Congratulations to Sam Perkins!

Myself and Kate had a fantastic time at the BCU Inspired Grad show this year, presenting our ongoing thesis projects.  The night gave us a chance to celebrate the work of all BCU graduates from the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. 

To coincide with the opening of the Platinum Jubilee Park in Ebbsfleet, EDC and Cohesion Plus hosted the Fusion Community Arts Festival on 29th July 22. We were delighted to see our designs now a reality; and it was extra special to see the park being used like this by the local community. Hopefully there will be plenty more in the future!

This summer Define went on our annual overseas study trip, which this year was Lisbon. Our study trips are a great way to find design inspiration, and learn about both new and old architectural, urban design and landscape.

During the last few years, the practice has been challenging our understanding of how to design for people, for activities and for moments; not just making spatial decisions for specific land uses, but understanding the components that need to be in place to empower the formation of successful communities.

Define, acting on behalf of Dandara Ltd, have achieved planning permission for 71 dwellings at Hawkhurst, Kent at appeal.

How much space could be freed up if people owned less cars and used sustainable transport? What if we, as urban designers, had to worry less about cars and parking and focused more on actual placemaking when designing new neighbourhoods?

I’ve always loved riding bikes, and as I’ve got older have realised you will always have one to suit your current circumstance. My mountain biking days are pretty much behind me now (I don't bounce off the floor like I used to when I was 18), and after a brief flirtation with long course racing in Triathlon, I currently find myself happily ensconced in the gravel bike community. That ‘go anywhere’ ability not only fulfils rides in the woods, but, as of the last couple of years, a commute into work. 

My colleagues at Define really love what they do.  They are passionate about the landscape and people and the changes they can make.  Before beginning this journey, I felt stuck, not knowing where I wanted to go, but I researched and researched until I found a career path, a lifestyle that suited me and my interests, that brings together my passions. 

If you visit the Bloor Homes office in Hinckley you might see some of the illustrations we prepared for their Normandy Fields development, on the west of the town, etched on to the meeting room windows.

I had the pleasure recently of being asked to join the leader of Warwick District Council, Cllr Andrew Day, on a webinar led by MPC to discuss progress of the joint Local Plan with Stratford on Avon and how the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency and the pandemic has impacted on that process, and on the future delivery of housing…a lot to cover in under an hour.

Meghan and I were sitting in a Building with Nature training course, when this opening question was posed. Casting my mind back across more years than I like to remember, the first thing that came to mind was a summer holiday club that I used to go to as a kid, set in a Nature Reserve in Birmingham.…

I’ve been working on Ebbsfleet for five years now. It started with Define helping out with some masterplanning work and it’s evolved into us being responsible for the design and detailing of all the public realm in the entire Eastern Quarry- which is roughly 14Ha of parkland and open space- the life force for the 6000 new homes to be located here as part of the NHS Health New Towns initiative. The site sits in the former Ebbsfleet Chalk Quarry, a landscape characterised by chalk cliffs and lakes, with the ever imposing silhouette of Dartford Bridge looming over everything.