Healthy New Town architect speaks at Future Cities Forum
We are delighted that Partner of Randall Thorp, Dick Longdin, will be speaking at 'Healthy Cities' October forum on his work for Northstowe, near Cambridge - one of the NHS demonstrator sites where new housing and health services are being constructed.
Ten thousand new homes, a new town centre, health facilities, up to eight new schools, places to work with associated green space are being built. Housing for an ageing population and treating people more locally within the community with walkable neighbourhoods. However, the site is also well connected beyond with new bus services are already being used by residents, running to the recenly opened Cambridge North Railway Station, ten minutes away.
Nick's work in landscape design has been praised over the years by CABE, Natural England and The Country Wildlife Trust. He has been instumental in developing new concepts of healthy living and exercise since 1993 when his design work for the Cambourne settlement in Cambridgeshire helped Randall Thorpe win two awards from the Landscape Institute - one on Cambourne Green Infrastructure for Taylor Wimpey and Bovis. Now ideas from the Cambourne development are being used in Northstowe.
Cambourne is a 405 ha new settlement west of Cambridge with two thirds of the site dedicated to open space. Randall Thorpe has been responsible for the strategic planning of its green infrastructure and detailed design of all green assets on site which encourage walking and cycling. Each village has a public green at its centre for formal and informal recreation, play and sport. 'Spaces for Imaginative Play' for children in a natural environment was pioneered as an innovative concept. A network of paths to each village also connect to the wider open spaces that surrounds them with new habitats for wildlife including grassland, open water, reed beds and woodland.
Nick was also part of the team that won the 1993 RIBA competition for Snowdonia Business Park with detailed layout of buildings and landscape within an ecologically and visually sensitive site.