16 CASE STUDY
ity, says Sharkey. The developer noticed that construction had been concentrated around the stadium, “while the old heart of town (the High Road), had become increasingly run down.”
THE FORM PRESENTS “A CONFIDENT URBAN IMAGE ON ONE LEVEL, AND A MORE GENTLE, ENGAGING RESPONSE ALONG THE STREET”
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
Aiming to stem this decline, a site was identified in planning as suitable for a ‘landmark building’ in this area, and the team believed that on this particular site they had the opportunity to “catalyse regeneration” in Wembley Central. With the concept now firmly in place, the Hub Group were intent on taking a highly collaborative approach in taking the project to the next stages. “Chesterfield House is a product of much more than Hub’s vision alone,” as Sharkey puts it. “Our partner on this project was social impact investor Bridges Fund Management, who we’ve now worked with on eight schemes around the UK.” This previous relationship gave the collaborating firms a head start on this project in terms of fostering co-operation. Sharkey says that the “most important” stakeholders however, were the people of
Wembley themselves, who the developer “worked closely with to ensure the scheme responded to their needs.” “No-one knows an area quite as well as those who live there, so from day one we talked openly with local people to under- stand what they wanted out of this development – and what they didn’t want,” he says.
The community reportedly wanted the developers to re-establish the town centre’s importance, as well as providing a community centre and delivering well- planned homes to meet a range of local needs. Public realm was also noted to be “really lacking in the heart of Wembley,” so a new square with seating, planting, and generous paved areas was envisioned. In order to achieve this, it became clear that an “exceptionally high standard of design” was essential – and highly desired by the locals. As such, the (RIBA Stirling Prize winning) architectural practice Maccreanor Lavington were introduced into the project – designing what Sharkey describes as an “architecturally superb
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
