It was an exciting day at Rainham Riverside with the Mayor of LB Havering officially opening this Rainham SIL (Strategic Industrial Land) ‘Good Growth’ project at the Belvedere. Many thanks to our wonderful client at London Riverside BID and to the GLA officers who supported project delivery on behalf of the Mayor of London, as well as LB Havering and other key stakeholders like the Environment Agency and Port of London Authority who we worked with throughout.

New Public Realm celebrated for Rainham’s community, workforce and visitors

UP is excited to confirm our appointment as landscape architects for an innovative new co-cliented and co-designed Space for Teenage Girls at Waterden Green in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We are part of a team led by Studio Gil with Black Females in Architecture, working with London Legacy Development Corporation and local young women through East London based youth-led initiative Elevate, also supported by Make Space for Girls. This is a wonderful opportunity for all involved, follow a uniquely collaborative and inclusive creative journey together.

Studio Gil to create space for young women at Olympic Park

UP is working with East Suffolk Council and Associated British Ports (ABP) to deliver the South Quay pocket park section of our wider Seafront Vision for South Lowestoft. ABP have commenced demolition of the suspended concrete quayside beside the inner harbour, enabling new South Quay railing installation to the waterside. Parts of this characterful quay structure will remain visible in the tidal foreground of the pocket park as part of its identity. The inner harbour is a ‘live’ working environment servicing offshore wind farms and Sizewell C construction, as well as leisure boat traffic between the Broads and the North Sea.

Our ‘Good Growth by Design’ project for London Riverside BID beside the Thames at Easter Industrial Park in Rainham has achieved practical completion! This is a fantastic achievement for all involved through the course of the project’s evolution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-funded by the Mayor of London, LB Havering and the Business Improvement District, the project provides new amenities for local workers and Thames-side visitors including a sheltered destination belvedere, whilst protecting a unique Open Mosaic Habitat (OMH), and creating the ‘Museum of Garden Escapes’ courtyard garden with interpretation about the OMH’s ‘garden escape’ plants and the area’s distinct natural and industrial heritage.

Untitled Practice is delighted to be appointed by Westminster City Council to support their High Streets Programme through the delivery of shopfront improvements across Edgware Road and Praed Street in the Paddington Bayswater Conservation Area. We’ll be working with Westminster’s Place Shaping Team and the diverse local businesses through this area around Paddington Station to support their economic development in transitional times for high streets. UP have delivered over 200 successful shopfront improvements across London and south east England, including at Sidcup, Abbey Wood, Acton Central, Surrey Quays, and 7 market towns in Central Bedfordshire.

Our riverside belvedere for Rainham will be fully erected on site avoiding welding. Murray and Jenny visited the steelworker’s fabrication yard at Battledown Farm outside Basingstoke to inspect the full size mock-up, enabling refinement of key component assembly and connection details. It was great to see the effect of the canopy apron’s laser cut ‘Rainham Riverside’ letters against the sky.

We led a ‘toolbox’ session with the landscape contractor in Hove for planting out of the perennial beds at the Beach Park. These follow a 3 + 1 intermingled groupings strategy developed with Professor Nigel Dunnett during our previous work at Valley Gardens in Brighton city centre. At Hove the mix has a higher proportion of grasses relating to its coastal setting. These will provide a diverse and high level of interest, and create refuges and extended nectar season for invertebrates, contributing to the site’s significant Biodiversity Net Gain increase.

Snape Maltings is the renowned music venue established by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears for the Aldeburgh Festival. The buildings enjoy a beautiful setting amongst the reedbeds beside the River Alde, with sculptures by Barbara Hepworth. Untitled Practice has been appointed as landscape architect for environmental improvements at Snape relating to flood risk mitigation, increased biodiversity, and improved site accessibility. We’ve been inspired by Wes Anderson’s ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, introducing new audiences to Britten’s music and its relationship with landscape.

Untitled Practice is part of a Hemingway Design led team appointed to ‘take the lead in creating an exciting and ambitious vision for the future of Richmond Town Centre’. Building upon engagement work by We Made That, the brief seeks a ‘creative activation plan’ to ‘attract new audiences and create a sense of identity, or place brand, for future generations’. We’ll be working with LB Richmond upon Thames and local stakeholders to respond to priorities including increased town centre offer, enhanced public spaces, protected natural areas, and more opportunities for young people.

We’re pleased to share that our colleague Jenny Smith has passed her RIBA Part 3 exam and is now a fully registered architect with the ARB. Jenny is a MAUD graduate from the University of Cambridge, and she completed her professional practice exam at the Bartlett School of Architecture.

We’re delighted to have Jenny as part of our team. Big congratulations on this achievement. Go Jenny!

Our proposals with Hemingway Design and Gelling Studio for Royal Plain, Royal Green and South Quay at South Lowestoft have secured planning permission with unanimous cross-party support at Committee:

“Brilliant ideas. Something for everybody. Really, really sympathetic.” Cllr Andree Gee, Conservatives

“Excellent proposals. Absolutely brilliant.” Cllr Toby Hammond, Greens

“I really appreciate the work done and how good it looks.” Cllr Malcolm Pitchers, Labour

The power of landscape unites us all.

Image by Hemingway Design and UP.

UP has been appointed to work with this local community garden charity, which helps people in their recovery from mental and physical health issues. Sydenham Garden is a wellbeing centre focusing on Adult Mental Health through gardening, art and craft, and cooking, and Dementia with Cognitive Simulation Therapy. We’ll be working with the garden’s community to improve their facilities.

Ground has been broken on the first external works phase of Kingsway to the Sea. The Wheeled Sports area includes the plaza-style Skatepark, Pump Track and Roller Skating rink. We’re working with specialists Maverick Skateparks and Velosolutions, and we’ve been inspired by the 6^th Avenue Skate Park in San Francisco.

Image by Elia Loupasaki and UP.

Work has started on the Outdoor Sports Hub for KTTS. UP are working with Brighton & Hove City Council’s City Build Partnership to deliver this significant Levelling Up Fund project, one of the first to start work on site. The OSH will provide a new home for Hove & Kingsway Bowling Club, as well as new beach-side public toilets, a Changing Places facility, and public café with views across the site. Work on the park starts soon.

We’ve submitted our proposals with Hemingway Design and Gelling Studio for South Lowestoft seafront to East Suffolk Council for planning permission. The project is one of 5 that ESC are progressing in Lowestoft through the government’s Towns Fund. The focus of the Seafront Vision is a new fountain at Royal Plain beside East Point Pavilion, which re-opened after refurbishment in 2022. Proposals also include extensive landscape improvements to Royal Green, and new pocket park creation nearby at South Quay. The site is the gateway to the beach at South Lowestoft, which is the venue for the First Light Festival.

Photo by ESC.

Fenella has been selected as landscape architecture and public realm specialist for Design South East’s Brighton Design PLACE Panel and attended an induction day in the city which included a tour through UP’s Valley Gardens project. Fenella is already a member of d:se’s Dover Design Review Panel, and was also selected earlier this year for the Oxford DRP.

Photo by Matt Grayson.

Our GLA Good Growth project for London Riverside BID in Rainham has won planning permission following consultation with the Environment Agency. The riverside location includes a rare Open Mosaic Habitat which will be celebrated at the ‘Museum of Garden Escapes’, a courtyard garden on the site of the former Ferry Inn (Three Crowns). The project also includes a new Belvedere with views across the Thames, providing shelter for walkers, and a place for lunch for workers from Easter Industrial Park.

Image by UP.

Untitled Practice is part of a Hemingway Design team appointed to develop a Vision for Lowestoft Seafront. We’ll also be working with Gelling Studio and JBA Consulting, to develop proposals for the area around East Point Pavilion south of the harbour. The name Lowestoft derives from Norse, meaning Hlothver’s Homestead. Lowestoft is the most easterly point of mainland Britain, and home to the First Light Festival.

Kingsway to the Sea has been submitted for Planning Permission. This Levelling Up Fund project for 1.5km of West Hove’s seafront is due to go to Committee in December, start on site in early 2023, and complete during 2024. We’re working with Brighton & Hove City Council’s City Build team to deliver this linear park. Policy-led targets include 20% Biodiversity Net Gain.

We’ve started our training of local volunteers in the principles of landscape character and view analysis, map regression and ecological services, as part of our commission with Fiona Fyfe Associates for Quantocks Landscape Partnership Scheme to identify 10 views of the Quantock Hills AONB for conservation, protection and enhancement.

Kingsbury & Market Square has received all of its planning permissions. This ambitious public realm improvement project for the 2 main historic town centre squares in Aylesbury Garden Town proposes a new Garden Square for the Garden Town at Kingsbury, and interprets the old Market Square as an ‘Urban Living Room’. The project is due to start on site during early 2023.