This snapshot taken on 18/01/2011, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.

Unity Square

Ilford

Evaluation

Complex projects need multidisciplinary teams

Unity Square is an ambitious project with a number of technical challenges:

  • land acquisition and assembly
  • securing funding
  • enhancing connectivity across the town.
  • creating a new public square
  • improving a street
  • refurbishing the town hall
  • creating a new theatre that will meet the needs of the local community
  • delivering high quality homes and commercial space

Redbridge council set up a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary project team, supported by a corporate project board of directors, to manage and promote the scheme while addressing these issues.

Enablers help achieve high quality design

Redbridge council was committed to high quality design for the project.  The support from the CABE enabler, who had considerable design expertise, ensured that this aim was not lost in the complexity of the project.

Developers that responded to the brief supplied a lot of information for assessment. The CABE enabler’s thorough knowledge and experience of design issues, procurement, and design team capabilities helped the council to prioritise. She advised on both broad issues and fine details, including observations on:

  • the length of the internal communal corridors in the residential blocks
  • the width of the open space in front of the theatre
  • the sightlines for the auditoria within the proposed theatre spaces.

Specialist design expertise is crucial

The CABE enabler advised the head of regeneration that Redbridge council would benefit from dedicated theatre design advice to support them through difficult process of commissioning a replacement theatre.

This additional design expertise was appreciated by key officers within the council’s arts and leisure team.

When the CABE enabler’s support ended, Redbridge council appointed a development team with appropriate design skills and continued to have access to impartial design advice through the client design advisors.