This is a slideshow of two pieces of strategy work. The first two images are part of our work for North Lanarkshire Council on the Kelvin Valley Action Plan showing a landscape restructuring of the River Kelvin valley and Forth and Clyde Canal corridor.

The next six images are from our strategy work with yellow book for Motherwell, Ravenscraig and Wishaw showing how new development on the former steelworks site could start to integrate with the surrounding urban areas and benefit the existing centres.

Three key themes were identified for the area:

Diversification: To ensure that (i) wherever possible, economic, civic, community, leisure and cultural activities are focused on the three centres, and (ii) each achieves a diverse and sustainable mix of activities and land use.

Infrastructure: To establish a high quality integrated road, rail and bus network, connecting all the communities in the MRW area to each other, and to the national networks.

Design and quality: To set the benchmark in Scotland for (i) quality architecture and urban design, and for the creation of successful public places and open spaces, and (ii) cleansing, lighting, safety and customer care, and marketing and promotion in partnership with the public sector.

A Flash slideshow featuring public realm strategy work in Renfrew, Byres Road in Glasgow, Ashington in Northumberland and West Port, Dundee.

At Renfrew, we were asked to develop proposals for Hairst Street and High Street which would bring about significant change in the town centre environment. We worked up a shared surface proposal with Martin Stockley Associates which is shown on the slideshow.

The work on Byres Road was part of the Byres Road and Partick Centres study with Halcrow. We proposed a series of new urban spaces at the intersections of side streets with Byres Road.

In Ashington, we produced a range of proposals for sites and buildings in and around the town centre and some of these have been implemented.

The study of West Port, Dundee proposed structuring development framing new public spaces along a stretch of dual carraigeway constructed in the 1960s.

This [tag]animation[/tag] of the [tag]historical development[/tag] of [tag]central Bolton[/tag] was part of our study for Bolton Council in 2005 led by Kevin Murray Associates.

The Local Distinctiveness Study provided the research baseline for Building Bolton, incorporating consultation, [tag]urban analysis[/tag] and policy recommendations. The team (KMA, Drew Mackie Associates and WMUD) devised a unique approach to Bolton town centre – linking the inputs of different stakeholders to ideas and propositions for the future evolution and management of the town centre.

The Final Report is available to download (3.76 MB PDF) and includes sections on the methodology used, the key findings, emerging issues from an urban design perspective and propositions for the content of future planning guidance. The report was used to inform the Council’s Building Bolton SPD which is available here.

This [tag]animation[/tag] of the [tag]historical development[/tag] of the beautiful Channel Islands town of [tag]St Helier[/tag] was part of our study for the States of Jersey in 2005.

The study was commissioned by the Planning and Environment Department of the States of Jersey and originated in the Island Plan which was approved in July 2002. In particular, Policy BE1 stated that:

“The Planning and Environment Committee will initiate an appraisal of the [tag]urban character[/tag] and [tag]townscape[/tag] of the town of St. Helier as an aid to the process of preserving and enhancing its character and in guiding policy formulation and the assessment of planning applications”.

The appraisal of the urban character of the town coupled with [tag]design guidance[/tag] for each character area forms the core of the study. The guidance is set in a strategic policy context which identifies potential change in each area and makes proposals for conservation and physical intervention. The design guidance could enable the States of Jersey to take a new approach to assessing and processing planning applications.

The complete Final Report is available to download from the States of Jersey website (in chapters). and includes sections on the methodology, the key findings, issues from urban design perspective and proposition for the content of future planning guidance. Alternatively it can be downloaded from here (15.89 MB).

Our co-consultants were Drew Mackie Associates (consultation), Yellow Book Ltd (strategic vision), Gordon Urquhart (historical research and conservation) and Malcolm Fraser Architects (interventions).

See also our companion study of the Local Distinctiveness of Bolton Town Centre.

There is a image gallery of St Helier here.

We have been commissioned by the North Belfast Area Partnership to develop a methodology, including identification of target areas and activities, to improve the attractiveness of the physical environment of North Belfast. Economic change, redevelopment, depopulation and ethnic-religious segregation have had an adverse effect on the environment of the area, typified by blight along arterial routes, eyesores and the poor condition of entry and access points to the area. The methodology developed will be used by the Urban II Secretariat to design and implement improvement proposals.

Working with lead consultants TTC International, Drew Mackie Associates and local communities, we will develop ideas for environmental improvement which will aim to remove the worst effects of blight and negative perceptions of the area. This will include improvements to arterial routes, key road and pedestrian access points, blighted land and property such that sustainable uses can be developed and implemented. The aim is to make the area more attractive to residents, visitors and assist the existing commercial and business base in the area.