On July 10th 2024, the Urban Edge team took up the unforgettable challenge of tackling the Three Peaks! After a total of 26 miles and 3,000m of ascent, it’s safe to say that the team deserve a round of applause for their fearless nature and their ability to never give up when facing such a gruelling challenge. 

Here’s what faced the team on their Three Peaks adventure: 

Ben Nevis – The ever-changing weather made this climb difficult, changing every five minutes from bright sunshine to deep fog and heavy winds. The team powered through whilst listening to England play in the semi-finals of the Euros for extra motivation. The views were breathtaking, and on the descent, they were treated to a lovely pink sky and picturesque views and the sun set over the mountain.

Scafell Pike – Whilst this was the shortest mountain of the three, this climb was the steepest, and most difficult. Some injuries were picked up on the way, however the team made it to the top fuelled by snack bars and were rewarded with views of some low flying military aircraft training in the valleys below. 

Snowdon – The busiest of the three mountains, meant the team had lots of conversations with climbers and visitors. Unfortunately, the cloud was thick when they reached this summit, so there wasn’t much of a view. The team avoided the temptation to get the train down, no matter how much they ached. Although team member Ricky was tempted to do a ‘James Bond’ manoeuvre and jump on the train! At the bottom of Snowdon, the team were left exhausted from their three climbs but in good spirits. They celebrated their achievement with a well-deserved cooked breakfast and shared memories they will never forget. 

The Three Peaks Challenge stands as a powerful testament to Urban Edge’s team-building spirit. We take pride in witnessing how the team collectively overcame obstacles, fatigue and solved problems together. This week the team have celebrated their success, shared stories with loved ones and friends, all whilst cherishing these memories of a lifetime. 

Anthony, a fellow team member, shared his experience: “The Three Peaks Challenge tested our endurance and physical limits. Being part of the team, supporting each other every step of the way and providing motivation when needed was truly rewarding. Additionally, raising funds for Prostate Cancer, a cause close to my family, brought me immense joy.”

A special thank you must go to Directors Russ and Tom for organising this unforgettable experience and let’s all cheer for the team’s success. 

At Urban Edge, we are a team who love taking on new challenges and embracing every opportunity for adventure. What better way to embody this spirit than by embarking on the Three Peaks Challenge? On July 10th-11th, our brave team will undertake a 24 hour journey to summit the three tallest mountains in the UK: Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon. Let’s delve into what awaits our team this summer:

Ben Nevis: Scotland’s majestic peak
Our challenge begins in the rugged Scottish Highlands. After a 7 hour road trip, we’ll set foot on Ben Nevis, standing proudly at 1,345 metres. Its steep slopes and ever-changing weather will demand resilience and unwavering dedication from our team.

Scafell Pike: Breathtaking views across the nations
Next, we’ll tackle Scafell Pike, reaching an elevation of 978 metres. As we ascend, breathtaking views and landscapes will unfold, encompassing all four nations of the British Isles. The sense of achievement will be as awe-inspiring as the views.

Snowdon: A final test of endurance
Our ultimate challenge awaits on Snowdon, a 1,085 metre mountain. Here, our hard work and determination will shine. As fatigue sets in, our team will rally together, sharing words of encouragement and pushing through the final stretch as they accomplish all three peaks!

As the clock ticks down to July 10th, we’ve already begun lacing up our hiking boots and starting our training as we embark on the start of this incredible adventure. Stay tuned as we share our commitment to our Three Peaks Challenge via our social media channels. Follow us on this exhilarating journey as we aim to conquer the peaks!

With just twelve years to go before the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles, local councils are under tremendous pressure to deliver the much-needed town centre ev infrastructure for the electric vehicles that will replace them. However, creative regeneration strategies can offer win-win solutions for local authorities: unlocking the future prosperity of town centres whilst also creating opportunity to meet EV charging targets.

With a greater range of vehicles on the market and a looming Government ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2035, the UK’s electric vehicle (EV) market is booming. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reveals almost 22,000 electric vehicles were registered in November 2021, more than double the 10,345 registered in the same month the previous year.

However, the EV revolution could soon find itself veering off course as the availability of public charging infrastructure struggles to keep pace with demand. Local authorities, in particular, will need to play a key role in the delivery of this infrastructure, yet a report by the Local Government Association points to a ‘lack of coherent strategic direction’ on what and where to build. It says that many local authorities feel that they lack the appropriate skills and data to make investment decisions in what is seen as a fast-paced and evolving technological landscape.

At the same time, local authorities are already stretched dealing with the decline of their town centres and the long-term socio-economic impacts of the pandemic on their communities. However, as our work for local authorities in areas such as Lincolnshire proves, creative regeneration strategies can deliver on all fronts, unlocking investment, growth and the future prosperity of our town centres whilst also creating opportunity to meet EV charging targets.

In particular, we were recently appointed to design a scheme in rural Lincolnshire that could have a profound impact on the way local authorities reinvigorate their town centres and deliver much needed EV charging infrastructure at the same time. If successful, the LEP will use the scheme as a benchmark for others to follow in the region.

Taking its inspiration from a German concept trialled back in 2003 called Mobihub, our scheme sees a concentration of community and business activities integrated within an easily accessible transport interchange and will help meet the town’s challenges of an ageing population, low incomes, limited services and poor outward connectivity. In conceiving the design, we considered the future local needs of the town, with a dense collection of public and sustainable transport uses such as buses, a taxi rank, rental vehicles, car-share clubs and EV charging points, alongside small retail kiosks, offices, parcel storage/pick-up, and health service elements.

Designed to be as accessible and welcoming as possible, with plenty of green space and interlinked pedestrian walkways, the scheme can become an attraction in its own right; a place to go to as a shared workspace or to pick-up a parcel, meet friends for coffee and whilst you’re doing all those things, a place to charge your electric vehicle – whether that be car, van, e-bike or scooter.

Importantly, our concept can be scaled to the setting and its multiple uses designed to respond to local need. On larger sites for example, alongside an array of EV charging points, we could offer spaces for F&B pod units and co-working facilities. The mix and type of uses that are put side by side need to be well considered and, as with the scheme in Lincolnshire, uses should be closely linked to – rather than competing with – other projects in the town to deliver holistic local centre regeneration.

It is also solution that can go some way to addressing inequalities in transport and EV charging provision. Whilst the majority of current electric car owners have access to off-street parking, around 6.6 million households do not and will need to rely on a public-charging network.

Locating these chargers is often a headache for local councils, who are already under pressure to install more bus and cycle lanes on limited road space, let alone chargepoint infrastructure. On-street charging can also give rise to civic disputes about car parking space, chargers creating street clutter and making pavements difficult to navigate. It would make far more sense to site EV chargers in a dedicated, easily accessible location that promotes multiple transport modes and other socio-economic activity.

Utilising underused or brownfield town centre sites to create these hubs, as we are doing in Lincolnshire, would be the perfect solution for local authorities, allowing them to clean up the town’s infrastructure, integrate chargers with wider transport plans and create a destination that can bring footfall back into parts of the centre. Further, with the Local Government Association warning that demand for operators is now outstripping supply and that ‘chargepoint operators (are) cherry-picking the best locations’, our idea of a transport-hub style solution, with its mix of transport, community and business uses, can create a critical mass of users to make the location commercially attractive and help local authorities secure charge point operators and electric mobility service providers.

With now less than twelve years to go before the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles, it is clear that a massive task lies ahead to ensure the move towards e-mobility is a success. Whilst this move will require a huge investment by local authorities in land and infrastructure, embedding that investment within the context of town centre regeneration presents new opportunities for commercial and community enterprise alongside a balanced, healthy and sustainable transport mix that meets the current and future needs of communities.

Last year, we were thrilled to announce that we had been awarded certification for ISO 14001:2015, the international standard for designing and implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS). This achievement was especially important to us, as sustainability has always been at the heart of our business strategy and fully supports our goal to be a net-zero carbon business in line with Government targets.

At first, the process of gaining ISO 14001 can appear to be a daunting task; the design and implementation of an EMS requires extensive documentation, careful decision making and a considerable time allocation. Fortunately, we had already made a number of key decisions to limit our environmental impact and our prior experience working towards ISO 9001 accreditation for Quality Management had prepared us for the types of processes involved. Nonetheless, the guidance and recommendations provided by the ISO-approved assessor were invaluable.

Creating an Aspect and Impact Register is a crucial part of the ISO 14001:2015 process, identifying environmental impacts and efficiencies created by business activities. By listing all the activities included within the scope of our EMS, we were able to evaluate the significance of each one and consider which we should prioritise and how we might tackle them.

One of our biggest early decisions was to switch energy providers, moving to 100% renewable provision with Corona Energy. Another area we quickly looked at was our office waste streaming. Whilst our main waste collection was already streamed, we decided to be more ambitious with the waste directly inside our studio as well. We have introduced battery and pen recycling and are donating coffee grounds to local allotments. Alongside this, we’re recycling our printer toner and looking to make paper resources go further by reusing as much as we can internally.

Architectural Assistant, Adam Caffrey, who has been instrumental in pushing the practice towards the achievement of ISO 14001 certification, said: “Our sustainability team meet regularly to share ideas and we have lots of things planned for the coming year. It’s been a great start so far and we’ve already implemented some quick wins – but some of these ‘quick wins’ can actually make a big difference. For instance, the change of bins in the studio, which now separates waste, makes you more aware about what can and can’t be recycled.” 

Lydia Coupe, HR and Office Administrator, added: “We’ve approached changes in the office in the best possible way, by making small changes that have a regular impact on improving our environment. For example, we have replaced the existing toilets with dual-flushing systems to reduce our water usage. We also found a free resource to recycle batteries which has proved to be super useful, not only in the office but with colleagues bringing in batteries from home, especially so after the Christmas break. Batteries are often incorrectly thrown into the general waste, which can prove to be dangerous causing fires. It’s a real no brainer, and helps on all levels.”

In the meantime, we have been assessing our current direct and indirect emissions in accordance with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements to better understand our overall carbon footprint. This not only has benefits for the environment, but can help futureproof us as a business, potentially allowing us to create efficiencies and reduce costs, prepare for future regulations and better meet the procurement demands of clients, who will increasingly require transparent emissions data.

Not only do we now better understand our overall carbon footprint (including an average total per staff member), but in assessing the emissions from different business activities, we can set reduction targets across different areas of our business for the coming financial year. In particular, we want to see a reduction in our electricity and gas usage, as well as water consumption, and evaluate sustainable options for business travel.

We are also committed to strengthening environmental considerations in our design processes, improving staff knowledge with continuing professional development. Last year, for example, members of the team took part in a series of lectures at the University of Lincoln to learn about the latest research into BREEAM and Passivhaus, as well as the whole-life impact of a building.

Director, Tom McNamara, said: “Whilst looking to reduce our carbon footprint is a key objective for us, the influence we can have on our environment as designers is fundamental to our core values. We found the process of working towards ISO 14001 accreditation very enlightening and it made us think hard around challenging further our environmental standards.”

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded certification for ISO 14001:2015, the international standard for designing and implementing an Environmental  Management System (EMS). Alongside our ISO 9001:2015 accreditation for Quality Management, ISO 14001 accreditation continues our longstanding commitment to reducing our impact on the environment, improving our operational processes and providing the highest quality of service for clients.

Sustainability has always been at the heart of our business strategy and forms a part of our everyday thinking, both in our business operations and the design solutions we deliver for clients. In recent years, we have helped Nando’s design and deliver its first ever 100% eco-friendly restaurant in Cambridge, are working with Inspired Villages to deliver the UK’s first net-zero retirement community in Bedfordshire and have recently completed a BREEAM Excellent industrial scheme for Aberdeen Standard Investments in Croydon.

Adopting ISO 14001 means we will continue to measure and reduce our environmental impact and fully supports our goal to be a net-zero carbon business by 2030.

Director, Tom McNamara, says: “We have held regular Sustainability Group meetings to discuss the practice’s environmental responsibilities for some considerable time and had already implemented a number of processes and measures to improve our environmental performance. Our decision to work towards ISO 14001 accreditation has more clearly defined some of that activity and ensures we now have robust environmental management systems throughout every aspect of the business.

“It’s important that we work together as an industry to limit the impact of our activities on the planet and  we have been privileged to work with many forward-thinking clients who are themselves on the same journey towards net-zero carbon. Our ISO 14001 accreditation is further reassurance that we can consistently meet the rigorous requirements of our clients as we all work towards the same goal.”

As part of the ISO 14001 process we have developed a framework for establishing and reviewing the practice’s environmental targets and objectives, all of which will be embedded at a strategic level. Key objectives include promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, promoting environmental and sustainability policies internally and evaluating sustainable options for business travel. We are also looking to expand our existing recycling measures, as well as ways to reduce water consumption and energy use and have recently switched energy providers, moving to 100% renewable provision with Corona Energy.

We are also committed to strengthening environmental considerations in our design processes, improving staff knowledge with continuing professional development. Earlier this year, for example, members of the team took part in a series of lectures at the University of Lincoln to learn about the latest research into BREEAM and Passivhaus, as well as the whole-life impact of a building.

Tom concludes: “Whilst achieving ISO 14001 certification can present many challenges, we have been particularly delighted by the enthusiasm from all members of staff and, in particular, we would like to thank Adam Caffrey who was instrumental in pushing this forward. Actively reducing our carbon footprint is very important to everybody at Urban Edge, both in terms of our day-to-day operations and in the legacy we leave through the design of our projects.”

As we look to build back better from the effects of the global pandemic, many Local Authorities find themselves in the unenviable position of having to balance the provision of core services whilst delivering the essential housing, facilities and infrastructure that can secure growth and recovery for their towns and cities.

Regeneration schemes need to be implemented as part of a holistic approach, taking into account both social and economic needs. Assembling the right ingredients for these schemes presents a layer of complexity that can be difficult for either public or private organisations to resolve alone. By pooling together the powers, resources, management skills and technical know-how of both sectors, public-private partnerships offer the potential for a genuine focus on local priorities, especially in terms of the end users.

In some cases, longer term partnerships can enable broader measures for successful regeneration to take place as seen in the case of the large-scale and visionary involvement of Argent within the Kings Cross Development. Smaller regional initiatives can also benefit greatly from such long-term partnerships if structured properly.

Arguably, the need for essential housing, facilities and infrastructure is even more pressing in smaller towns and communities if we are to deliver on the ‘levelling up’ agenda. However, Local Authorities in these regions have often not built facilities and infrastructure for decades and will lack teams with enough experience or technical resource to deliver complex regeneration schemes.

As I argued in my previous piece, ‘Levelling up: Unlocking growth and prosperity through strategic regeneration’, this presents opportunities for the private sector to step in and work collaboratively with the public sector, using our expertise and knowledge to deliver quality and successful projects, with placemaking at their heart. That same knowledge could also be used to identify opportunities within the public estate and increase the volume of Local Authority sites being brought forward.

We know that collaborative working can be successful, as our work with Local Authorities on the Government’s Towns Fund initiative has proven. The Towns Fund requires councils to work collaboratively with the private sector and Urban Edge has been involved in drafting up a number of ambitious proposals with Local Authorities, in particular working in close collaboration with Boston District Council where we have been given the opportunity to implement some of our regeneration ideas in line with the council’s forward-thinking vision on a number of strategic sites within the town centre.

However, as we have experienced on projects elsewhere, public-private partnerships can be complex and challenging, even for seemingly simple initiatives. Early engagement and preparation, insight and management are therefore key to successfully bring together the resources, expertise and powers of both sectors.

A structured and carefully controlled process needs to be put in place for these partnerships to be able to succeed and we would make the following core recommendations:

Set the vision from the outset

A robust vision will allow for the long-term relationship to endure through any economic and political changes that may occur over the course of the project. Early engagement with an experienced design team allows for the exploration of ideas and options available. This can ensure unviable options are eliminated from the outset and will avoid costly delays further down the line. On a number of occasions, we have found that, having undertaken initial feasibility studies, we have been able use our skill and experience to unlock sites which were previously deemed undevelopable thus opening up new avenues and opportunities for the Local Authority to explore. In turn, this can allow for early engagement with relevant stakeholders and help avoid potential parcel price uplifts or ransom strips.

Create a comprehensive brief

The crucial elements and boundaries of projects should be fixed from the outset. However, it is our view that an element of flexibility needs to be built into the overarching concept to allow for immediate solutions further in the process should, for example, the socio-economic landscape change or unforeseen opportunities arise such as technological advances. As architects and masterplanners, we have always allowed for and built in an element of flexibility within our proposals, both spatially and functionally in relation to the programme.

Set out the contractual type of any partnership options available

There is no fixed option available and each project will have its own specific requirements and complications, whether the partnership is contractual, corporate, investment or collaborative. As such, each variety of structure needs to be investigated and considered with thorough analysis of the pros and cons of each option.

Undertake studies on the timing and viability of the proposals

The project’s route to market needs to be tested. A series of more detailed and developed options of the proposals will be created by the Design and Management Team in the form of feasibility studies and costings which will allow for a soft market test. This will give the Local Authority, and partnership as a whole, the confidence to commit and move forward. This stage is also important for non-binding dialogue, which will shape the proposals and allow for certain elements to be reconsidered and reevaluated before a formal appointment process begins. This in turn will successfully shape the partnership and ensure fundability.

Make a meaningful start

Making a strong start is important and will set the template for success and pace of delivery. We would suggest agreeing and committing to a ‘first 100 days plan’, setting out a detailed work programme for all parties involved and defining their roles within it.

Management of the partnership whilst works are progressing

Maintaining the momentum set in the initial stages of the project can often be the most challenging aspect of public-private partnerships. However, agreeing to and setting out a series of actions such as a continuous review and revision of KPIs and targets, as well as lessons learned, will help keep the project on track and allow for better outcomes.

Commit to and see the process through to the end

Develop a Continuity and Communications Plan explaining the end of the partnership to ensure that there are no disruptions to services or benefits to the public or other key stakeholders.

A version of this article previously appeared in LocalGov in July 2022.

Alexandros Marcoulides | Associate Director

Industrial and logistics is one of the property classes to have emerged stronger than ever from the global pandemic, with increased investor interest in the sector accounting for 27% of all investment into UK real estate in 2021.

However, the investment boom in industrial and logistics arrives at the same time that the United Nations has declared a climate emergency and institutional investors are looking to mitigate the risks to their property portfolios from climate change and deliver better Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes for all their stakeholders. Developers of industrial and logistics property are coming under increasing pressure to satisfy the ESG criteria of investors and meet the UK Government’s legally binding target of Net-Zero Carbon by 2050.

Owners and developers of industrial and logistics property are also needing to meet the expectations of occupiers, many of whom have their own ESG and net-zero strategies, as well as a requirement to look after the health and wellbeing of their staff. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s recent ‘Industrial Goes Green’ report, over 80 percent of industrial occupiers are asking about sustainable warehouse solutions and 60 percent of them would like their facilities to be green-certified.

Designing and delivering sustainable schemes

For those of us charged with the design and delivery of industrial and logistics property, the rapid influence of these pressures is evident to see, with owners, developers and operators looking to upgrade the sustainability of their schemes. Here at Urban Edge, we’ve received a number of recent enquiries from industrial and logistics clients looking to improve the sustainability of their schemes or to design and deliver net-zero buildings. Where targeting BREEAM Excellent was once a rarity and something to shout about, it’s now rapidly becoming the bare minimum.

Our design for a new 95,000 sq.ft industrial distribution warehouse on the Erdington Industrial Estate in Birmingham, for example, is targeting BREEAM Excellent. Likewise, we have recently completed the redevelopment of a former factory site in Croydon to provide a high quality Class B development for modern industrial operators and have, in the past six months, been directed by our client to design and deliver the scheme to net-zero.

At the same time, we are currently working with industrial and logistics property owners who are looking to decarbonise their existing portfolio of stock, improve their energy efficiency and find ways to achieve net-zero.

Rising energy costs have, of course, had their part to play in some of the decision making, as too has impending legislation. Owners of existing industrial and logistics property will need to keep an eye on the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) which is expected to extend further to non-domestic properties by 2030 and require an EPC grade B or above. This will be of particular concern for landlords with more historic property portfolios as significant retrofit measures may be required to meet the new energy-efficiency regulations. We would advise landlords to futureproof their portfolios against regulatory changes by seeking advice sooner, rather than later, so that a detailed profile of a building or buildings can be undertaken to decide where and what interventions are needed.

The net-zero journey

Whilst net-zero is fast becoming the ‘must have’ for owners and developers seeking finance or looking to attract and retain top-drawer tenants, we must also pause to acknowledge that the industry is at the very start of its net-zero journey, with differing interpretations of net-zero clouding matters further.

In truth, most current net-zero buildings are primarily targeting the elimination of fossil fuels (net-zero energy), but there is a clear distinction between operational carbon and embodied carbon. Put simply, operational carbon emissions are those associated with the energy used to run the building, whilst embodied carbon emissions are those associated with the materials and products used in its construction and across the building’s whole life. A true net-zero carbon building would need to address both of these sources of carbon, without recourse to major offsetting.

Net-zero has proved particularly challenging in the industrial and logistics sector where institutional standards for the specification of buildings have dominated for a long time and many developers and designers have just stuck with what they know. This is gradually starting to change, driven primarily by the demands of modern occupiers who not only want smarter and more efficient space, but also sustainability and wellness initiatives to meet their ESG benchmarks and attract and retain quality employees.

You can see this reflected at our scheme in Erdington, where our design not only maximises the site with a single 95,000 sq.ft building, split into two independent units, but also proposes a number of interventions and initiatives to improve energy performance, reduce air pollution and improve local air quality. Available roof space has been fitted with PV technology, whilst car-share spaces are to be included on the site to encourage shared journeys and 12 EV charging bays are provisioned for electric vehicles.

For the industrial and logistics sector to start delivering fully net-zero carbon buildings, a number of challenges lie ahead, not least tackling the predominant use of steel in construction which has very high embodied carbon. Whilst we’ve spoken to a number of progressive industrial and logistics developers who are exploring the possibilities of timber frame and cladding, insurance hurdles remain due to perceived fire and water risk. Hybrid construction models, such as the use of a concrete core and base as recently proposed by insurance research group RISCAuthority, could provide a way forward to allow for an increased use of timber and other sustainable products whilst mitigating the safety concerns. We will watch with interest how the situation develops.

Early engagement the key to a greener future

Clearly, delivering on commercial expectations, maintaining productivity and profitability, whilst ensuring buildings are highly sustainable or net-zero is an extremely fine balancing act and requires a deep understanding of the industrial and logistics sector’s needs, coupled with experience of sustainable design and technical know-how. Early engagement with experienced architects is key as we can consider sustainability and energy efficiency at all stages of design from site considerations, design and masterplanning, construction and all the way to a building’s operation.

As buildings are currently responsible for approximately 25 percent of UK CO₂ emissions, with around 30 percent of those emissions from non-domestic buildings, industrial and logistics real estate has an important role to play in meeting the UK’s overall net-zero Carbon targets. Whilst net-zero is challenging, it also opens up opportunity and will secure a long-term future for companies operating within the sector.

Dave Frost | Senior Associate Director

We are delighted to have contributed to ARCO’s Grey Going Green report, published this week, which highlights how the integrated retirement community sector can tackle the net zero carbon challenge.

Drawing on our experience working with Inspired Villages to deliver the UK’s first net zero carbon (regulated energy) retirement community at Millfield Green in the village of Caddington, we set out some of our key learnings on net zero for both parties, the lessons that need to be taken further forward and the important questions clients who haven’t yet embarked on this path need to ask of themselves.

ARCO’s introduction to the report, which has seen members of its expert Advisory Council come together to highlight different areas of the net zero carbon agenda, states that “Integrated retirement communities can’t just have the longevity of older people as their mission. They must also have the longevity of our planet right at their core… the ambition of this report is to help set the integrated retirement community sector on the right track; to provide a strong foundation from which operators of all kinds can draw expertise and put net zero right at the heart of their work.”

Millfield Green and other similar integrated retirement community schemes we are working on in the Inspired Villages portfolio are leading the way on net zero and provide valuable lessons and insight for the sector to take forward.

Darren Hodgson, Senior Associate Director, said: “We are pleased to have contributed to this important report and share our experiences of delivering net zero on real life projects throughout the UK. In sharing this knowledge, the integrated retirement communities sector can work together to ensure that the route to net zero carbon is both practicably and commercially achievable, meeting the needs of investors with an increasing focus on ESG solutions and discerning customers who want homes that are cleaner, greener and healthier.”

ARCO’s Chief Executive, Michael Voges, added: “With over 70,000 homes in integrated retirement communities and the sector set for rapid growth, we’ve got a key role to play in meeting the net zero carbon challenge. Our Advisory Council experts have some great insights on this issue, and we’re delighted they have worked together to produce this extremely timely report.”

If you would like further information on our work on net zero integrated retirement communities, please contact Darren Hodgson at darren.hodgson@urbanedgearchitecture.co.uk

Like many businesses throughout the world, Urban Edge had to adapt very quickly to the global Coronavirus emergency. Just prior to the pandemic taking its hold, our practice had already started to look at more flexible staff working arrangements and our investment in an IT infrastructure to ensure everybody could work successfully from home paid dividends. It ensured quick response rates and continuity for clients during lockdown, whilst also allowing our teams to collaborate and maintain a consistent level of service, understanding and creativity on projects.

As the vaccination programme gathered pace, Coronavirus replication numbers dropped and economic activity resumed at pace across the country, so we started to plan for the future. As an inclusive and supportive business, it was imperative that staff were fully engaged in the process through a series of group discussions to gauge their thoughts on home-versus-office working and the most effective way of operating moving forward.

Whilst there were inevitably a mix of ideas, it was apparent that most people wanted a return to the office for at least two to three days a week. The main reasons cited related to the social and cultural aspects of office life, as well as the need to more effectively collaborate.

Director, Tom McNamara, explains further: “Although video conferencing through Teams or Zoom proved effective throughout the various lockdown periods, it could never replace face-to-face interaction. Architecture is a collaborative and creative process that benefits greatly from in-person interactions within the design team. We thrive on being able to sit around a table as a team, brainstorming ideas with enthusiasm and reaching the creative conclusions for which we are renowned.”

Taking into account the views expressed by staff, we conducted some remodelling on our current office space to see how it could be rearranged to create the optimal working environment. Whilst health and wellbeing were inevitably key considerations, it was clear that the office should no longer be just a place to sit at a desk, but a space to encourage culture and community, promote collaboration and improve operational efficiencies through the natural communication of information and ideas. Face-to-face interaction within the office environment, unlike an impersonal email or video communication, ensures better clarification and fosters quicker understanding, whilst also helping new staff to learn about the business and understand the way things are done.

“We had appointed some 13 new members of staff during the lockdown period,” continues Tom, “and the shorter-than-usual induction periods and lack of office time necessitated by the ‘Work from Home’ mandate was tough on them. A return to the workspace means we now have the benefit of longer periods of induction in the office for new starters, allowing them to get to know people, understand a little bit more about the company culture and how the office works. Likewise, our younger and graduate staff can learn so much when they’re in the office just listening to conversations and how other people deal with certain situations. So, whilst there are many benefits to working from home, there are also advantages to working in an office, such as building social connections, improved communication and understanding, increased productivity and career progression.”

Agile and flexible

During and between the lockdown periods, as staff transitioned to a hybrid form of working, desktop computers were changed to laptops to allow for more agility and flexibility in the face of a constantly evolving situation. These changes have also informed the new office layout, with some of the existing desk space removed from the main studio and given over to collaborative areas. At the same time, two large meeting pods have been installed – these offer acoustic attenuation and enable some privacy and quieter meetings whilst still in an open office environment.

Initially, following the office refurbishment, around half of the existing desk space was removed, but careful analysis of use-pattern data has seen the ratio of desk space increased to two thirds of the original number to ensure maximum efficiency. The desks have been optimised for hot desking, with docking stations and adjustable monitors to allow staff to create their own bespoke workspace. There are also a mix of different workspaces, suitable for particular tasks or workflow that staff can book via their mobile or laptop using an app called WiggleDesk. We are proud to be an early adopter of the innovative desk-booking tool that was devised by former Google data scientist William Wildridge.

“As a forward-thinking practice, we’re thrilled to be trialling technology that harnesses the power of AI and data visualisation to allow us to operate with maximum flexibility and maintain a safe environment,” explains Tom. “The app allows you to see what desks are available on each day, book and unbook the appropriate space for your requirements; it also includes reminders to clean your workstation once you’ve finished, reinforcing all the important hygiene messaging that people expect and understand in this post Covid world.”

From informal to formal

Our second office on the other side of the Scotgate Mews courtyard has also undergone a significant makeover. Previously a more traditional office set up, the new space has been designed purposefully with maximum flexibility in mind, and can be used as both a conference suite and breakout area for staff. Flexible seating and desks can be arranged for more casual interactions or informal meetings, but can easily be adapted to create a more traditional and formal meeting space. The inclusion of a large interactive screen will allow clients or staff working remotely to join design team meetings and allow for more dynamic presentations once clients and other design team members return fully to in-person activity.

The courtyard itself – weather permitting – is also a useful break-out space and can be used for informal staff meetings and events. During the summer, the practice used the courtyard space to gather all staff together in person, discuss the highs and lows of the previous year and update them on the reconfiguration of the offices. Following a year largely working from home, it was also a useful period for staff not only to reacquaint themselves with each other, but get to know some of the new starters.

“After such a long period working remotely, we fully understood that some people might have some anxieties about returning to the office. Having the ability to reconnect everybody outdoors in a socially distanced way – yet also still within the realm of the offices – was a great way to reintroduce staff to each other and help ease any anxieties about returning to the workplace. For new members of staff who joined us during the lockdown period, this was also their first opportunity to meet everybody in person. It proved to be an incredibly positive day.”

Community benefits

Whilst the practice works nationally, we have always cared passionately about the town and region where our offices are located and have always sought to give something back to the area that has contributed so much to our success. Reaching out to the local community through local social groups and networks, all the surplus fixtures and fittings, including chairs, desks and cabinets, were given new homes locally.

We have also donated the studio’s previous large interactive screen to the Bourne Arts and Community Trust where it will be used at the charity’s base, the Grade II Listed Wake House in Bourne which serves as a Community Centre with a variety of rooms to hire for groups, events and meetings.

Desktop PCs that were replaced by laptops have been offered to staff for a nominal fee, with the proceeds going to the Urban Edge Foundation – a charity set up to raise funds and awareness for established charities such as The Alzheimer’s Society and Prostate Cancer UK.

Where new office furniture has been introduced, every effort has been made to source recycled or upcycled products from local suppliers.

Social and cultural context

There has been much conjecture about the future of the office amongst business leaders and the media alike over the last two years. The reality is that the office is here to stay, but perhaps not in the same way that it existed pre-pandemic. As we have found through our own experiences, an attractive office must now be more than just desks, chair and computers, and as much about social and cultural context.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, there is a lot of positivity around our growing pipeline of work and the growth of the business moving forward,” says Tom. “Our office will play an essential role in the future of Urban Edge, not just as a physical manifestation of the business, but as our cultural heart. A place where we can connect and collaborate, teach and learn, progress and build. A place where a special kind of alchemy occurs to create innovative solutions for clients and personal and professional fulfilment for staff.”

Back in 2019, when Stamford-based mental health charity, MindSpace, was looking for a permanent home from which to deliver its much-needed activities, a team of volunteers from Urban Edge stepped up to help refurbish an unoccupied building on Broad Street in the middle of the town. Two years on, and despite the emergence of a global pandemic, MindSpace is now successfully delivering a range of friendly and safe events from the new Broad Street premises, as well as using it as a space to support people with the skills and confidence to be more comfortable having conversations about mental health issues.

Tom McNamara, Director, comments: “Connecting to the local community and giving something back to the area that has contributed so much to the practice’s success has always been at the forefront of our vision. Helping a local charity such as MindSpace turned out to be a brilliant few days, with everyone just getting stuck in and going for it.”

MindSpace and Urban Edge met at the Stamford Mercury Business Awards earlier in 2019, where MindSpace won ‘Best Social Enterprise’ category and we picked up the prize for ‘Large Business of the Year.’

Reflecting back on it now, Helen Howe at MindSpace, says: “The timing was perfect. Urban Edge approached us as they were looking to help a local charity with a hands-on project and we had this major refurbishment that also needed some expertise on the planning process. Urban Edge worked up some alternative designs for the new frontage and finalised a professional elevation to show to the planners.”

When it came to hands-on work, our team ripped up old flooring, stripped wallpaper, cleared the garden, and redecorated the interior. The design and colour scheme had to deliver a series of flexible spaces to house MindSpace’s range of activities, from training sessions to informal tea and chat to relaxing spaces for one-to-one conversations. The whole space, inside a listed building, had to project feelings of safety and relaxation, welcome and comfort.

Working from the MindSpace members’ brief of ‘everything you wouldn’t expect and not institutional’, our interior design team took inspiration from MindSpace’s logo and the warm brick of the existing exteriors to create a series of rooms, lightly divided with natural timber slat screens, and furnished with comfortable, domestic style furniture. Rich blue highlighted some of the walls, with splashes of deep orange to provide focal points, and soft grey shades connected the interior with the new front and signage.

Ian Townsend and Sarah Steinberg were two of our staff who helped over the four days, making good the walls, painting and adding the vibrant colours to make the rooms buzz.

Explains Ian: “The original building décor was a very dismal and worn-out beige, so freshening up all the walls and bringing in the hot colours really made a difference. It was a great experience, doing something different and working with other team members that I didn’t usually get to work with. Whilst it was fun to do, it was also incredibly fulfilling to create something positive for the community.”

Continues Sarah: “Originally I didn’t know much about MindSpace and its work, but helping refurbish the building and talking to the people there brought it home to me how wonderful it was to create a community hub that would be helping so many people in so many ways.”

“The new spaces were an instant hit, providing our members with a constant, familiar, inclusive environment,” confirms MindSpace’s Helen Howe.

With the Broad Street premises now fully operational, MindSpace took the momentous step of signing a full lease of the building in February 2021 and is looking to expand its opening times and put on more activities, as well as opening its doors to other regional health services and organisations to deliver their activities.

Concludes Ian: “I know from my own family experience of mental health issues how important it is to have a place to go where you feel safe and welcome, just to get out of the house, meet people and have someone to listen to you without judgement. It was a very enjoyable few days and in an incredibly short period of time we helped create a community resource that will support others for many years.”

Tom sums up: “As architects and designers we have a set of skills that we can use in any sector, from later living to warehousing, but when we are able to help an active local charity in the vital work they do, it adds an extra level of meaning. Design – interior or exterior – can have a real, positive, impact on the people who use the spaces and it’s exciting to see how MindSpace are taking forward and expanding the help they give the local community.”

For more information about MindSpace and the services it offers, please visit their website.

Whilst seemingly taking a backseat during the pandemic, ‘levelling up’ appears to be firmly back on the Government’s agenda. The first winners of the Levelling Up Fund were unveiled by the Chancellor in the recent Autumn Budget, whilst the appointment of Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Levelling Up and head of the newly named Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities further cemented the Government’s intent.

Just prior to the pandemic, as part of its commitment to levelling up through area-based regeneration, the Government had launched its Towns Fund for England, a £3.6 billion fund to support local economic growth in ‘struggling’ towns across England. Funding for 101 towns was available, with bids for up to £25 million each on the table.

As part of that bidding process, we have been involved in drafting up a number of proposals with Local Authorities and have contributed towards formulating some ambitious bids. In particular we have been working in close collaboration with Boston District Council where we have been given the opportunity to implement some of our regeneration ideas in line with the council’s forward-thinking vision on a number of strategic sites within the town centre. Our achievement in Boston has led to further commissions elsewhere in Lincolnshire, gaining us invaluable experience in terms of the approach, local requirements and the complex mechanisms and quick turnaround timings involved.

Getting the ingredients right

Regeneration can take place in a multitude of ways. For built-environment professionals, such as architects, regeneration manifests itself through large-scale works; however it is important to understand that such works need to be implemented as part of a holistic approach, taking into account both social and economic needs. We know from experience that just creating attractive houses makes no difference to local people’s lives unless you also look at education, jobs and health. Quality of life, vibrant communities and a strong local economy are intrinsic to the levelling up agenda and the important ingredients for a successful housing market and sustainable recovery.

However, assembling these ingredients, presents a layer of complexity to regeneration schemes and means they tend to be completed over a long timeframe. They require careful planning and a considered programme to be put in place. Local Community participation is essential for success and failure to secure key pieces of the regeneration puzzle, as well as community buy-in, most often results in a wholesale redesign of the proposals, wasting valuable time and resources. From our experience, these discussions should start as soon as a framework emerges.

Even so, the short-term nature of the UK’s local or national electoral cycle can often disrupt local programming and established implementation agreements. The whole process can be reassessed or, in some cases, be discarded completely under a new leadership with a different set of priorities. In an ideal world, it would benefit everyone if regeneration programmes and national policy were devised with cross-party support to outlast governmental changes and mitigate disruption.

Public-private partnership

Land ownership is also an added complication to regeneration. The scale of the projects usually involves the need to utilise both public and private land. Purchasing private land is not always a simple process and often leads to unreasonable expectations by landlords as to the present development value of their land.

Tight and inflexible timescales for the delivery of some of the bid documents has been another considerable obstacle for many Local Authorities. Whilst underutilised public land is generally ideal for regeneration, years of austerity have weakened many councils’ capabilities to evaluate the development opportunities across their assets; the reality is that it can take considerable time for public land to be released for development, extending what is an already prolonged timeframe.

Likewise, some councils may not have the available resources to immediately form a team with enough experience to deliver large, complex regeneration schemes. This presents opportunities for the private sector to step in, and as our work on the Towns Fund bids for several local authorities has proven, we can work collaboratively with the public sector, using our expertise and knowledge to deliver quality and successful projects, with placemaking at their heart. That same knowledge could also be used to identify opportunities within the public estate and increase the volume of local authority sites being brought forward.

The evolution of the town centre

The shift to homeworking, coupled with the growth of internet shopping, throughout the recent coronavirus pandemic has seen some town centres left virtually empty, high street shops vacant and community cohesion fractured. In this regard, the pandemic has created an entirely new dimension to the ‘levelling up’ agenda. Such rapid and dramatic change to the structure of civic society has required those of us charged with town-centre revival to re-think our approaches, particularly the ability to generate footfall, activity and prospects for local people in places where opportunity was already thin on the ground.

First and foremost, high streets and town centres will need to evolve in response to these fresh changes in community demand. Where traditional high streets used to be entirely composed of retail, a shift towards a mix of uses is now required and could include everything from residential to workspace, leisure to healthcare, as well as community facilities. That’s not to say there’s no longer a place for retail. We believe there are still plenty of opportunities for physical retail to prosper – it’s just a case of landlords thinking differently about the spaces they own, and we are currently working with a number of clients to realise the opportunities to be had in converting or redeveloping existing assets into alternative uses.

Regeneration strategies also need to create critical population mass to sustain a multitude of uses and to allow existing and new businesses the opportunity to thrive; one way of enabling this would be to create more residential alongside the socio-economic infrastructure.

We believe that retirement living could partly fulfil this additional need and is frequently overlooked as a suitable use for town-centre living. Retirement Villages are often located on the outskirts of towns or rural locations, but there is increased demand from a new generation of senior citizens and retirees who want the opportunity to engage in the social and economic life of the wider community. They want to live in urban and suburban areas and continue to lead an independent lifestyle, maintain and build new friendships, participate in community activities.

Summary

The renewed focus on levelling up could not come at a more important time, as local communities struggle to deal with the long-term socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. Despite the fact that large-scale regeneration schemes can take years to get off the ground, they represent a clear and sustainable solution.

However, if we are to truly ‘level up’ the UK, regeneration strategies need to be carefully planned and successfully implemented to unlock investment, growth and the future prosperity of our local centres. This is our opportunity as architects to team up with Local Authorities and be part of an appropriate delivery mechanism set up to improve not only the built environment, but also to create genuine economic and employment opportunities, paving a brighter future for generations to come.

Alexandros Marcoulides | Associate Director

There is often a misconception that climate change concern and care for the environment is the realm of the young, perhaps perpetuated by the media’s recent focus on school climate strikes and high-profile youth activists such as Greta Thunberg. However, older people – many of whom were the original climate activists of the 1960s and 70s – are increasingly finding their voice, as exemplified recently by the number of senior citizens taking part in protests with climate activists Extinction Rebellion.

According to a 2020 national survey by Opinium, it is the baby boomers, rather than the millennials, who are most likely to act in support of green issues, and that includes the choices they make when investing their money and where they choose to live. Unsurprisingly, increased interest in environmental and ethical issues amongst older people is starting to exert its influence on the later living market as developers and operators look to green their estates and appeal to seniors who are actively seeking out low or zero-carbon housing options.

Not only are there consumer expectations being brought to bear on the market, but legal necessity, too – following the Paris Agreement, the UK Government has a legally binding target of Net Zero Carbon by 2050 fast approaching. Buildings are currently responsible for approximately one-third of global energy consumption, 30 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions and 20 percent of total CO2 emissions. In the UK, approximately 27 percent of our carbon emissions come from heating our homes, and that is why it is so important to start getting our housing design right sooner, rather than later. The Government’s climate advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change agrees, and wants to see all new builds operating at net-zero carbon by at least 2030.

Several developers in the later living sector have already made an important start. Earlier this year, for example, Retirement Villages Group (RVG), which operates 16 retirement communities around the UK, set out a target to achieve net-zero carbon on its operations by 2030. This follows the announcement last year by Legal & General that it is to make all of its new housing stock operational net-zero carbon enabled by 2030, including its later living businesses which comprise Guild Living and Inspired Villages. Millfield Green Retirement Community, located in the village of Caddington, Bedfordshire, will be the UK’s first net-zero retirement community delivered by Inspired Villages.

Aside from legislative pressure, there are other reasons why sustainability is important to the later living sector. In 2019, a study by Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany found that residential energy consumption intensifies in people over the age of 65; this can partly be explained by older people’s ability to feel heat and cold more easily, as well as their tendency to spend more of their time indoors, consuming electricity through lighting, heating and air conditioning. Such power consumption is not only expensive, but also poses a significant challenge to our limited energy resources and efforts to mitigate climate change.

The path to zero carbon: challenges and opportunities

The common recourse for developers, operators and estate managers is to source green power from a renewable energy supplier, or to invest in on-site renewable energy technologies. However, the limited quantity of renewables currently available in the UK poses an energy security risk, whilst on-site renewables are not practical in many locations due to site constraints and building configuration.

That’s not to say that renewables can’t play their part in producing energy, however it is far better to take a ‘fabric first’ approach to building design and maximise the performance of the materials that make up the building fabric itself, before considering renewable energy generation. This can help reduce capital and operational costs, improve energy efficiency and reduce embodied carbon emissions, as well as reduce the need for maintenance during the building’s life.

When we consider that residential – and retirement living buildings in particular – consume most of their energy from heating, cooling and lighting, it brings into sharp focus how important simple design solutions such as the right orientation, simple and compact built form, window type and sizes can impact the thermal efficiency of a building, as well as influence energy consumption and demand.

The greatest opportunity for impact on embodied carbon and energy efficiency comes at the design stage. It is therefore imperative that we start thinking about sustainable and energy-efficient design strategies at the outset of any project before inefficiencies get built in and are difficult to retrospectively fix. For example, a greater percentage of embodied carbon is found in the foundations and superstructures of a building and very little in the external works and finishes. If opportunities are not taken at this early stage, the embodied carbon savings are lost for the entire lifetime of the building.

Early involvement, collaboration and responsibility

However, architects and designers should be considering sustainability and energy efficiency at all stages of design from site considerations, design and masterplan, construction and all the way to its operation.

Early involvement and collaboration with energy specialists and contractors is key and can help in reviewing early design decisions and maximising the energy efficiency of the building. This can also help to reduce any potential performance gap that would have existed if the numbers had not been reviewed earlier on. It is also a great opportunity to brainstorm ideas and think about all the elements of the building, highlight issues that might spring up later on in the project and devise solutions for every potential eventuality.

Of course, designing buildings to be sustainable and energy efficient at the concept/feasibility stage is not without its difficulties. A lack of post occupancy studies/evaluation or case studies of later living and retirement properties make it difficult to get a full understanding of the performance of buildings in the sector. Going forward, it would benefit if lessons learnt are published and past policies and outcomes are peer reviewed so we can continually evolve our approaches and do things more efficiently in the future. Greater transparency and knowledge sharing could also increase uptake and allow for greater marketability.

In conclusion, it is clear that both societal and legislative pressures will continue to influence the move towards low or zero-carbon real estate. With an ageing population and a growing body of evidence that climate change will disproportionately impact older people, there is arguably also a moral responsibility for built-environment professionals working in the later living sector to consider the built form holistically and to help design strategies that can reduce the carbon footprint of development, whilst also protecting older people from environmental change.

Anjana Suresh | Architectural Assistant

Urban Edge Architecture Director, Russell Gay, attended a gala evening at the House of Commons at the end of last month. The prestigious event, hosted by broadcaster and newspaper columnist Julia Hartley-Brewer, with guest speakers including former England footballer Sir Geoff Hurst, was the culmination of year in which the leading architectural practice has sought to inform and influence Government policy as a Best Practice Representative for the Parliamentary Review.

Rubbing shoulders with current and former Government ministers, policy makers and other business leaders in Westminster, Russ took the opportunity to discuss with them some of the most pressing issues facing the UK high street and retail property, as well as the pressing need for quality senior living provision in urban areas.

Also speaking at the event, former Labour Minister and Co-Chairman of the Parliamentary Review, David Blunkett thanked this year’s participants for their valuable insight into their respective industries and stressed the importance of politicians having a firm understanding of the challenges with which British organisations must contend.

“It has been a privilege to take part in this year’s Parliamentary Review and offer our expert insight, knowledge and best practice solutions to the people who make crucial decisions on policy,” said Russell following the House of Commons event. “I was greatly encouraged by Lord Blunkett’s assurances during the Parliamentary Review gala that our testimonies will be taken on board by parliamentarians and fed into future policy.”

The invite to the House of Commons followed Russell being chosen by former Conservative Communities Secretary Lord Pickles to take part in this year’s Parliamentary Review, an influential annual journal that shares best practice amongst the UK’s policy makers and business leaders. Urban Edge Architecture, winner of the ‘Large Business of the Year’ category at the 2019 Mercury Business Awards, was identified by the Parliamentary Review committee as an outstanding leader in its field and a best practice representative of its industry.

“It’s been a terrific year for Urban Edge Architecture,” concludes Russell. “We have overseen the design and delivery of numerous high-profile projects and seen our influence growing, particularly in the senior living sector. Whilst the practice works nationally on a portfolio of retail, specialist residential and leisure developments for high-profile clients, our recent award win and involvement in the Parliamentary Review has also seen our profile rise locally in Stamford and more broadly through Lincolnshire – important for a growing business looking to recruit the very best talent the region has to offer.”

Senior Associate Director Dave Frost will be speaking at this year’s Accessible Retail Conference, the trade body which represents the property interests of the retail warehouse and retail park sector of the retail industry. Held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in central London on the 10th October, and attended by some of the key influencers and decision makers in the sector, the theme of this year’s conference is Sustainable Partnerships.

Dave, who takes to the stage at 10.30am, will be discussing how we delivered Nando’s ‘next generation’ restaurant at Cambridge Retail Park – the chain’s most sustainable restaurant ever. Utilising ‘One Planet Living’ principles, the restaurant was designed to be extremely energy efficient, generate its own electricity and use waste heat from cooking for space heating. Material specification prioritised low-impact elements, fittings and furniture.

“Nando’s wanted to implement new sustainability principles and we produced a design that integrated this philosophy while complementing the existing retail park environment where the restaurant is located,” says Dave. “It presented an opportunity for us to build a restaurant using clean and sustainable materials, better design processes that reduced carbon impact and with technologies to operate the restaurant more efficiently. This pioneering development was an incredible journey for both Nando’s and Urban Edge and I look forward to recounting that journey and the learnings that came out of it with the Conference audience.”

Further details on this year’s Accessible Retail Conference can be found here.

Resident Graphic Designer Stuart Hill is a keen cyclist and can often be spotted in lycra, before diving into the office to get changed, on his morning commute. This year however, he decided to push himself a bit further and took part in the Deloitte Ride Across Britain. This involved riding over 100 miles a day for nine consecutive days, starting from Land’s End and finishing at John O’Groats. Stuart was also raising money for Prostate Cancer UK which is our Foundation’s chosen charity in 2019. He successfully completed the Ride Across Britain on the 13th September and has raised a fantastic £2,975! To find out more about his incredible journey and view a gallery of professional images from the event please visit the Urban Edge Foundation website.

We are delighted to announce that Director Russell Gay is a key contributor to this year’s Parliamentary Review, the esteemed annual journal that shares best practice amongst policy makers and business leaders. Featuring an exclusive foreword from the Prime Minister, an address from the Review’s co-chairmen Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, the Review has become one of the UK’s most influential reads for business people and politicians alike.

Identifying Urban Edge as an outstanding leader in its field, Russell was invited by former Conservative Communities Secretary Lord Pickles to take part in the Review earlier this year. Russell has also been invited to attend a high-level event at the House of Commons in late October where he will discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the property sector with parliamentarians, policymakers and other senior business leaders.

The 2019 edition of the Review is published this month and, as a best-practice representative, Russell has presented expert testimony on some of the key topics of the day, particularly the crisis enveloping the UK’s high streets and the practice’s response, providing innovative solutions for developers and property owners looking to repurpose their retail assets. Russell also takes the opportunity to discuss the need for senior living provision in our towns and cities, calling on policy makers to help facilitate the creation of mixed-use, multigenerational developments that can foster a diverse and sustainable urban and suburban economy.

“It is a privilege to be asked to participate in the Parliamentary Review alongside cabinet ministers, government agencies, associations and other leading businesses,” says Russell. “As an architectural practice acting for financial institutions, investment funds, developers and operators on projects throughout the UK we have much to contribute to the debate on the future our built environment.

“We have overseen the design and delivery of numerous high-profile projects with recent highlights including the completion of prime mixed-use developments and retirement villages and several major retail and leisure destinations. We are therefore in a privileged position to offer expert insight to the people who make crucial decisions on policy in these areas of the property sector.”

Writing in the 2019 Review’s foreword, Lord Pickles said: “The ability to listen to and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones… It is essential that politicians have a firm understanding of the challenges with which British organisations must contend; and that leaders in both the public and private sectors are aware of the difficulties faced by those working in all levels of politics, from local government to the national arena.”

You can read Russell’s contribution to the 2019 Parliamentary Review here.

Our team of rowers bravely took to the water in June for this year’s edition of the Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival. We were ‘silver’ sponsors of the event which was raising money for Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice; a charity close to our hearts and one that we continue to support. As well as our sponsorship of the race, we raised an additional £1,000 in donations for our Dragon Boat crew, with a significant contribution coming from Stamford-based building firm, Whittlestone Builders who were our main team sponsor.

Conditions were challenging as it rained constantly all morning! We huddled gratefully under the shelter of our gazebo, drinking hot cups of coffee, waiting for our crew to be called. Having not practised at all, we were a bit apprehensive getting into the boat for the first time. However, all that melted away when the gun sounded and our Dragon Boat sped down the lake to the beat of our precariously perched drummer!

We placed 3rd in the first race with a time of 65.41 seconds. A good start, but we knew we could do better. A little more confident, we lined up at the start of the second heat raring to go. We managed to improve and placed 2nd with a fantastic time of 61.86 seconds! We waited in anticipation to hear our team name as the leaderboard was read out over the loudspeakers. We kept waiting but still nothing, perhaps we missed it, we couldn’t possibly be this high up, but then there we were… 12th place, with one race to go. It looked like we were going to make the semi-finals!

As we headed down the lake to line up for our third race our skipper remarked how well we were doing and suggested that if we leant into the rowing, we could generate a bit more power. Unfortunately, this tactical change proved fatal and lead to a very uncoordinated start resulting in a time of 65.38 seconds. Not disastrous, but the fight for a semi-final berth was hotly contested and we had a nail-biting wait as the rest of the teams completed their third race.

As the results came in, we realised we had just missed out on the semi-finals by a few places. Finishing in a very respectable 15th place. We were slightly crestfallen, but buoyed by the fact that we’d had a fantastic day, despite the weather, and raised lots of money for Thorpe Hall Hospice. Yet, a few days later when the results were posted online; we received the surprising news that we had finished second overall in the mixed-teams category! Jubilant with this news, we look forward to improving our ranking at next year’s Dragon Boat Festival and raising lots more cash for charity.

Please click here to view the Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival 2019 results.

Urban Edge Architecture is proud to sponsor this year’s Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice ‘Lights of Love’ concert in Peterborough. For thousands of people across the area, ‘Lights of Love’ has become an important event in the festive calendar and this year’s concert will, for the first time, take place at Peterborough Cathedral.

Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice is the only specialist palliative care inpatient unit in Peterborough and provides expert palliative care and support for people who are living with life-limiting conditions, as well as supporting their families. The ‘Lights of Love’ concert is an opportunity for families to remember and celebrate the lives of those they have lost as well as a chance to raise much needed funds for the hospice, which costs £9,000 a day to run.

Russell Gay, Director of Urban Edge Architecture, comments: “As a local employer with staff drawn from all over the region, we have often been touched directly or indirectly by the care and support provided by Thorpe Hall Hospice. The decision to sponsor ‘Lights of Love’ was easily made and the least we can do to give something back to the community that surrounds our business. The volunteers and staff from the hospice are exceptional individuals, helping people through some of the most difficult times of their lives and they need all the support they can get. We’re expecting 600 plus people at the event and it will no doubt be an incredibly emotional and special evening; one which we are beyond pleased to be able to support.”

This year’s ‘Lights of Love’ concert will hear festive readings from the staff at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, singing from a local school choir and carols from the City of Peterborough Concert Band. Guests can look at Thorpe Hall’s remembrance books and place their dedications on the Lights of Love Christmas trees.

Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice ‘Lights of Love’ concert takes place on 16 December 2018. For further information or to make a donation, please visit the Sue Ryder website.