Specialization II - Urban Studio

1. APPRECIATING
THE CONTEXT
>Community >Place >Natural resources >Connections >Feasibility >Vision

2. What is meant by context?
Context is the character and setting of the area
within which a projected scheme will sit.
Context also includes people, the individuals living
in or near an area and how communities are
organised so that citizens become real participants
in the projected development.

3. Why context is important?
It is about understanding the position of
development, and how to position a development.
This involves a range of considerations and
participants, directly or indirectly.

4. Designers need to take account of the
following priorities:
• Strengthening local communities
• Creating places of distinction
• Harnessing intrinsic site assets and resources
• Integrating with surroundings
• Ensuring feasibility
• Providing vision

6. This requires an appreciation of the dynamics of
the local community, including:
• local views and initiatives;
• local history and custom;
• the views of other stakeholder groups and individuals (such as
developers, landowners, utility organisations);
• organisational or institutional arrangements;
• the policy context.

7. Design is an essential tool for negotiating trade-
offs between different interest groups and securing
mutually compatible solutions.

8. Inventory Sample
Bracknell Town Centre

9. Bracknell Town Centre

11. Part of the urban design lexicon is the
“genius loci”, the prevalent feeling of place.
Perceptions of a place are made up of layers of
understanding the settlement in the landscape,
its overall structure, the district, the street, the
building.

12. The key components are:
• Regional Identity
• Linkages to surroundings
• Local Character
• Morphology
• Natural Features
• Socio-economic Profile

14. A thorough investigation of a site’s natural
resources will lead to an overall design response
that:
• integrates the various needs of the new
development;
• identifies possibilities that the site offers; and
recognises the site’s limitations.

15. Work with the Elements
• utilise the solar potential;
• make full use of rain water and drainage systems;
• use the potential of the ground for heating or cooling;
• harness wind energy;
• further reduce energy demands by, for instance, integrating a
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant into the development.

16. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’
The critical questions to be asked include:
•should the site be developed at all?
•if it should, then what parts of the site?

17. It is important to focus on how to repair and
re-use previously developed or damaged
parts of the site, while retaining and
respecting undamaged parts.

18. Three Key Considerations:
•Identify landscape assets to preserve
•Re-use and repair brownfield land
•Strengthen the identity and structure of the
landscape

20. Successful development depends on good access
and connections.

21. The connections between a site and its
surroundings are important for even the
smallest of developments.

22. Observe the Quality of Movement
Watching how people move through an existing area
reveals the various influences on movement at work.
How people move, particularly on foot, is not just a matter
of the simplest and most obvious route, but will be
influenced by, for example: variety and interest; safety;
light and shade; commercial activity; landscape; noise
and pollution.

23. Movement analysis will suggest how these
considerations can be added to and improved.
Movement Analysis
Sample Table

25. The feasibility of a project, both in economic and practical
terms, requires an assessment of:
• community need;
• market supply and demand;
• funding sources;
• site capacity;
• land ownership, assembly and tenure;
• integration with surrounding context;
• construction costs;
• engineering constraints;
• local planning policy context.

26. The proposals will need to relate to their location and
context, and will vary with the type of project, whether
infill, brownfield, urban extension or regeneration.

27. An early assessment of
the factors likely to affect
a project’s feasibility will
form the basis for
preliminary designs and
testing.

28. Feasibility Appraisal Inventory Sample

30. The vision is an amalgamation of
hard physical and financial facts
and a series of aspirations.

31. The contextual analysis is a
springboard for shaping a vision as to
what can be achieved.

32. The contextual analysis is a springboard for
shaping a vision as to what can be achieved.
It is easy to lose sight of the potential in
facing up to the numerous constraints, but
regeneration projects that have been
successfully implemented provide sources of
encouragement, and this Compendium
contains many examples.

33. Value can be created
A poor physical fabric or social problems
may have stigmatised an area, but
history shows these attitudes can be
changed.

34. Constraints can be overcome
Creative proposals for brownfield land are
often inhibited by the claim that there is no
market for what is proposed.

35. Context is dynamic
Designs that are inherently flexible will enable
future changes to be accommodated - such as in
household size and composition, lifestyles and
movement patterns.

36. The initial context appreciation stage has
two key outputs:
•A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats)
• Initial concept ideas and strategic options

37. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats)
That provides a composite of the various ‘layers’ of
consideration by identifying existing strengths and
weaknesses, opportunities for improvement and
threats to the project’s success.

38. Initial concept ideas and strategic options
That sketch out the vision, and build in flexibility to the
project as it unfolds by ensuring that the process is:
• participatory;
• capable of incremental implementation .