Project:

Town Centre Masterplans

Guidance for three strategically important development sites in Bracknell town centre adopted as SPD.

Tibbalds was appointed to prepare masterplans which would set out land use and design guidance for 3 strategically important sites in Bracknell town centre.

Project Deliverables:
Land use and design guidance for 3 strategically important development sites in Bracknell town centre
Client:
Bracknell Forest Council
Collaborators:
Tibbalds CampbellReithJV, Aspinall Verdi, Urban Movement
Location:
Bracknell, Berkshire
Status:
Adopted as SPD

Bracknell town was one of the first New Towns built in post-war Britain. The initial designation intended for a population of 25,000. Today Bracknell has an estimated population of 78,660.

This SPD combines three ambitious masterplans for nearly 1,000 new homes, new office spaces, community facilities and outdoor play areas while addressing New Town legacy issues.

Together the sites create a more outward facing centre and help reinforce the town centre as a destination for people to visit and live in. The proposals prioritise walking and cycling and remodel roads to establish a better-connected and more legible centre. These plans will make the town centre more vibrant and welcoming by supporting the retail core with complementary uses, a residential community and provide public space, play and opportunity for community events.

The masterplans form a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) adopted to provide robust, evidenced backed policy for developers to follow when preparing proposals for the sites. It sets out the ambitions of the Local Authority to create a mixed-use town centre that is for living, visiting and working to the benefit of all including occupiers and the local community.


Two sites cover the Southern and Eastern Gateways, that form key approaches to the town centre and have direct links into the heart of the centre. The third site, the High Street Car Park currently hinders direct and legible access to the town centre from the west. Combined these three sites have the opportunity to remove barriers and improve the integration of the town centre.

All three sites are in the ownership of a Local Authority who wants to pro-actively take forward their delivery and provide high-density mixed-use developments, including much needed housing and commercial space.


Throughout the work the design team has been testing the masterplan and established a resilient urban form that includes an element of flexibility in relation to land-uses. This will help Bracknell Town Centre to continue to adapt and develop.

Bracknell town was one of the first New Towns built in post-war Britain. The SPD also makes the commitment to addressing some of the legacy issues that are undermining the vibrancy and attractiveness of the town centre.


The team looked beyond the immediate sites and identified wider opportunities to address existing shortcomings, such as the relocation of an underutilised open space and reduction of expansive highway infrastructure and barriers to movement. By taking a step back and looking at the Town Centre as a whole, the team were able to define a coherent masterplan strategy across the three sites. This maximised the development opportunity, introduced greater legibility, retains existing mature trees and create a pedestrian/cycle network interweaved with soft and hard landscaped public spaces. These routes and spaces are framed with a well-considered built form and a range of land uses.


The town centre wide approach that brings the three sites together has enabled a strategic approach to parking. Residential parking as well as parking for visitors and those working in the area are located within multi-storey car parks that provide a land efficient way of providing parking and frees up the development parcels to deliver communal open space.


The town centre wide approach to developing the three sites has established the opportunity to unlock wider improvements and the delivery of a healthier town centre for the benefit of the local community. This includes:

  • Challenging the need for oversized and outdated highway infrastructure and refocussing the town centre from a car dominated environment to one that encourages walking and cycling to and from the town centre;
  • Strengthening the connection between public transport - the station and bus stops – to the town centre, thereby enabling less mobile sections of the community to access the town centre as well as encouraging a shift away from using the car as the main mode of transport;
  • Creating an environment that encourages play and social interaction through new and improved spaces and green infrastructure;
  • Planning for a greater mix of uses within the town centre, including leisure, commercial and cultural uses. These uses will provide services and opportunities for the local as well as wider communities.



These benefits are brought together in a robust SPD that has carefully balanced the requirements that must be delivered by the developments with the need to provide flexibility to allow the town centre to emerge and transform over time.

Core Team

Below are some of the key people that worked on this project.

  • Portrait of Maria Hadjinicolaou
    Maria Hadjinicolaou
    Associate
Portrait of Katja Stille 2022

Start the conversation...

Learn more about Town Centre Masterplans and other projects by contacting one of our team

Call Katja on 0207 089 2121 or email mail@tibbalds.co.uk