The Design Commission for Wales partnered with Land Studio for an event looking at the future of rural and urban communities in North Wales.
The event, which was held at Ty Pawb in Wrexham, explored the potential for a place-led, people-focused approach to help shape the region’s future and to capture wider benefits.
There were a number of speakers including Simon and Kate Richards, both directors of Land Studio, a landscape architecture engineering design and ecology studio, Vicky Payne, a strategic planning and urban design consultant, David Rudlin, Urban Design Director at BDP, Clare Wilks, director at LDA Design and Karel Williams, Emeritus Professor at the University of Manchester.
Also speaking at the event were Ruthin Town Councillor Gavin Harris and Andrew Harradine, Regeneration Lead at Wrexham County Borough Council.
Andrew Harradine discussed the strategic context in North Wales and the work being undertaken to promote placemaking in Wrexham.
Gavin Harris explained how the Town Council and local community have developed a long-term strategy and Place Plan that has helped to secure significant investment and the delivery of a number of projects in Ruthin over the past 15 years.
Land Studio’s Kate Richards, who is also Chair of the Wales branch of the Landscape Institute, talked about what defines North Wales, recent projects in the region and elsewhere, and how we can achieve placemaking in rural North Wales, including in protected landscapes.
David Rudlin and Vicky Payne, co-authors of the RIBA published book High Street, looked at how high streets and town centres can bounce back from the retail crisis, while Professor Karel Williams considered how tourism in North Wales can better benefit local communities.
Landscape architect Simon Richards, who chaired the event and is also Joint Chair for the Design Commission for Wales, said: “It was a really good event and we had a great turn out with more than 60 attendees and some very interesting speakers.
“It was great to get an event that was focussed on North Wales issues across a range of subjects from rural placemaking to Wrexham, County towns to community-based tourism. It was all very thought provoking and hopefully the start of further conversations on design and the issues that we work with in the region.”
