In February, TOWN held an engagement day in Hemel Hempstead as part of the Westwick Row project, working with local stakeholders and future occupiers to shape the early design and vision for a sustainable, intergenerational community of 80 homes.

The day was structured into two key sessions: a morning workshop with the Ideas Exchange and an afternoon workshop with members of the Westwick Row collaborative housing group.

The Westwick Row Ideas Exchange is an engagement approach that TOWN first used at Hartree – our project in Cambridge – that assembles a group of local residents who are selected by the Sortition Foundation to demographically represent the surrounding area. Over the lifetime of the project, the group meets periodically to review and feedback on the design work for Westwick Row. Members of the group are compensated for their time and contributions and over time they build up a strong foundation of knowledge about the proposals for the project.

The morning session focused on the design of streets and paths to improve accessibility and ease of movement, and the distribution of public spaces to support communal activities. Using models of the site, made by Westwick Row’s masterplanners, Periscope, participants mapped out key site features and explored different configurations that could influence the overall layout of the neighbourhood.

In the afternoon, TOWN met with the collaborative housing group, a collection of individuals who have expressed an interest in living at Westwick Row. This session focused on defining priorities for shared spaces in the community.

Westwick Row is one of The Crown Estate’s three housing demonstration projects, an initiative that seeks to explore innovative approaches to delivering sustainable, high-quality housing. At Westwick Row, TOWN looks to innovate by involving future residents in the design process, in order to create homes that are sustainable and well designed but also over which residents feel a strong sense of ownership, offering long-term resilience and a sense of community.

The insights gathered from this engagement day will inform the next stages of design development with TOWN and Periscope.