Approaching large scale urban design schemes A framework for handling complexity Inside Design Review New London Architecture, London 25th November 2011 Tim Stonor Architect & Town Planner Managing Director t.stonor@spacesyntax.com @Tim_Stonor

Urbanism The largest object of human creation It costs money to provide & maintain. It has a functional impact. Once built, it is hard to remove.

What is the purpose of urbanism? Transaction Social Economic Environmental Towns & cities are transaction machines

How do these transaction machines work?

What goes where & how does it connect people together? A definition of urban design

Multi-mode Public, private Multi-scale Macro, meso, micro Multi-active To, through & within Fundamental urban design principles

Movement is the lifeblood of the city.

Ashford, Kent Achieving “balanced” movement Source, Hamilton-Baillie Associates

CAUPD © 2009 Looks nice But will it work?

Linkage Layout Land use Landscape Location

What is the context like? Where will people be coming from and going to nearby? To what extent can the site act as a piece of connective tissue? Think “complement” rather than “compete” Location

Context analysis Olympia Exhibition Centre Holland Park West Cromwell Road Lillie Road North End Road Hammersmith Road Warwick Road Brompton Cemetery Dawes Road West Kensington Fulham Retail Core Kensington High Street Margravine Cemetery Fulham Palace Cemetery Location The diagram to the left describes the study area in relation to surrounding town centres, attractions, parks and underground stations. Railway tracks are a dominant barrier to east-west movement Opportunities the site is strategically located between the town centres of Fulham Broadway, Hammersmith, South Kensington and Kensington High Street it is within walking distance of four London Underground stations all four routes surrounding the site are globally accessible. Constraints West Cromwell Road is strongly vehicular-oriented and acts as a major barrier to north-south movement the railway tracks and the railway depot create barriers to east-west movement. Recommendations assess the potential for improving the permeability of West Cromwell Road (A4) improve access from/to Earls Court station to Warwick Road assess opportunities for strategic links to Fulham Broadway via Seagrave Road. Seagrave Road West Cromwell Road (A4) is a major barrier to north-south movement Opportunity to explore potential connection to Fulham Broadway via Seagrave Road Globally accessible routes London town centres Green infrastructure © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229.

Land use Land use follows the spatial structure of the context. Land use distribution within the site must also align to spatial accessibility Opportunities for active land use on the western edge of the site along North End Road Land use survey The diagram to the left describes the land use survey of the study area. Opportunities land use follows the spatial structure of the context. Land use distribution within the site should also align with spatial accessibility there are opportunities for active land use along North End Road there is a cluster of active land use at the junction of Seagrave Road and Lillie Road (1), and at the junction of Lillie Road and North End Road (2) Tesco is major attractor to the north of West Cromwell Road (3) land use is predominantly residential, with a mature residential character. Recommendations assign active land use to follow movement-rich areas with high accessibility reconstitution of urban form, with active entrances, transparent frontages and retail land use along North End Road the site is suitable for a major residential land use component. 2 1 3 © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Location

Urban Grain Analysis Opportunities to improve the layout of the over-permeable housing estates in the area Large blocks created by the railway infrastructure represent a major constraint in the study area Urban block size analysis The diagram to the left describes the urban block size of the study area. Opportunities opportunities to improve the layout of over-permeable estate areas (1) opportunities to improve the overall permeability in the site (2). Constraints large urban blocks created by the railway infrastructure represent a major constraint in the study area (3). Recommendations introduce an intelligible and permeable street network that is well linked to the key surrounding routes. Permeability, as determined by the size of urban blocks, should be consistent with accessibility and land use accessible locations should have smaller block sizes to accommodate higher levels of movement and active land uses assign larger blocks in less accessible locations, with residential uses, to provide adequate movement levels and natural surveillance. 1 2 3 © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Location

Opportunities for overall improvement of the public realm, including additional pedestrian crossings along Warwick Road Opportunities to improve public realm quality along West Cromwell Road Opportunities for additional pedestrian crossings to align with the pedestrian desire lines of Seagrave Road and Ongar Road Public realm environment improvements needed at the major junctions Railings at the junction of Lillie Road impede pedestrian movement Opportunities to align pedestrian crossings to respond to pedestrian desire lines Opportunities to improve urban character along North End road Opportunities to improve pedestrian crossings Landscape character assessment The diagram to the left represents the quality of the public realm. It summarises the findings related to frontages, entrances and pedestrian quality. Opportunities the north section of North End Road has a good pedestrian landscape which should be extended Warwick Road and Lillie Road have active frontages and entrances. Constraints West Cromwell Road and Warwick Road are dominated by vehicular infrastructure North End Road along the West Kensington Estate lacks urban frontages and entrances the pedestrian landscape at junctions is poor. Recommendations active frontages and active entrances along North End Road assess the possibility of improving pedestrian infrastructure along West Cromwell Road Pedestrian crossings on - Warwick Road - Lillie Road at the junctions of Seagrave Road and Ongar Road - North End Road at the junction of Charlesville Road improve the pedestrian landscape at all major junctions remove railings which form pedestrian movement barriers along Lillie Road. © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Location

(3, 093 pph) (411 pph) (482 pph) (1,249 pph) © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Opportunities there are high levels of pedestrian movement related to the street hierarchy and active land uses the area has a typical residential profile with commuter orientated movement patterns during the weekday and higher movement rates during the weekend. . Constraints there are low levels of movement at the junction of Old Brompton Road and Lillie Road. Recommendations the site should complement the character of the area and encourage through movement by providing a layout that links the surrounding areas and provides opportunities for active land uses provide a direct link to the site from Earls Court Road, potentially along the station concourse improve the public realm at the junction of Lillie Road and Old Brompton Road provide for the pedestrian desire line linking Barons Court Road and West Kensington Station. Opportunity to improve the pedestrian desire line between Warwick Road and Earls Court Road Opportunities to exploit movement potential along Barons Court Road Opportunity to exploit movement potential between Earls Court station and West Brompton station to capture commuter movement during weekdays Pedestrian movement survey Opportunity to improve movement potential along North End Road and into the site

Urban functioning Pedestrian movement Distribution over time Peak-time weekend Peak-time weekday This graph describes pedestrian movement distribution throughout the day for weekday and weekend observation days. The movement distribution on both days is typical of a residential area. During the weekday there are two peaks corresponding to the morning and evening rush hour. There is no lunch-time peak, which is particular to mixed-use areas. At the weekend movement gradually reaches a peak in the early afternoon. Weekday Weekend Pedestrian movement Weekday Weekend Average pedestrian movement (pedestrians per hour)

Urban functioning Pedestrian movement London benchmark (12:00 to 14:00) Legend Comparative streets in London Streets within study area People per hour

Urban functioning Vehicle flow scan Bloomsbury

The railway tracks act as a barrier to pedestrian movement Ashford, Kent Urban Severance Ashford International Station Historic commercial centre Development site

What is the potential of the site to connect to the surrounding urban spatial network? Where are the key gateways? What are the key routes and public transport links? Think “connect” Linkage

Site segments Crow-fly distance 1200m (15-min walk) 800m (10-min walk) 600m (7.5-min walk) 400m (5-min walk) 200m (2.5-min walk) Distances from site boundary The diagram to the left describes walking distances from the study area, using the colour spectrum to represent 2.5-minute isochrones. Orange highlights 5-minutes walking distance; blue is 15-minutes walking distance. Seven underground stations are located within 15-minutes walking distance of the study area, namely: Earls Court station within 1 minute West Brompton station within 1 minute West Kensington station within 1 minute Barons Court station within 7.5 minutes Gloucester Road station within 15 minutes Fulham Broadway station within 15 minutes Kensington Olympia station within 15 minutes Metric catchment Analysis The site is located within 15-minutes walking distance of seven tube stations © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Opportunities & Constraints Linkage Catchment area

Site area Site origins Crow-fly distance 1200m (15-min walk) 800m (10-min walk) 600m (7.5-min walk) 400m (5-min walk) 200m (2.5-min walk) Distances from site boundary Urban form Catchment area Underground stations Metric catchment Analysis Pedestrian hourly average is based on daily figures provided by TfL. The daily figure is divided over 18 hours to provide an hourly average. Saturday data was used for weekend. The study area is located at the junction of Earls Court station, West Brompton station and West Kensington station Earls Court station has high entry and exit figures in comparison to West Kensington and West Brompton stations © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229. Transport for London – London Underground performance update 2008

Key findings Opportunities & Constraints Constraint Over-permeable layout of the housing estate Opportunity Active land uses combined with high spatial accessibility on North End Road. Opportunities for public realm improvement Constraint Low public realm quality and lack of pedestrian crossing facilities along Lillie Road and Warwick Road Constraint High severance for pedestrian movement across West Cromwell Road Opportunity High movement levels generated by underground stations and the interchange between them Opportunity Link to Barons Court station Pedestrian severance

How well do the proposals exploit the potential of the site? How well does the spatial layout design create an effective movement network? Layout

مكونات الخطة الرئيسية Jeddah Connecting & reconnecting

Elephant & Castle Defragmenting & Reconnecting

Elephant & Castle Area layout framework © Foster + Partners

Stratford City, London Stratford International Station Concept sketch 2002

Spatial masterplanning Rapid design development & testing

Spatial masterplanning Rapid design development & testing

Spatial masterplanning Rapid design development & testing

Executive summary Recommendations Potential for mixed-use, active frontages along North End Road The northeast quarter of the site is less accessible. It has the potential to accommodate larger residential urban blocks that are less permeable Link between Earls Court and West Brompton stations West Kensington Potential to create smaller urban blocks along the most accessible locations to accommodate higher movement levels and active retail uses 1 2 3 Provide direct links to West Kensington and Barons Court station. Explore potential links across West Cromwell Road

Log Choice R2000 Concept design Linkage LINKAGE The diagram to the left describes the local spatial accessibility of the study area. Opportunities the surrounding street network has high levels of local and global accessibility which indicates high movement potential Star Road has the potential to become a new east-west link through the site Earls Court station has very high pedestrian movement which should be integrated into the site. Constraints the exit from Earls Court station to Warwick Road is poorly designed West Cromwell Road is a severance to local connections to the north the railway lines create a large urban block that impedes local links between east and west. Recommendations a potential east-west link between Star Road and Earls Court station (1) a potential north-south link between Edith Villas/West Kensington and Seagrave Road (2) a potential diagonal link between Earls Court station and West Brompton station (3). © Crown Copyright 2010. OS Licence No. 010003229.

Beijing CBD Public transport network CAUPD © 2009

Are land uses crudely zoned or haphazardly scattered? Or, are they located according to movement potentials? Are the most important attractors in the most accessible locations? Land use

. . Old town Ashford New town Skelmersdale Mixed use urbanism v Zoned & separated urbanism

How well does the landscape design support the intentions of the spatial layout diagram? Does the landscape design of streets, parks & public spaces encourage social, economic & environmental performance? Landscape

Elephant & Castle Civic Square © Foster + Partners

Suppressed movement economy. Enhanced movement economy. Main street, mixing global & local movement. Fast highways, separating global & local movement. Urban challenge #1 The end of the road for Main Street

Urban challenge #2 The rise of fragmented urbanism

Sounds good But will it work? A city with densely built, mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods connected by greenways and complemented by urban gardens and open space amenities.

Fragmented urbanism It’s not so new Skelmersdale, UK

Ebbsfleet, Kent Fragmented urbanism Source: Land Securities

Beijing CBD Networked landscape CAUPD © 2009

Linkage Layout Land use Landscape Location Design exploitation Pre design potential What is the context like? Where will people be coming from and going to nearby? To what extent can the site act as a piece of connective tissue? What is the potential of the site to connect to the surrounding urban spatial network? Where are the key gateways? What are the key routes and public transport links? How well do the proposals exploit the potential of the site? How well does the spatial layout design create an effective movement network? Are land uses crudely zoned or haphazardly scattered? Or, are they located according to movement potentials? Are the most important attractors in the most accessible locations? How well does the landscape design support the intentions of the spatial layout diagram? Does the landscape design of streets, parks & public spaces encourage social, economic & environmental performance? How well does the design exploit the potential of site?