Somers Town Masterplan
Camden, London
The masterplanning feasibility study established the issues surrounding rebuilding Edith Neville Primary School and Children’s’ Centre and making Central Somers Town a better place to live and work. It examined the provision of 80~100 new homes, open space, educational and community facilities, better routes and connections and improved community safety in the context of a community bounded by Euston and Kings Cross stations.
The main challenge of the project was how to provide improvement to all the facilities, deliver sufficient affordable housing and better public realm whilst in a cost-neutral scheme that preserves the amount of public open space, and has the support of the diverse local communities.
The project, which is part of Camden's Community Investment Programme, offers a wonderful opportunity to establish a new heart to Somers Town - a unique location, with a rich history.
Collaboration
Through an iterative design-development process we prepared scheme options for appraisal with the project working group, balancing the diverse priorities of the local authority departments. We assisted the council in preparing reports for the Camden Community Investment Programme (CIP) Project Board, Cabinet Sub-Committee and Cabinet.
Consultation
The project was characterised by extensive consultation with the local community and engagement with multiple key stakeholders throughout the development of the design.
This showed that there were strongly held views, both positive and negative, about the proposals, but that there was enthusiasm for a scheme which promotes a sense of community and caters for the needs of all ages in Somers Town.
Our Team
- Jayne Bird
- Nicholas Langstaff
Project Team
- Client: London Borough of Camden
- Project Management: Developing Projects
