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The latest episode of the Engineers Collective is out now: listen in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, your usual platform or the player below.
This episode focuses on the value of place making within construction and engineering projects.
Place making is the practice of ensuring that a project’s outcomes go beyond functionality and deliver something that benefits the society in which it is being constructed. It is ensuring that there is space above, around or within it for public use, which will bolster a community with new resources.
Fitting in the requirements of a client while also providing wider benefit for the community can make place making feel like a difficult jigsaw, but it has wide-ranging knock-on effects that make it worthwhile. These include improved mental health, physical health, pride of place and economic uplift. These are long-term positives for a broad swatch of society.
We’ve seen plenty of placemaking within cities with the likes of the Battersea and Nine Elms developments around the Northern Line extension or the creation of MediaCity at the previously derelict Salford Quay docklands. However, these types of regenerative projects can also be smaller but just as transformational in smaller locations.
The guests joining NCE assistant news editor Rob Hakimian on this month’s episode have plenty of experience in place making initiatives.
Alex Scott-Whitby is the found and director of ScottWhitby Studio, the architectural firm that walked away with the Place Making Initiative of the Year award at this year’s British Construction Industry Awards for its Jubilee Pool project in Penzance – a project that is discussed in the podcast.
Alongside Alex is Chris Short, iconic bridge director at Arcadis. Chris’ work also sees him sit on Arcadis’ infrastructure group, which focuses on urban development – something that he is passionate about.
In this conversation, Alex and Chris discuss the importance of place making and how it should be embedded into projects. They talk specifically about the ScottWhitby Studio’s Jubilee Pool and the benefits it has brought to the people of Penzance. They also discuss the makeup of the current urban landscape and how it can be redressed to better serve the public.
The discussion also takes a broader view to discuss the implementation of place making; who has the responsibility to make sure it happens and what is the best way for those working on a project to bring it into a design. Lastly, they look to the future to imagine what towns and cities might look and feel like in the future if place making is instilled in all future developments.
The Engineer’s Collective
The Engineers Collective is proving truly global in reach, with a third of listeners based outside the UK. It is also appealing to an inquisitive, career-builder demographic, with 80% of listeners under 35.
Special guests on previous episodes have included Crossrail managing director Mark Wild, HS2 Ltd special advisor Andrew McNaughton and ICE president Ed McCann. All are available for download and all address current and ongoing issues around skills and major project delivery.
The Engineers Collective is available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, A-cast, Stitcher, PodBean and via newcivilengineer.com/podcast
The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems.
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