be um well I mean due to short time of of slid sticking in there you know
Apologies we couldn’t visually clearly illustrate that um but um yes you’re right rancon is not a massive Town um it’s one of those small towns that is um facing issues of um connectivity therefore social isolation however uh the site in itself um is not very far
Off from the town Center there are uh public transport links and there are even some sort of proposed future bus Loops being designer you know in proximity to the site um but the issues that we were facing was within the site boundary um it it it is currently as
Exists as a gated sort of Campus uh which limits it’s exist sort of you know local sort of movement Network to stitch in with immediate sort of um context our challenge was to break that mostly and um and the make and to make most of sort of global and Regional connections for
Example um bus routes that go along um and adjacent to the site and plan um activities uh which creates avoidances for um sort of non-residential users along and just adding to what s saying Amanda in terms of wider connectivity there is a wider uh National cycle network uh which uh and there are
Upgrades planned on that as well so it was sort of stitching into some of those strategic infrastructures as well um but because we had to develop a sustainable active travel plan um it the various modes of movement were considered including an increase in the frequency of buses because it is quite common in
Such Suburban areas that bus facilities are not available Beyond a certain time at a frequency that would be usable uh by residents so um yeah there were sort of a a broad range of measures but like so mentioned the train stations as well as a town center is fairly accessible
And we have quite a few schools within walking distance which covers the need also there’s there’s also planned um strategic green Loop um across the hall of uh roncon and um incidentally u a part of that goes through our our site uh which which works to our benefit in terms of
Um progressing or agenda of creating green links and how local links within the site can thereby Stitch into the Strategic um green Loop that they are envisaging um townwide thanks very much um I’ve got a question uh which is how will the scheme go about achieving Net Zero
Energy uh sorry Leo can you just repeat your question how does the scheme go about achieving n Zero Zero Energy uh yes so the Net Zero agenda um had a range of aspects so there was operational energy there was embodied energy and there was also what is the
Source of that energy um currently um close to uh Heath Park uh and S so who are the client on the project they have close relationships with with hyet which is a hydrogen based energy supplier um which is not very far from the rancon site um however they will only uh sort
Of be um starting their operations um in a few years so the hydrogen energy is not really available for the site at the moment um and therefore the site does rely on Renewables uh which um um provides um around 45% of the peak energy demand um the net zero new residential buildings
Um are based on sort of Ley standards in terms of operational energy requirements embodied energy requirements but also water requirements um I think the the achieving of Net Zero on existing buildings and retrofitting existing buildings is more challenging um and uh and so the approach was to sort of take
A bit more detailed understanding of where the opportunities area are and then to ID identify across time across a period of 10 15 20 years how that can be achieved so I think what I’m trying to say uh in a a bit bit convoluted way that it’s not a simple answer as that
Yeah we are achieving Net Zero today or tomorrow but it is rather it is a timed and a phased process through which um a various number of factors need to come together in order to achieve the goal uh but obviously the kind of broader agenda around green infrastructure active
Travel does contribute to that as well but the I mean just again to add to what just PRI mentioned um the aspiration is not to not only to sort of look at buildings in isolation but to achieve uh Net Zero targets sidewise um that’s where we you know ideas of creating
Local water cycles and uh local energy generation and fruit production all of those would need to be uh accounted for that’s great thanks I think we got time just for one quick question so be a quick question a quick answer one o’clock we’re gonna move on to the Lut
Master B and Jane Morrison so it’s very quickly Lisa did you want to ask your question which I’m reading in the chat hi Lisa right just because we’re conscious of time I’m gonna ask Le this question which we can all probably see uh which is scheme focuses on a site in runor
Which happens to be my home time Town whilst it looks quite exciting I wonder how much the local Authority might be on board with this um so yeah um no worries P I’ve just read um so yeah how muchal Authority um um on board with this scheme there be pre app and various
Think if a quick answer would would be great yeah we we’ll keep it really quick so uh this particular site in roncor has been identified by the Liverpool City region Authority as one of their Beacon projects and S so our client has um they have a Clos working relationship with
The hton bur Council so the hton bur Council they were um um closely involved uh and informed um of the master plans uh the various strategies uh and we have submitted an outline planning application uh and they’ve also written a letter of support in principle for the outline planning application so so far
We have we have been fortunate in sort of having the support brilliant thank you that’s a really really good answer and a really good uh place to finish the questions so thank you very very much ecoresponsive environments that’s been fabulous and we’re now going to move on to our second finalist and second
Presentation so um J if you’re already you want to share your presentation it’ll be 10 minutes again if you don’t mind I’ll give you a little one minute warning if that’s okay perfect thank you Leo um well thanks very much for the opportunity and for shortlisting Len
It’s been a really lovely project to work on a really committed client group and a really sort of lovely place to work as well um the team um has had a real sort of depth of experience all the way through to delivery and that became really important themee throughout the
Client team had sort of had real sort of nervousness is about getting sort of something that could be delivered on the ground and so that formed an important theme all the way running through um the process was very much designed around lots of discussions and conversations so
Very much in that sort of first Baseline piece there were extensive onetoone discussions with lots of the stakeholders Community groups land owners and that was about setting a really clear understanding of the issue at play but also became an important trust building exercise too as we moved
Into visioning there was wide um public engagement that was right at during the height of coid lockdowns um but actually resulted as getting a really representative sample um and also allowed us to weave in discussions around postco interventions and thoughts on that as we then established the draft
Master plan we did much more significant um public engagement around testing the options and F Focus really hard on how we communicate the options and what they really mean on the ground and at the end of the presentation I’ll give some examples of that um the context was Town Center
Located in the valley floor bounded by a Ring Road we chose to identify study area that took one block back from um that ring Road really so that we could make sure we were considering the transition into the surrounding neighborhoods and how those neighborhoods access the Town
Center the con the sort of starting point was very much that the Town Center had become an area where local many local communities didn’t feel welcome or safe in there were lots of sort of surveys sort of giving really quite Stark um statistics on that lots of things have played into that there’ve
Been lots of office to resi permitted development that had created lots of inappropriate homes in the Town Center that had exacerbated the real sort of sense of the Town Center as a no-go area and a sort of place of necessity rather than desire um just before we were appointed
Luten toown football club had just got permission for the new stadium at Power court and that put the spotlight back on the quality of the Town Center environment and how people felt about it and so there was a real sort of moment of needing to really redefine Revitalize
The town center before it started to grade any further um the vision was created through sort of lots of those community conversations and it was very much based on evolving the unique aspects of Luton in that sense it was about not about reinvention um rather it was about
Pulling through the threads of what made Luton special and interesting and that was all the way from the Hat factories um that it was built on um through to the kindness of the community that really sort of um sang through in a loss of the conversations we had that was an
Important shift in thinking it was no longer about Lut and town T to competing with other places but being a place to genuinely be proud of and so a strong sense in moving that kind of perception was around the town center being a really welcoming place and that was
Involving in you know the sort of physical design aspects as well as um the connections the master plan itself revolves around five big moves I’m going to go through each of those so you get a bit of a sort of sense of what um really
Is at play um the first of those was really based on recognizing the real value of what already exists um so we did a lot of work um sort of identifying you know not just the listed assets but the everyday Heritage and the sort of specialness of lots of the buildings and
The spaces we mapped all the vacancy and under utilization but to further inform that approach um we mapped and understood the energy performance of existing buildings um that helped us to kind of indicate where some of the priorities might be for reur we looked at the her AG assets many
Of those have been vacant for some time and those so there were clear sort of viability issues in terms of bringing those forward but we were able to sort of identify appropriate and viable uses and help steer land owners in that direction as part of that piece of work
We also took a selection of different types of buildings to analyze how they could be refurbished um looked at the whole carbon impact of doing so in some cases there were really clear environment m al reasons to advocate for retrofiting and it made our um job really easy in others it was more
Complex and the sort of issues of potentially creating greater Energy Efficiency through newb build and so it meant our arguments had to be wider and stronger for refits sort of Beyond Just Energy um but we also had to be nuanced um and accept some loss where that made
Sense the second big move was about restitching the center and so this was really about focusing on connect across the Town Center particularly the north south ones those had generally been lost over history um and those that remained would often regarded as the key unsafe
Routs in the Town Center so the M plan looks at restitching those and a key focus of that was um the Mal um so the Mal was built in the 70s at the time it was the largest covered m in Europe so it was a big piece to go into a
Relatively fine grain um Town Center um we worked closely with the Mal owners and looked at all sorts of aspects around the sort of structural um fault lines in the um in the structure the servicing Arrangements which interesting largely used um the historic Road structure underneath the car parking the
Vacancy the viability issues and what resulted was a phased approach to refurb the central portion of the shopping center and then an approach to unpick the outer pieces enabling three new routes across the Town Center the third key move was about knitting the center back into the rest
Of the town and really here the Ring Road was a key obstacle it didn’t work for anyone that it had cut off streets meaning that sort of walking and cycling was really challenging congestion for car users had become a real frustration and was worsening the already significant air pollution problems that
The Town Center experien um the focus was on very much what could be down graded in the Ring Road sections and how to in introduce atg grade Crossings so we moved from a situation where only certain surrounding neighborhoods could access the Town Center by foot or bike to One where
Every Community could and that became sort of very much the sort of structuring piece um the focus um became sort of in the early phases was around um introducing new atg grade Crossings um across the Ring Road from the south of the Town Center that was particular
Where communities felt most cut off and were experiencing significant deprivation so the priority was very much focused there the fourth big move was around introducing a greater range of activities responding to S lots of The Wider sort of economic trends at play the existing situation was very much the
Town Center was made up of quite disperate zones um the master plan therefore needed to ask what should be the role of each part of the Town Center how should it contribute to the diversification of the whole um and how connections could be significantly strengthened between each part so sort
Of key features of that were around refocusing where the kind of core of retail was on George Street the High Street um supporting wider Leisure cultural and evening economy uses in locations that were appropriate and crucially that were supported by public realm investment um and then a key other piece
Was around introducing new homes to meet local needs and support the ongoing Vitality of town center now that was a really interesting discussion because it was a real concern for local people this idea of bringing more Town Center living in it was a big step from the existing
Situation and therefore there was lots of discussions about what was needed to make that work and the conditions that would be needed um to establish to ensure that those homes were genuinely desirable um so to support this the team worked with planning departments to produce a design guide focus on
Residential Design Within the town center and that’s just been adopted as SPD to sort of back up the master plan um and the moves required a minute left J brilliant that’s fine the final key move was about opening up um the river Lee um one of
The most hidden aspects really um of the Town Center it flows underneath but relatively few points where you can actually access it and so we looked at what opportunities there might be to take the lid off where those felt most most appropriate Lea on with environment agency and many of the landowners um
What was established was a strategy for a series of Waterside spaces um and it was this element very much that had consistently the highest support um from local people and felt really much about being a sort of early intervention that could be delivered um as such the opportunities
Were assessed and some of the potential early sites pushed forward um and Toby who joins us today from the council took up the mantle very much on this to to the point that by the time the master plan was adopted um there was already the support and funding for the first
Space um that was already in place um and hat Gardens the sort of first space of this sort of opening up the river Lee opened in May this year um and has already had done a huge job of Shifting local perceptions um the last point point I
Just wanted to focus on I think sort of phasing and the sort of enormity of some of these Master plans is often a big issue in communicating um to local people and the sort of pointing kind of Engagement um and we were sort of very mindful that sort of an overall master
Plan is a long-term framework and often tricky to comprehend on its own when you look at them sort of public realm layers of it often they’re quite significant and expansive um but local people were quite wary of how they would actually get delivered and so we developed a
Piece of trying to develop a sort of set of ways of understanding for each part of the Town Center how that might sort of build up what the interventions meant how they might be phased and so just to show you through sort of one example of
Those um so we started in each case with an image of the existing um and often you know it was a space that people were really concerned about and had sort of real sort of antisocial behavior issues around it we then were’re able to illustrate what that might mean in the
Short term so in this case it was about the scope of removing um Town Center car parking right at the heart of the town center and introducing a new temporary destination the sort of Point around drawing in footfall responding to some of the uses that people really wanted to
See in the Town Center as part of the coid recovery um in the medium term then the sort of scope to illustrate what that might what the closure of a road space might be about creating a new park space and how permanent development could be phased and introduced over that sort of
Time frame and then in the long term being able to illustrate what the ultimate Vision might be for this area and in this case you know a much more significant piece of uncovering the river Lee alongside the park space already established and how further development might create greater Frontage around that
Space um these sets of drawings proved immensely popular and work really well across lots of platforms whether we were doing webinars or workshops or whether it was onl online survey sort of access to a mobile phone they work really well um it’s been a really fantastic project
To work on um and overall the master plan as established a really strong sense of trust across stakeholders local communities about the future of the Town Center um the tenacity of Toby and his team has ensured the early interventions are on the ground now um and many early
Build many are already building real confidence in the sense of the future of the Town Center um so thanks very much really really enjoyable to kind of talk about Luton and very happy to take any questions you have thank you very much Jane Morrison so does anybody want to ask any
Questions right we’ve got a question from is it jaob here you want to come off mute and ask your question and then a question from Karen right I’m going to ask you a question what were the pivotal character and identity drivers and how were they strategically integrated into the
Master Okay um and Toby’s here as well so he may well want to jump in on questions as well um great so I think sort of the real sort of pivotal character bits you know there were lots layers of History to loosen you know the sort of period sort of during Victorian
Era of hat hat making energy production at Power Court there have been some really sort of key bits lots of the sort of things that had happened more widely the sort of voxal development the airport all kind of came into play and what really we began to understood was
That this was a place of big ambition and a sort of ability of kind of absorbing lots of things but when we stripped it all back you know the key bits became the fine grin nature of what had managed to sort of stay and was sort of still established within the town
Center and that sort of fine grain network of streets the scope to rein reestablish that um by taking some of the pieces of the Mal out um I think there were sort of pieces within that um um ples Lee which is sort of a conservation area that was um designated
Heritage at risk that was a piece where lots of really good things were happening but they were experiencing big Chang around the edges of them which is what was putting it at risk and then I think the river Lee was a really big one that you know lots of people you know
When we started talking to them didn’t even know that the river sort of ran underneath the town center and I think as soon as that kind of gained a bit of traction that became a sort of really a thing that sort of people really focused around um but Toby is there anything you
Want to add on that I think that that pretty much sums it up a lot of it was about about protecting sort of the the unique Heritage we had um in the 60s and 70s we weren’t afraid to build big Mega projects and just rip through all that
History and it was the way the master plan addressed it sort of rethinking about how we’re sort of sensitive to that and how we can ensure that those assets are enhanced and rather destroyed by some of these bigger projects that have happened um but the master plan was
Able to sort of coales lots of stakeholders around that and bring together the sort of key land owners to make sure were delivering something that was sensitive to it in a sort of a more holistic way brilliant thanks bab um next we have a question from Karen Karen
Do you wanna Karen Clifford do you wanna unmute yourself and ask you a question yeah sure uh yeah we can hear you you just got on to mute now you un yourself there we go sorry apologies and yeah really enjoyed the presentation Jane thank you very much um I’m really interested in what
Discussions have been had with regards to the Future maintenance and management of particularly the green space and public realm um you know which is going to make such a huge contribution to the to the reinvention if you like of luon um and I really want to come and visit
Luten and see how this is all unfolding and visit the Hat cartons but I’m really Keen to understand you know what how how do you meet the challenge there of future proofing such an ambitious project no it’s a it’s a really good point K because I think the start at the
Start of the master plan process there was real concern you know sort of because of lots of the antisocial Behavior lots of the sort of concerns of the activities that were happening in the existing spaces in the Town Center there was a sort of you know it was very
Much a kind of youve just got to kind of proof this to not allow any kind of untoward activity and it did involve quite a lot of Shifting of thinking around that um you know the sort of Designing out crime piece but what also happened through that was a kind of
Conversation with the sort of public realm teams with the maintenance teams about the need to sort of shift and that this really was going to have to be a priority and what’s come out the back end of that is know hat Gardens was a sort of schem that Toby was able to sort
Of really establish funding and support around that has then LED on to so Toby’s just um commissioned further work on a number of other spaces um and the budget’s Now sort of starting to be put um behind those and I suppose that’s you know that both is in terms of
Establishing the capital budget for it you know the maintenance side of that you know it you know is an issue at all councils and I think you know will still be a concern but there was a sort of sense of they understood the issues and maintenance problems they were exist
Having an existing spaces it learning from that um whilst also trying to encourage greater Greenery within it and knowing that that was going to have kind of Greater maintenance um implications yeah thank you brilliant thanks we’ll do a couple of quick fire questions if that’s okay so um if you
Could just come back um Jan and Toby if that’s okay just because we’ve got one more to go just with some quite short answers because they’re really good questions um so Jenny you’ve got a really good question about different land owners do you want to come off mute
And ask it yeah me this looks like a fantastic master plan so congratulations to you all on the team it’s just a question of like with any Town Center regeneration who holds the first strings and who’s actually going to deliver on some of these objectives because it’s a
Shame to have something which ultimately sits on a shelf because because the you know the momentum and everything else behind it and the the big dollars great question no definitely and I think you know I alluded to the kind of trust building at the outset and that you know
Yes that was with the local community but it was also with some of the key land owners who you know relationships had been strained through various sort of sort of things that had happened in the past and so there was a lot of working onetoone with land owners and
Getting to a point of agreement around sort of how their pieces could come forward and then starting to bring those land owners together so there was a sort of sense of fairness across what each landowner was um sort of what their responsibility was to deliver but also a
Kind of understanding of what was genuinely viable because we already had applications at play that were moving from outline to more detailed there was a real opportunity to kind of steer some of those um in within the kind of course of the master plan um you know those
Things are all kind of moving forward you know and I think many of the land owners kind of gained an awful lot of trust and understanding through the process and and therefore gave more and more information to the process including the kind of elements around the viability which gave it a great a
Lot more strength in terms of the sort of every how everybody felt about the sort of final strategy as well brilliant thank you Jan um and just just a final sort quick fire one PR you’ve got a question on car parking yeah I can a very quick one uh just
Generally what was the approach to car parking as part of the Town Center regeneration yeah no really good question so there is a lot of car parking in the town center and that was the very much the existing situation because of the lack of walking and cycling connections even the most sort
Of immediate residents were driving in um it was a big one to get over um we did lots of kind of analysis and understanding of car parking usage and so the strategy became about how we moved in a sort of gentle way to begin with of taking those car Parks right at
The heart of the Town Center rout and showing that that sort of other ones could take up um the sort of pressure um and then the sort of strategy was very much about once those walking cycling connections started to come into play and crucially the bus NW workk um
Provisions were sorted out then there was an ability to start taking much more strategically ones out and start to significantly reduce the amount of car parking so it became definitely a key focus of it sort of our transport Consultants ended up doing a whole kind
Of parking strategy on the back of it um to it really ensure people kind of had the confidence in it um but it’s a big one and I think for Town Center Master plans particularly places like Luton it’s a big shift to make and it’s a kind
Kind of important piece of the mass plant to do brilliant thanks Jan thanks Toby so um last but not least um we have the shrub Hill master plan by AR urbanism so Amanda have you got sorted are you ready to go I think Robert’s gonna share his
Screen which is great um since I can see it we can see it we can see I’ve been been having major technical dramas with my um uh every okay great thank you very much um shrub Hill quarter uh this is this is a kind of render of the future so let’s skip
This one and go to the next slide um to start off uh can we move slides Robert great um now this is this is located in Worcester in the city of Worcester uh in Worcestershire unsurprisingly north of Bristol um and over towards Wales there and and South
Birmingham so uh part of the major area of activity during the Industrial Revolution and the city the the site is outlined here in red uh is about 14 hectares immediately to the east of the city center which is is right right at the other in between the site and the
River 7even that runs there uh and so this kind of locates it in in context you can see the suburbs wrapping around to the East and the North and the South um Worcester has a has a university it has a really vibrant on medieval city center uh but it has all the usual
Problems of tra too much car use too much traffic running through it and it has this fantastically massive site sitting here which is extremely under you so if we go to the next slide we’ll zoom in a bit so the context and connectivity was absolutely key um and
One of the drivers on this project um and just to step back a bit our client was a joint um public sector client as the Worcester city council and the County Council joined together to commission this to commission the master plan and the County Council owns
Probably about a third of the or even a half of the site um the local rail um operators were also heavily involved uh and you can see forgate Street uh station is right in the city center with a High Street running there the connection to birming is only 40 minutes
But shrub Hill station is also a real Inner City station but it’s very poorly used and has very poorly connected to the surrounding neighborhood and and to the site itself um the site is literally a f minute walk um between the city center the edge of the site if you could
Get there there is a significant barrier which is a a the local bus operator washing facility which blocks the route uh through which is one of the major things that we need to unpick so uh the site is defined uh let’s move to the next uh slide actually that that will
Help you see it a bit more um to the east there’s the railway Line running north south um and towards the West there’s the canal uh part of the again used to be transport infrastructure running also north south and between the canal and the railway station it
Basically rises in quite a steep Hill so Topography is is both a challenge and and also fantastically useful because it creates drama and opportunities Etc the lower part of the site to the west of the canal is pretty flat um and as you can see from this oh then there’s
Roading infrastructure defining the site running East West um the two connecting roads that run under the railway to to the east to connect the suburbs and they’re very very difficult tight connections there’s there’s no connection from the Railway Station to the east which is a massive problem and
Then there’s a single diagonal road that runs between these two East West routs called shrub Hill Road and it it runs uphill as well um and that’s the only through route throughout the whole site so we go to the next slide uh and currently what’s on site are some absolutely fantastic Heritage
Elements um in the middle the middle photograph on the right is is the engine works building which is like literally like Buckingham Palace uh for for Railway Station construction it’s just fantastic building but you can see the budler growing out of its roof it’s a huge building and it’s very difficult to
Figure out what to do with it uh the top two buildings are other works buildings which are rescuable and potentially reusable in the middle on the left is a 1930s building also rescuable and you can see on the bottom left an opening now that that is an old and the railway
Trats coming out of it that is an Old Railway link that run runs underneath the massive engine works building and provides opportunities for connectivity um bottom left is the railway station itself and there’s this rather dramatic thing and it rises up on a couple of curved streets to get to the the actual
Building there but it it’s you look at its contest there very poor on the bottom right there’s that this is a photograph of the canal which you can’t actually see um but beyond it is the bus depot buildings Etc so next slide um and so the the basically the two
Projects that we were commissioned to do was uh the spatial BL blueprint which we called it which is effectively the master plan it’s a it’s a concept master plan that establishes design principles and strategic moves um but building flexibility and deliverability deliverability is incredibly important for the commissioning uh the public
Sector and and again phasing I think Jane talked about the importance of phasing and the bigger the project you do the more important phasing is what can be done very quickly to begin with what can make it happen where do you start actually building and how do you get development and developers excited
Enough to to move in here and then the second document we produced is the plot Atlas which is essentially the design code on a on a plot By plot basis and um there’s an example just on the right there of a of a concept plan a
Concept um did we call them I can’t remember now the what diagrammatic expression of the design principles for the lower yard which is a triangular site you can probably see it on that upper level illustrative master plan so our next slide and looking at the site constraints the the blue lines are the
Are the roots um the black buildings are all those that are are considered um really valuable uh historical uh Heritage and also reusable on the retrofit first principal um they’re not all listed some of them not at all the building number eight is the 1930s office building not listed but we
Regarded it and and you the clients did too as as a really important piece of um historical connection to the site and it provides an important townscape continuity as well the dotted gray lines are the Old Railway routes that used to run through and they’re now represented for instance by those curved buildings
You can see there um and some of the lines are still in the ground so there are other elements of of Heritage and and historical quality that we were also wanting to retain and then the gray buildings uh gray ones with dashed are all pretty much um tin sheds if you like
Some of them very modern there’s a whole retail Park to the South there that that is functioning but it’s it won’t be there forever so we need to look at the long term and see what can be redeveloped there’s an Aldi Supermarket up near number 11 and a bus depot the
Orange um Oblongs are and circles are poor quality connectivity that was part of the issue we really needed to resolve so next slide um then basically this summarizes the Design Concepts um just quickly backtracking in terms of briefing and and public consultation um we undertook the council didn’t want to go into
Public consultation about the design approach but St stolder consultation was very important uh so with various parts of the council but also land owners and very usefully there are a limited number of land owners on on the site and the two councils own some of the land we’re
Currently going through the the process of getting this adopted as an SPD so we’re doing more detailed and more Community consultation which happily is coming out in support which is really great um running along the bottom just a summary of the the design principles that we came up with it was very
Important that top part of the the site where the station is it’s got the most fantastic views it’s the highest point for miles around and you step out from the station you have views over the city and to the mvin hills so that view is really important to reinforce uh but
Also it’s the green link linking the station down to the city and making the connections across the canal the second point is making open space and connectivity connectivity within the site is is almost zero so we really wanted to uh uh improve that a huge amount for obvious reasons and then
Accessibility in um the in the ltn approach so and not adding any through roots for vehicles but enabling vehicles to get in and out for delivering deliveries and so on but also heavily reducing parking few sha to say you’ve got a minute there oh okay my God not
Going fast enough all right let’s whiz on quite quickly to the next sorry thank you um looking look at we we had this is a quick analysis of of heights and Street widths of the city existing City Center with some comparisons Etc and then the next slide uh looks at what we
Developed there were there were no streets and spaces on this site historically it was a mega project of 200 years ago so trying to turn this back into a city um we looked at proposed scale that are are larger but not similar to what’s there now next scale next
Slide and with this is a uh illustrative master plan next slide which breaks down into looking at the landscape connections um adding a bridge across the canal but you and improving the two that are there and the next slide is we work quite closely with the cycle people
There’s a sustance route that runs along the canal improving cycle access and pedestrian access and uh embedding that in in the public spaces next slides I think yeah that’s just a view from the not out of the Railway Station but top of shrub Hill Road looking down the hill
The buildings are diagrams not architecture next slide I’m looking from the bottom towards the canal which again you can’t see um creating public spaces along the the New Movement routes and the next slide um this is looking across the canal and again you can’t see it but
There’s a Bo in there um and and opening up views towards the Heritage buildings was really important to get people to understand that they could actually come into this area which you can only walk around at the moment you can’t really get into it and lighting the Buckingham
Palace at the end there which is engine works building and creating public spaces enabling you to move through to get to these places residential development around the canal employment and uh office and um workspace and and and light industrial elsewhere I think that might be the last slide um next one
Uh the final bit um we also worked developed meanwhile uses we work with you and me architecture to develop some meanwhile uses which could be enacted and this is looking at an approach to uh on the edges of the canal Etc okay 10 minutes is kind of short so uh I’m sure
I missed a whole bunch perfectly happy to ask question thanks amander I feel like all of the key bits were there good I have SE it before but um yeah when we do judging I thought all the key bits were there Robert do you want to come
Off sharing and then we can get some questions going for Amanda does anybody wna uh just go for it come up mute or put your hand up might be the best thing your virtual hand that is or pop a question into the chat I can I can kick off while
Everybody kind of begins to think about questions so Amanda did you say you’re producing an SPD or how how’s that going to be taken forward and then how does that lead up to kind of actual delivery of stuff yeah we’re we’re we’re in the middle we just um finished the first
Round of community and stakeholder engagement on the SPD we’ve got a program through to next year um and and that so we’ve done there’s been exhibitions and um an online ction and stakeholder workshops we’ve done we’ve done all of those and got some very interesting feedback um the the local
Councilors said oh Nobody Rides this bicycle in this town there’s too many Hills but you know when you go and visit there were people riding bicycles and the cycle infrastructure was terrible but the stakeholder workshops we got fantastic cyclists coming and really pushing for um you know more and better
Cycling infrastructure which was great because um we we kept it in and fought for it a bit with the counselors um so yeah that’s where we are with the SPD and what about funding for the project going forward who’s well it’s there is potential for several approaches they’re they’re
Looking at potential joint ventures between the County Council who own a good chunk of the land the lower yard and upper yard um a joint venture between them and potential developers at the moment they’re doing soft Market testing because um a lot of this is got to be delivered by the development
Industry um and that’s that is always a challenge um so part of that is building in flexibility so the the major Urban blocks we have identified the best locations for residential and the best locations for office and other uses but of course you know the developers may have different approaches and most of
The blocks apart from the the engine works building which is could never become residential really as massive foot print most of the other blocks could could shift either way um and as long as a certain mix is kept to um really you know sustain it as a as a
Mixed use urban neighborhood as well as introducing you know food and beverage along the canal and much more public activity along the canal including Leisure uses Etc wonderful thanks Amanda um anybody else got any questions so I can see you physically putting your hands up uh sorry I didn’t uh typee in um
Presentation Amanda uh and very interesting site I mean the amount of complexity that we’re dealing with um especially with the rail line the canal and lots of existing buildings um I was wondering um maybe I I probably missed you know one of the slides uh you
Were saying there was a lot of existing buildings that you sort of mapped to keep them um did you reuse those for residential use purposes or uh and or did you add any stories uh uh or were you able able to add any stories above um how Mo most of the um
Existing existing buildings to be retained up in the upper yard area where the engine works building is and they’re quite uh quite large footprint industrial buildings um and that a we decided fairly on that was an inappropriate location for residential um and the buildings themselves didn’t lend themselves to conversion for that
Very much so that so we identify those really as uh reten in conversion for commercial as in cleaner commercial uses and Leisure uses as well the engine works could definitely take mixture of leisure and workspace for instance and the those other buildings as well on the lower yard which was the triangular
Space close to the canal there were a couple of buildings with which with smaller footprints that 1930s office building um uh the council commission some Architects to look at options for that to be either office or residential and um the advisors commercial advisors suggested that the best option might be
For that building to be uh retrofitted as a bit of both with potentially a an extra flaw but actually not not likely none of the existing buildings would be likely to get additional floors um you know they they’re brick warehouses BAS basically um so that it would be the
Most of the residential would be in new buildings with some potential for existing great thanks good question and thanks Amanda um Nick you’ve got a question you want to come off mute and ask you question hi yeah thanks I realized I’ve been sending my questions to an individual so that’s I haven’t
Appeared before um yeah this is a question about public consultation because it’s not a critique at all but I was interested to to hear that that hasn’t gone to public consultation no no no it it has now yeah as because we’ve we’ve started the SPD I know um councils
Local authorities can be extremely nervous about um asking the public what they think right at the beginning of projects which is frustrating for all of us and whereas you can see Luton Janes had a fantastic um role and response working with the with the public um so
The beginning of this project uh we did do stakeholder consultation but we weren’t allowed to go talk to the community very frustrating however now that um we have we’ve started off the fpd process it’s been uh there’s been a public exhibition for several weeks in the in the Guild Hall in Wester that’s
Finished a couple of weeks ago and we’ve got a lot of responses from that plus there was an online access as well through a QR code we’ve got a lot through that plus we ran three stakeholder workshops and uh talking to local community organizations like you know the Civic the Civic uh Society
Groups um but the the cycling groups who appeared out of the woodwork was fantastic um having been told that there weren’t any of those we don’t have that sort of stuff in Worcester um but they do uh so yeah that’s in process and what we’ll do what we’re doing at the moment
Is taking on board all the feedback from that and that will produce some tweaks um you know no no major um issues though they do they do all have issues with height there’s an existing building right next to the railway station which wasn’t on any of the drawings a 60s
Sstory building which is eminently convertible actually yes to answer your question that would that building we think would convert brilliantly to residential just a 60s office building but everyone in the town hates it because it stands up and we’ve been trying to explain to people that once
You build other things around it there’s nothing around it at the moment it and it looks like a saw thumb because it hasn’t been touched for 203 40 years it’s it’s rented and it’s not owned by the local authorities so it’s privately owned it’s making money um they’re not going to
Give it away for demolition so you know the process of explaining to people that if you build things up to four five stories six stories coming up to the seven story building it will become a part of the the local Urban fabric um that’s a very difficult cell at the
Moment we got to try and get that across but um yeah that’s where we are with the public right thank you brilliant thank you um I think we’ve got time just for maybe just one very very quick question before we’re gonna reveal the winner so
Too Conor have you got a question to ask your question answer strategy yeah I’m just GNA test can you see me hear you thank you my my connection was a bit intermittent um as I put in the chat I just wondered um was there an opportunity explored for a landscape
Strategy to foreground the blue infrastructure but maybe slightly more widely than the canal itself like were there ways in which water could become more visible for example through Suds going forward where play and plants and things are sort of um brought to the FL yes um that’s that’s a really great
Question um we were working at the Strategic level for this um even though the you know the 3DS show buil form and everything that’s very much diagrammatic um so we didn’t do any drill down to landscape details however opening access to the canal was incredibly important enabling um great biodiversity alongside
It was really important and introducing green spaces in what’s pretty much a hard surface site there’s very little Greenery on the whole 14 hectares at the moment so bringing in in biodiversity and absolutely with thuds as well because we’ve got this fantastic slope running running down from quite a high
Level down to the canal um to the level and then further on down to the river um so there there there really would be uh fantastic opportunities for um incorporating SS and and water features in general in fact hopefully the next steps thank you for the question Toby
Brilliant okay um thanks thanks Amanda thanks for the questions everybody so um well done to all three excellent entries thank you so much to so um from ecoresponsive environments um support by prep also Jane and Toby And also Amanda for excellent presentations so there can be only one winner there a little drum
Roll my laptop in North London uh the winner is ecoresponsive environments for the heath Park master plan so well done um just very quickly judges said the f following so I was chairing this one they said it’s got the potential to be a truly transformative project with a
Wide agenda mobilizing all aspects of Urban Design regeneration and challenging context uh they said the M demonstrates thorough understanding of sustainable placemaking addressing Net Zero circular economy and green Innovation agendas excellent graphic techniques for conveying ideas and principles um and finally um one of the judges said the project demonstrates
Urban Design can be a catalist for change which I think is quite an inspirational point to finish off so very well done as is as just like the Oscars here at the Urban Design Group do you want to have a quick minute to kind of acknowledge and say your say your
Thank you um and praty and then I’ve just got a few points to finish off on before I let everybody go and enjoy the rest of their Thursday yeah no thanks thanks Leo and thank you to the Judy panelists thank you Le and thanks everyone um yeah uh
For giving us the opportunity to present and um and making it to the short list um and I mean we’ve it has been a very interesting uh Journey To be honest going on that project um because we when we did that project it was during the
Coid in the middle of in the middle of coid uh which made it a bit more challenging um so we couldn’t even go to side visits initially we only made it’s once we you know got to the initial short list it was a we started this
Project as a competition um so yeah it was it was quite a challenging task for us um to make first attempts without going to the site and then when we visited the site and we sort of you know had to rethink our strategies um yeah and working with host
Of U uh different consultants and I think you know PR you you can mention about how you make local links by just calling up picking up your telephone and calling up the local residents and other um it has been it has been a roller coaster the whole project
Obviously and with the team but I think we would like to take just one sentence to really um use this opportunity to because for us it is a tribute to our mentors uh Ian Bentley and sumagin who we’ve been working on for a long number of years and we’ve also been
Co-authoring a book with them which will be published next year by rout Legend uh Ian passed away earlier this year and uh and I think us winning this award is is really a tribute for him so we would really take this opportunity to acknowledge that thank you very much it
Really means a lot to us thank you much appreciated Le you’re on mute yeah sorry that’s uh been hi my coughs um so yeah that’s um that’s a wonderful tribute and a really good spirit I think to kind of finish today’s session on in terms of kind of passing to the Next Generation
And also the book and I and see so yeah fabulous well congratulations again congratulations to all the finalists because they’re all fantastic games um and to everybody for asking their questions so um everybody’s been on the call thank you very much for joining us don’t forget the upcoming Awards master
Classes just just the first of the series so we’ve got large Frameworks of Master plans on Wednesday the 20th of September design codes on Tuesday the 26th of September completed schemes on Monday the 2nd of October and then we’ve got policies refug and design guidance on Wednesday the TW 25th of October all
Of these will be free similar format and don’t forget we also have our Urban Design Group conference on Thursday the 12th and Friday the 13th of October in Sheffield so we look forward to seeing you there um and details of all events can be found on the Urban Design Group
Website so I’d just like to say thanks again to all of our finalist B congratulations to e responsive environment and thank you everybody for attending enjoying the rest of your Thursday goodbye