WMUD

We have been appointed by Cookstown District Council in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to produce an urban design strategy for the centre of this striking and unusual town. First impressions of Cookstown are positive. Members of our team who were not familiar with the town found it to be an interesting and attractive place with many positive features to build on.

Cookstown is a bustling place which has a distinct sense of going somewhere. The main street is a strong feature of the town and is a quite remarkable and memorable. We are aware that this was planned and laid out with some care and with considerable aspiration yet the quality of buildings and development fronting the street perhaps does not match the grandeur of the original concept. Nevertheless it is a valuable urban set-piece and provides a strong basis for programmes of improvement to buildings and to the sequence of spaces and public realm.

There are opportunities for improving Cookstown’s core area in terms of additional development opportunities, mitigating the effects of traffic and reworking some of the public realm to create a more distinctive visual product.