Lessons Learnt - Design for London

‘centr lity’ does not just occur in (nod l) town
centres, ut lso long (line r) corridors – nd
invest ccordingly.
• Diversify selected employment areas –
Industri l nd other employment uses re
incre singly pushed out of town centres nd
their edges, ut their retention f cilit tes
more diverse nd sust in le ur n
environment. London Pl n policies reflect
this. There is potenti l to pply pro ctive
rchitectur l nd ur n design str tegies to
cre te good conditions for working, living nd
the pu lic re lm in close proximity. yet the
delivery of such projects is h rd to chieve.
Mixed use c tegories re often considered
risky, expensive or merely too h rd work
even if m ny Loc l Authorities report ‘l tent’
dem nd for fford le sm ll worksp ces of
v rious specific tion. We recommend further
investig tion of delivery incentives for mixed
use typologies nd use-flexi le, d pt le
‘c sco’- uildings, s well s fford le
worksp ce str tegies.
• Unlock rail sites – The key issue for unlocking
r il sites lies in the v lue proposition of such
sites. Building over r ilw ys or sidings c n
cre te good qu lity pu lic sp ces nd cre te
the conditions for good qu lity housing.
The design studies illustr te th t in project
design m ny of the o st cles nd conflicting
dem nds c n e overcome, lthough
we recognise th t cost issues c n seem
prohi itive. We recommend th t TfL m ximises
the use of such potenti l sites in the medium
nd long term. Their involvement c n help
other network m n gers to re lise the enefits
of unlocking r il sites.
• Stimulate alternative procurement methods
– There seems to e hesit tion t ll levels
to llow for w ys of procuring housing th t
chieve gre ter individu l expression nd
sense of ownership. yet these procurement
methods c n incre se fford ility, improve
rchitectur l st nd rds nd strengthen soci l
cohesion nd the identity of neigh ourhoods.
We recommend incorpor ting more
experiment l ppro ches in town centre
intensific tion schemes, nd routinely
est lishing pl nning fr meworks nd ur n
design guid nce th t encour ge diversity of
procurement methods.
• Appraise possibilities for the integration of
large scale retail sites – We recommend
system tic n lysis of ig ox ret il sites to
ppr ise if (1) integr tion into the town centre
is vi le; nd (2) ppr ise wh t soci l enefits
could e chieved. This n lysis provides
sis for selective integr tion of ig- ox ret il
sites into the ur n f ric.
• Re-imagine the relation to heritage / character
– Underst nding the ch r cter of pl ces is
cruci l for successful ur n regener tion
efforts. We recommend com in tion of
thorough n lysis of herit ge ssets nd
im gin tive ppro ches to m n ging ch nge
in order to enh nce, not just m int in, their
qu lity. While the individu l design scen rios
re not el or ted t the level which ddresses
herit ge issues in det il, the studies do
illustr te th t propos ls for new ur n form
c n nd should e sensitive to the ch r cter of
their surroundings.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARy Of RECOMMENDATIONS 89
LGN WNW BAL ANH PUR MOR OKR