Location: City of Hereford 

Services: Urban Design & Landscape Architecture

A challenging street re-design in the heart of a medieval Cathedral City which needs to adapt to changing priorities whilst also being respectful and authentic to it’s historic status.

The Challenge

The scheme, part of the River Wye and Cathedral Quarter, sought to improve the quality of the streets and spaces between the buildings in this historic part of the city. We needed to be able to reduce the dominance of highways, while reflecting on the fact that Hereford is a rural County so some car access was necessary. We also needed to consider the influence of change on the historic environment, in the context of towns and City’s needing to be adapted for climate resilience, yet still true to their sense of place.

Our Role

We established clear goals and objectives at the outset of the commission, knowing from experience that street redesign projects frequently give rise to conflicting spatial requirements. We used precedents and principles to build stakeholder consensus before wider public consultation. We made alterations to the scheme to reflect on comments and developed an outline (RIBA 2) spatial arrangement in a 3D model.

The Outcome

The outcome of our work was the Council were confident in the design to allow it to move to detailed design. We have been retained by the Council and our role includes continuing to work with stakeholders and refining the design for tender prior to construction.

The post Hereford Cathedral & River Wye Quarter first appeared on The Urbanists.

Partners: Cass Haywood, Burroughs, Arup, Grimshaw

Location: Newport, South Wales

Service: Landscape Architecture

A vital piece of active travel infrastructure over the Great Western mainline in a City Centre location that incorporates SuDS and a new plaza.

The Challenge

The challenge was to translate and update the concept design for the plaza and integrate into it a new SuDS strategy.  Key challenges included the refinement of site levels, integration of a tree pit and attenuation system (in limited subterranean space), coordination with paving suppliers and preparing a planting design for spaces with limited light and direct rainfall.

Our Role

Our role was to provide a pack of detailed design information to the Contractor (AGC) while working with the City Council and their design team to refine and adapt the design.

The Outcome

The completed project brings together our experience of integrating active travel infrastructure, plaza design and SuDS design into a new piece of civic townscape that will encourage public transport use, walking and cycling. 

The post Newport Active Travel Bridge first appeared on The Urbanists.