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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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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Releasing space for affordable employment generating activities through imaginative urban renewal and place shaping

A few years ago, we were looking for a new office that the practice could grow into. A young company, we (reluctantly) accepted that the dream studio would be unlikely for our budget. However, in London’s melting pot of space and activity, we were still optimistic of finding somewhere with light and security that would be close to shops, similar businesses and transport links. From a base that was then in Muswell Hill, North London (N10), the search began locally and quickly widened through the travel zones until it became apparent that either our budget or expectations needed review.

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Integrated urban design and some joined-up thinking at Houghton Regis

Urban design is a strange discipline. A sweeping statement, I know – and certainly one that does not come close to justifying its complexity or significance. Definitions vary greatly, often focusing on a particular scale, activity or specialism. Paradoxically, the most accurate descriptions are perhaps those that are more general, such as; ‘the art of creating and shaping cities and towns’ (urbandesign.org) or, ‘the design of towns and cities, streets and spaces… it is the collaborative and multi-disciplinary process of shaping the physical setting for life in cities, towns and villages; the art of making places’ (Urban Design Group).

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WELCOME TO PLACE-MAKE - ARCHITECTS AND URBAN PLANNERS

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