The pioneering ‘shared space’ initiative to de-ring the ring road of Ashford in South East England has received a second prestigious accolade.
The project won Sustain magazine’s Public Realm Award. Grontmij | Whitelaw Turkington worked with Kent County Council to redesign the public realm with the objective of revitalising the town to pave the way for future growth. The project also involved a Public Realm Strategy for the Town Centre and a pilot project along Bank Street.
Designing solutions
Historically pedestrian access to Ashford’s centre has been severely limited by the busy ring road that surrounded it. Following initial consultation with access groups, Grontmij | Whitelaw Turkington developed a series of design solutions to address this issue. In addition to changing the traffic flow from one-way to two-way, crossing points have been built and a 20mph speed limit implemented resulting in better sharing of road space between pedestrians and motorists.
Combining art and environment and engineering has been central to Grontmij | Whitelaw Turkington’s approach. This includes a ‘web’ of iconic lighting columns radiating out across one of Ashford’s main landmarks, Elwick Square. The columns have been carefully located to provide the required light levels while also acting to reinforce the form of the space and subtly guiding traffic.
Art and the environment
Taking account of environmental considerations, Grontmij | Whitelaw Turkington designed an innovative, integrated rainwater management system that collects, cleanses, stores and recycles rainwater run-off. This feature should set new standards and act as a precedent for water conservation and management for future development in Ashford.
Multi-award winning
Ashford’s shared space scheme has previously picked up a Landscape Institute Award for its innovation and design, being heralded as a leading project for the UK in the face of competition from 400 entries.
Kent County Council Regeneration Manager, Richard Stubbings said: “This award is a credit to the integrated design team comprising landscape architects, Kent Highway Services, traffic planners and artists. They have worked together to create a distinctive design that will be a credit to Ashford and which will attract people and businesses to the town”.