The historic Dunston Staiths on the River Tyne became a dramatic backdrop for the delivery of a new community on the site of the 1990 National Garden Festival. The scheme, which aims to deliver an innovative approach to public open space in a housing context and the integration of shared pedestrian streets, was championed by Wayne Hemmingway, with the planning and detailed design undertaken by landscape architects Glen Kemp. Staiths South Bank embodies many of the objectives of a sustainable community through its creation of a sense of place that is capable of being adopted and defended by its residents.Fundamental to the design was the integration of riverside biodiversity and historic setting as well as the design of intimate central spaces within a road structure that allows vehicular spaces to be shared by pedestrians. The result is that the public space seems more generous and the boundary between vehicle use and pedestrian use blurred through creative transitions and subtle changes in texture and colour. In the central spaces between houses there is a similar merging of the spatial functions that appeals to different groups without segregation. A variety of integrated play and community gardens have been established that evoke a feeling of permanence and heritage to the internal spaces.In the planning of the scheme the landscape professionals worked with the engineers to break down the dominance of the street structure, a move which was supported by the planners. The introduction of central community spaces that can be accessed from most back gardens provides an extension of private spaces and a sense of ownership where the play structures have been constructed using natural materials. With the right creative treatment, these can be spaces children remember later in life with fondness as places they made their own.