WELCOME TO PLACE-MAKE - ARCHITECTS AND URBAN PLANNERS

Place-Make is an independent team of architects and urban planners based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire and operating across the UK and internationally.

An RIBA Chartered Practice, we provide a wide scope of planning and design services from master planning, regeneration and strategy through to bespoke building and urban design.

Central to our approach is a commitment to place-making and the underlying belief in creating integrated buildings and places that are planned, designed and implemented in a viable and sustainable manner.

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SERVICES

MASTER
PLANNING

Representing the overarching framework for development, our master planning experience encompasses a variety of projects of varying scale, character and purpose across the UK and overseas. These range from pocket infill sites of up to 10 ha to strategic sites of 2,000+ ha for a complex mix of activities.

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URBAN DESIGN

Successful urban design harmonises buildings and places with the wider physical and strategic context. Through approaching a project from the perspective of urban planner, architect and designer, we are well equipped to deliver feasible, sustainable and well integrated solutions – the essence of place-making.

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ARCHITECTURE

Our experience spans from private residential to commercial and hospitality in the UK and overseas. For each project, we work with our clients to create bespoke design solutions that are tailored to the particular characteristics of the site, the ambition for the new development and the relevant parameters for construction.

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PROJECTS

From bespoke building and urban design to strategic planning and regeneration, we have successfully delivered a range of different projects across the UK and internationally. Often involving complex design challenges, a number of these are currently being experienced and enjoyed as integrated buildings, places and spaces.

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LATEST NEWS & ARTICLES

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The future of the High Street: fewer products, more people

Last month’s figures show that the real High Street is losing the battle with the virtual ‘Marketplace’ – retail sales and occupancy rates were down compared with the same period last year while the ratio of internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales continues to rise (House of Commons Economic Indicators, Sept. 2019).

Of course, this is no surprise – we are getting used to hearing about declining sales on the High Street. However, the gradual break-down of our town and city centres has far reaching implications beyond shopping; less footfall and active frontages with passive surveillance leads to an increase in antisocial behaviour and a reduced sense of security. It is the beginning of a downward spiral that culminates in the ‘doughnut’ effect – a term that was used to describe the empty downtown of Detroit when the city declared bankruptcy in 2013.

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Place Plans give more power to the people

The Localism Act of 2011 brought greater opportunities for community-led planning and for residents to influence their physical and social environments. Today, Neighbourhood Plans are being preparation for towns, cities and villages across the UK. According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), up to 700 plans have now been adopted and are currently being used to determine major planning applications and influence strategic planning.

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Placemaking is central to contemporary planning ethos - but what does it really mean for a physical project?

Statutory planning documents and design guidance often refer to the requirement for new development to create a particular type or sense of ‘place’ and yet, throughout the construction sector, there remains a degree of uncertainty about how this translates to a physical project.

This is largely because placemaking, much like urban design itself, brings together many interrelated disciplines from architecture, landscape architecture, planning and infrastructure design to environment, ecology, socioeconomics and engagement. As a result, the phrase is just as likely to appear in a transport statement as it might in a landscape appraisal, drainage strategy or a heritage assessment.

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WELCOME TO PLACE-MAKE - ARCHITECTS AND URBAN PLANNERS

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