The site is a Georgian town square, surrounded by Listed Buildings and wholly within a Conservation Area. The scope of the scheme was to reconstruct the entire Market Place including new roads, footways, kerbs, drainage, lighting, signage, and parking facilities, as well as to advise on retention or otherwise of existing trees (planted by Queen Victoria), road markings and traffic calming.
The scheme aimed to link the site to the adjacent Main Street and to try to pull together some of the disparate elements which could attract tourists. This was achieved by making physically improved connections, and by celebration of what the town has to offer, to inspire the first-time visitor to further exploration.
The design philosophy underpinning the scheme is the desire to make a powerful narrative expression of the area’s fascinating past in such a way as to positively influence its future. The temptation to simply recreate what had gone before was resisted by the design team, client and planning / conservation officers. The design narrative and materiality pay homage to the Georgian Townscape context in the use of high quality materials, craft techniques and strong colours.
