Walthamstow Towncentre - A shared High Street

As part of Waltham Forest’s Better High Streets regeneration agenda, Project Centre were commissioned to design a significant piece of public realm in the centre of Walthamstow
 which created a strong bias towards pedestrians and cyclists.

Valley Gardens

Project Centre, has been appointed by Brighton & Hove City Council to lead on the technical design of Brighton’s Valley Gardens.

The main objective is to realise Valley Gardens as a space that people can enjoy, as opposed to just being an area to travel through. Design work is scheduled to start this month.

Valley Gardens, made up of a series of green spaces running down to Brighton’s heavily visited seafront, is also home to many of Brighton’s most attractive and important buildings, including the Royal Pavilion, and St Peter’s Church.

Proposed designs will see general traffic restricted to the eastern side of the central junction, while the western side will be used by buses and taxis. There would also be an improved network of cycle lanes and pedestrian routes.

The design includes significant tree planting, increased green space, revitalizing the gardens and improving the flow of pedestrians and cyclists. The overall objective is to remove a perceived barrier between the east and west of the city.

The appointment includes initial technical design of the highways, but may also include site supervision and project management of contractors on-site. Works are scheduled to complete in March 2018.

The project will run predominantly from Project Centre’s Brighton office. Kevin Donnelly, Project Centre’s Regional Director who will oversee the project, said: “We are really looking forward to getting started on this project to help residents, workers, visitors to Brighton enjoy the Valley Gardens space as well as to improve the flow of movement of cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.”

Project Centre’s Graduate Programme 2017

OUR GRADUATE PROGRAMME
Now in its third year, our highly successful graduate programme has once again attracted a strong list of candidates and we are delighted to have appointed four successful applicants.
We consider applicants for a wide range of roles, including civil engineers, transport planners, urban and landscape designers, traffic engineers, AutoCAD or GIS specialists, traffic order makers, traffic modellers and development planners. Specific experience or knowledge of one or more of these areas is not a pre-requisite; we provide the training and guidance needed for candidates with the right academic background and aptitude. The programme allows our graduates to gain experience in various technical disciplines before deciding where their skills would best fit in the longer-term.

MEET THE GRADUATES
Christopher Goodwin has achieved MSc in Urban Design and City Planning, MSc Polar and Alpine Change and BSc Geography. Christopher has also completed an internship in the Planning and Conservation Departments at South Somerset District Council. Christopher’s first rotation within Project Centre will be as part of our Engineering team.
Kate Wrigley has a BA (Hons) in Architecture as well as Civil Engineering MEng. Kate has gained experience working as Architectural assistant with responsibilities ranging from producing planning application design documents, to full construction drawing sets for a wide variety of projects. Kate has also won Commonwealth Essay Competition (Highly Commended) and the UK Senior Mathematics Challenge (Gold Award). Kate’s placement will start in our Public Realm Team.
Lukasz Longosz has achieved both a BA in Geography and a MA in Urban Design. Lukasz has worked as an intern within the London Borough of Waltham Forest Mini Holland project team providing support urban design development and public realm improvements as well as implementation of secure on-street cycle parking scheme. Lukasz will commence his initial rotation as part of our Parking Team.

Samuel Nash has a BSc (Hons) in Geography. Samuel has recently work as a GIS technician, building on his experience by working as part of team that carried out the mapping of farmland in England to determine the monetary subsidy the farmers receive, as part of the EU’s rural grants and payments scheme. Samuel will be working as part of our Traffic Team for his first rotation.

TRAINING PROGRAMME
Graduates in previous programmes have benefited from the following training during their placement:
• All of our graduates are attending the Principles of Traffic and Transport 20-week evening lecture series;
• They have attended an AutoCAD 2016 Essentials Workshop;
• A Traffic Surveys and Techniques course;
• Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) presentation conducted by Aggregate Industries;
• LinSig3 Junction Modelling Computer Workshop through JCT Consultancy Ltd;
• An Introduction to Traffic Signals course;
• An Introduction to Highway Engineering course; and
• A SuDs Foundation Course by CIRIA.
• Attending CIHT Events such as “You Can’t Reduce Skidding by Accident” and “Thames Tideway Tunnel- Transport Strategy, Development and implementation”
• The National, Regional and Local Transport, Land Use and Planning Policies course by PTRC.