Spacehub

Happy International Day of Forests! As the weather warms, the boundless energy of having a toddler means that we are constantly seeking new places to go outdoors and explore. Despite living in a big city natural greenspaces do exist, and I was fortunate enough to have the sun out whilst exploring the Parkland Walk near Alexandra Palace. The Parkland Walk is the longest linear nature reserve in London at 4km in length and follows the former railway line connecting Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace that opened in 1873. The walk is very effective at transporting you away from the feeling of being in inner city London with parts of the walk classified as a closed canopy woodland. We shouldn’t shy away from designing woodlands adjacent to residential neighbourhoods on highly urban sites. In fact, every community deserves access to a woodland, and you don’t need much space to achieve this! At Spacehub, we’ve embraced this philosophy through projects like Mill Harbour Forest. For client Ballymore an immersive woodland is nestled within a vibrant new neighbourhood. It’s proof that every community deserves access to natural spaces – and that even a small site can leave a big impact. 🌱 May Jan MacIntyre (Associate)

We’re delighted to share that London Borough of Newham has unanimously approved our landscape vision for 68-70 Stratford High Street! Designed in collaboration with our client The Pickstock Group Real Estate and Architects Pollard Thomas Edwards and a talented team of consultants, this transformative development will turn an underutilised brownfield site into a dynamic, climate-resilient landscape, integrating the Bow Back River to create a new community green space. Our design activates the river edge with ecological interventions, planted islands, and new pontoon access, reconnecting Stratford residents with the water. At its core, the project fosters a welcoming, inclusive environment, where people of all ages and abilities can gather, play, and interact with nature. Play is woven into the landscape, inspired by the site’s historic osier beds, blending formal structures with natural, spontaneous play opportunities. This placemaking-led vision will enhance Stratford’s connectivity, biodiversity, and community cohesion, delivering: - 355 riverside homes with a community café & performance venue for cultural events, exhibitions, and concerts - Intergenerational play spaces integrated into the landscape - Much needed urban greening and cycleway improvements to Stratford High Street - Riverside ecological and water sport interventions - A net uplift of 36 trees & 2,674m² of publicly accessible open space - 221% increase in new biodiverse habitat & UGF 0.43 We’re thrilled to bring this vision to life—stay tuned for updates! Project team: Client: The Pickstock Group Real Estate Architects: Pollard Thomas Edwards Planning Consultant: Rolfe Judd Planning Project Manager: TPS Development and Project Management Cost Consultant: CPC Project Services Building Services Engineer: ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DESIGN LIMITED Community Engagement: Kanda Consulting Rights of Light: GIA Surveyors Civil/Structural Engineer: Whitby Wood Transport Consultant: Curtins EIA Consultant: Trium Environmental Consulting LLP Fire Consultant: Jensen Hughes Principle Designer/CDM: ORSA Townscape & Heritage: The Townscape Consultancy

Kicking off the next phase of community conversations! Last weekend, we launched the second round of public consultations for The Walnuts scheme in Orpington, in collaboration with Redcliff Cap Limited. With 300 people joining us across 2 days, it was fantastic to see so many locals join us to explore the latest plans for 450 new homes and a vibrant new retail offer. It was an engaging atmosphere, with valuable discussions shaping the future of this project. Public consultations play a crucial role in the early design stage - local voices are instrumental in creating places that truly work for the community. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to share their thoughts! Shout-out to the brilliant team: Ben Clark, 2C Architects, Spacehub, Nadine James Will Edmonds Montagu Evans, Elliott Wood #CommunityBuilding #UrbanDevelopment #CollaborativeDesign #UrbanDesign #PublicEngagement #Orpington #PlaceMaking #HighStreet

We are delighted to share that we have been working with Blue Coast Capital and Morris+Company on a planning application for Fleet Street Hill, LB Tower Hamlets. Just north of Allen Gardens and bordered on two sides by railway, this vacant triangle of land is set to become the first in a series of transformative residential sites to come forward in the immediate area. Designed to stitch pedestrian connections north-south, and improve nature connectivity east-west, the landscape and public realm design is proposed to: - Provide new pedestrian routes and publicly accessible open space strongly influenced by local character and specific to this area of East London - Include brand new publicly accessible playspace for children of a variety of ages - Benefit wildlife and improve local biodiversity with over 10 different species of new tree planting, rain gardens and flower-rich planting areas - Improve local connections, safety and permeability through the surrounding area The design process has been a true collaboration and we look forward to seeing what happens next! Client: Blue Coast Capital Coliving Operating Partner: VervLife Planning : DP9 Limited Architect: Morris+Company Landscape Architect: Spacehub Structural + Civil Engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel MEP + Sustainability Engineer: Max Fordham LLP Transport Engineer : Motion Heritage + Townscape: Tavernor Consultancy Engagement and PR: Kanda Consulting Image credit: Blackpoint Design Ltd. & Morris+Company

At Spacehub, we place great importance on the successful relationship between the built and natural environment. Over the years, we have developed quick 3D visual techniques using a variety of software to explore this relationship across a range of projects—from complex large-scale masterplans to parks built over existing structures, and even simple courtyards. These in-progress visuals help clarify a project's spatial arrangement and experience, making them accessible to a wide audience, including clients, collaborators, and consultees, facilitating meaningful discussions. Samuel Birtles CMLI (Associate) 📷 1: The Bishopsgate Goodsyard, Shoreditch, 2023 📷 2: Old Oak Common, West London, 2017 📷 3: Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, 2018 📷 4: Birchwood, Cambridgeshire, 2018 📷 5: Folkestone Harbour, Kent, 2024 #Spacehub #UrbanDesign #LandscapeArchitecture #BuiltEnvironment #NaturalEnvironment #Masterplanning #CityPlanning #SustainableDesign #PublicSpaces #Placemaking #ArchitectureVisuals #UrbanRegeneration #DesignInnovation #GreenInfrastructure #FutureCities #CommunityEngagement #VisualCommunication #Shoreditch #WestLondon #BrickLane #Cambridgeshire #Kent #UrbanLandscapes #ArchitectureLovers #DesignProcess #EnvironmentalDesign59m

Looking forward to a lively public consultation this Saturday for The Walnuts. It’s refreshing to be engaging at such an early stage of design—good placemaking is shaped by listening to multiple voices (not just the ones in my head...). Wednesday’s session was really positive, so I’m hoping for another afternoon of meaningful feedback and great ideas. This project is all about breathing new life into the centre of Orpington—450 new homes on an underutilised brownfield site, with a consolidated retail offer designed to support independent business & the high street. Hats off to AND London for putting on a brilliant series of events, and to the team for pulling together a cracking initial design. 2C Architects Spacehub Montagu Evans Elliott Wood Redcliff Cap Limited #UrbanDesign #Regeneration #PublicEngagement #Orpington #Architecture #Placemaking #HighStreetRevival #BrownfieldDevelopment

Fineliners and watercolours are fantastic tools for communicating how open spaces could feel. Landscape shifts with the seasons, moves with weather and grows with time – evoking feelings of calm, excitement or wonder in people. This can be really hard to demonstrate in a 3D model! Sketching is key to how I work and narrate landscape and public realm – it enables me to show how spaces might feel to inhabit. I’ve sketched all throughout my career, but here are a few from various stages of design development done during my 8 years at Spacehub. Rosalyn Sargen (Associate) 📷 1: Consort Road, Peckham, 2017 📷 2: Royal Mint Court, 2017 📷 3: Birchwood, Cambridgshire, 2018 📷 4: Cuba Street, Tower Hamlets, 2020 📷 5: Smithfield Riverside, Shrewsbury, 2023 #Sketching #LandscapeDesign #PublicRealm #UrbanDesign #DesignProcess #WatercolorSketch #FinelinerArt #ConceptDesign #SpaceDesign #HandDrawn #ArchitecturalSketch #DesignDevelopment #Placemaking #VisualStorytelling #ArtOfDesign

🌿 Exciting News for Merton! Planning has been achieved for Wellington Works! We’re thrilled to announce the transformation of this underutilised site into a vibrant, green, and playful residential space! In collaboration with 5plus architects for client Goldcrest Land, Wellington Works introduces 12 contemporary townhouses in a unique mews typology, featuring: - 12 new homes with private terraces and communal gardens - Enhanced biodiverse planting and increased tree coverage - A playful tapestry of doorstep paving games overlooking Durnsford Road Recreation Ground - Sustainable transport options with cycle storage and e-cargo bikes Congratulations to the full team: ensphere, RPS, SOCOTEC, KP Accoustics, Vectos and Dematerial. Images 1+2 5plus architects Image 3 Spacehub #SustainableLiving #UrbanGreening #GreenArchitecture #Merton #CommunityFirst #WellingtonWorks #UrbanRegeneration

A great workshop with Queen Mary University of London on ‘Creating Green Spaces for All in Tower Hamlets London Borough of Tower Hamlets well attended by a wide range of enthusiastic participants yesterday, always fun to meet up with others doing great things in the borough where Spacehub is working on many projects & always learning

Another insightful talk at Temple Bar by Tom Nancollas! The City is buzzing with activity, and at Spacehub, we’re proud to be contributing to urban greening and vibrant public spaces through our City of London projects.