Northshore, Stockton

Urban Splash 2008 ‘Make Me a Home: Northshore’ international competition. We proposed a collection of small, intimate public spaces – between small neighbourhoods of homes. Ownership of these spaces is promoted by private courtyards that open into the spaces, resulting in them becoming well loved and therefore well maintained public gardens.

The public spaces link with each other, so neighbourhoods group into clusters. At the centre is a decked parking court which has access to each placette. The parking court is lined with homes which wrap over the top, with openings onto the landscaped gardens above the parking. The smaller units at the heart of the cluster are intended for use by elderly residents or young couples who could be related to the occupants of the surrounding larger family homes.