fabrik

Oxford United Football Club has been shortlisted as a finalist in this year’s Football Business Awards for the Sustainability Award category! It’s been an incredible journey collaborating with a fantastic client and design team that truly puts sustainability at the heart of design. Working alongside Mott MacDonald, Ridge and Partners LLP, AFL Architects and Oxford United Football Club has been a pleasure, and we’re proud to be part of a project that prioritises environmental responsibility in football infrastructure. Good luck to all the finalists - we're looking forward to the results! #Sustainability #FootballBusinessAwards #OxfordUnitedFootballClub #SustainableDesign #Teamwork 📷AFL Architects

Exciting news! 🎉 We are delighted that the Southampton City Council Planning Committee has resolved to grant planning permission for the regeneration of Town Quay Marina, Southampton. As landscape designers for the project, working alongside our internal landscape planning team, HGP Architects Ltd and Luken Beck on planning, we have thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative process of shaping the public realm spaces around the marina. The proposals will transform this prominent waterfront site, delivering a 9-storey, 128-bedroom hotel, alongside 460 apartments, a new Red Jet passenger terminal, 12,000 sqm of reclaimed land and nearly two football pitches of open space, including a publicly accessible boardwalk. Our landscape strategy has been shaped by key principles that enhance the historic character of the site while creating a welcoming and dynamic public realm: 🌿 Thresholds – Drawing people into and through the site, providing access to the waterfront 🚶 Promenades for Walking – Strengthening the sense of place and heritage by improving legibility within the site and its wider context 🏡 Positive Permissive Realm – Designing inviting, high-quality spaces that encourage engagement with the site’s rich history 🛶 Enhanced Public Spaces – Creating areas for activity or quiet contemplation, using high-quality materials to establish a strong sense of place 🔗 Connections – Establishing a clear hierarchy of routes linking the site to Mayflower Park, Queens Park, the City Centre, and Ocean Village 🌱 Urban Green Infrastructure – Enhancing the soft landscape along the dock frontages to improve user experience along the waterfront. This development will bring much-needed housing to the city, while generating 270 jobs and contributing £5 million to the economy in wages per year. A huge thank you to our consultant team, Southampton City Council Officers and statutory consultees for their dedication in securing this landmark addition to Southampton’s waterfront. #TownQuayMarina #Southampton #LandscapeDesign #Placemaking #UrbanGreening #PublicRealm #Heritage #SustainableDesign Image 4 © HGP Architects

Earlier this week, HM King Charles III gave the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Deputy PM and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner MP for Ashton, a guided tour of Nansledan in Cornwall, for which fabrik are the executive landscape architects. Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, was launched in 2013 as a human-scale urban extension, that drew on The King's environmental principles, providing green spaces, using local materials and training people in building skills. There is an emphasis on high quality design, delivered through pattern book Design Codes, and ensuring the highest sustainable approach is achieved. The trio met residents and visited local businesses, saw a community kitchen which provides training and skills, and visited the primary school and community orchard that we helped to deliver, the latter of which provides locally grown food and supports 45 jobs. So far, 840 houses have been built out of an intended 3,700, in a project that began when The King was the Prince of Wales and lead the The Duchy Of Cornwall. The environment and natural world are important to him and therefore the landscape plays an important and intrinsic part of this sustainable development. For more about our involvement at Nansledan, see our project page by clicking on the link below.

In another round of good news, we are delighted to announce the promotion of Nathan Onions to Principal Associate within our landscape design team. Nathan has over 15 years’ experience in the construction industry and is confident working across various scales, from strategic new settlements to construction-level detailing. He has worked on a wide range of projects throughout the UK, including residential, stadium schemes, public realm and podium gardens. Nathan is a safe pair of hands, capable of producing accurate, high quality design work with exceptional efficiency. He brings a flair for illustrative graphics, technical rigor in the production of all design material and a range of experience in both strategic and technical design. Nathan is also a certified ‘Building with Nature’ Assessor.

We are delighted to announce promotions for Charlotte Mimms and Sean Rushton to Technical Directors within our landscape planning workstream. Charlie is a chartered Landscape Planner with over fifteen years of experience. A firm believer of evidence-based design and a landscape-led approach to masterplanning, she promotes Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments as a design tool to inform placemaking, ensuring it is responsive to the local landscape. Having specialised in landscape planning since 2015, Charlie provides landscape and visual advice on projects from feasibility, site promotion, application and at Appeal. Charlie has undertaken assessments for schemes within designated landscapes and Green Belts of varying scales, and has prepared Proofs of Evidence. Sean’s professional experience has been focused around the delivery of new communities across all stages of planning, in both the private and public sectors. He has extensive experience as a landscape designer, landscape and visual impact assessment assessor, masterplanner and urban designer, for residential and mixed-use schemes ranging from ten to 10,000 new homes. A major passion and focus of his work in recent years has revolved around how the built and natural environments work together to deliver active, healthy and climate resilient developments. He plays a key part in overseeing fabrik’s role on Homes England’s placemaking framework. Very well deserved and congratulations to you both!

It's been a great start to the new year, with confirmation of resolution to grant planning permission, subject to a legal agreement for Laindon Road, Billericay on behalf of Gleeson Land. Working with tor&co, iTransport, The Ecology Partnership, richards urban design ltd and proactively with Officers at Basildon Borough Council throughout the application process, has culminated in a highly sustainable grey belt release scheme, that is also a draft allocation in the Regulation 18 consultation. The scheme, whilst providing up to 250 much needed high-quality homes, is sensitive to existing landscape features, with the celebration of veteran trees, retention of hedgerows and enhancements to the edge habitat of ancient woodland. Existing and new residents will have access to public open space totalling 7.8 ha - 128% above policy requirements. Integrated SuDS, semi-improved grassland, wetland, community gardens and woodland copse all contribute to a biodiversity net gain of circa 26%. A new green neighbourhood for Billericay!

Last week, we joined together as a practice for the obligatory lunch, secret Santa and one too many sherries. But before the festivities got fully underway, we took time to celebrate the fantastic work we’ve produced as a team this year, with everyone sharing an insight to their favourite project. The shear variety of work, the range of passions and the outstanding quality that ran through each and every scheme was a delight to see. As a team, we can be very proud of all we have achieved in 2024. As we prepare to head away for a well-earned break, we wish all of our clients, collaborators and colleagues season’s greetings. We look forward to continuing to work with you all in 2025 and can't wait to see what next year's presentations bring.

We are delighted to be part of the CampbellReith team!

fabrik were commissioned by Taylor Wimpey plc to provide landscape design services in support of Reserved Matters planning applications for two parcels within the Princess Royal Barracks development at Deepcut. Following a successful outcome for Parcels I&J in September, a resolution to grant permission has now been achieved for Parcels C&D. Working alongside OSP Architecture, RCP, Savills and SJAtrees, fabrik produced landscape designs that respond to the prevailing heathland landscape character, retain and respect existing tree stock, propose a significant level of new tree planting and create open spaces and amenity areas for people to relax and play. Parcels I&J are located between the new Deepcut Village Green to the East and SANG to the west and therefore creates connections with both whilst reflecting a varying character that is consistent with each key recreational space. Parcels C&D occupy a topographically challenging site and deal with the visual impacts of the new housing through a layered approach to tree planting. This development phase also includes an extension to the village centre with adjacent plaza, where the change in levels are addressed through a series of planted terraces and ramps.

In mid-October, fabrik had the honour of presenting at an event hosted by URBOX Brookes, organised by Alanna Heywood, as part of the Urban Design, Planning, and Development Course at Oxford Brookes University. The event, themed 'Navigating Graduate Success' aimed to provide insights into the life of an urban designer post-university and share our experiences of working in practice. Alexander Baker represented fabrik and was joined by esteemed colleagues from David Lock Associates Ltd, Stantec, and edge Urban Design. Alex shared his journey from graduation to his current role as a Technical Director at fabrik, highlighting the diverse opportunities within masterplanning and urban design. He emphasised the importance of finding your passion within the field and how this can significantly influence career development. He also outlined how demonstrating enthusiasm and discussing projects and portfolios during interviews can be crucial in securing graduate scheme positions. Key themes of the presentation included the significance of landscape and placemaking in masterplanning, illustrating how these concepts can be integrated to create sustainable, healthy environments. Eloise Hawkes, fabrik’s 2024 masterplanning team intern, concluded the presentation by offering valuable insights into fabrik’s company culture and her positive experiences during the summer she spent with the urban design team. It was a wonderful experience to return to the Abercrombie Building at Oxford Brookes, where Alex completed his own Urban Design Masters, as did many of the masterplanning team at fabrik. It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm and passion from the URBOX group as they explore career paths within the field.