
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
52 | URBAN EDGE ARCHITECTURE
25per cent and revenue was up
despite the tough economic climate.
Our success is down to the fact that,
as we’ve grown, we have continued
to apply the same rules as we did
when we were a small business.
The same three people who started
the business are still here and I and
the other founding directors remain
very hands on. We have also created
an inclusive and supportive place
to work, evidenced in the longevity
of service and commitment to the
business by our employees. We are
equally committed to enhancing the
skills of the future workforce and,
last year, we refreshed our student-
training programme, now branded
the Urban Edge Academy, to support
our architectural interns. In 2015, we
formed a charity foundation to raise
funds and awareness for established
charities such as The Alzheimer’s
Society and Prostate Cancer UK. The
Urban Edge Foundation has since gone
on to raise over £50,000.
A high street repurposed for
the future
Urban Edge Architecture acts for
financial institutions, investment funds,
developers and operators on projects
throughout the UK. We have overseen
the design and delivery of numerous
high-profile projects with recent
highlights including the completion of
prime mixed-use developments and
retirement villages and several major
retail and leisure destinations.
As the crisis enveloping the high street
has grown, our skills have become
much sought-after by developers and
property owners looking to repurpose
retail assets. The perfect storm of
high business rates, lack of consumer
confidence and the exponential
growth of ecommerce has already
seen the likes of Toys R Us and House
of Fraser fall into administration,
while the companies such as Marks
& Spencer and Debenhams have all
announced significant programmes
of store closures. Reforms to business
rates may offer some relief to smaller
retailers, but for large high street
retail chains the changes offer little
additional comfort. We have been
urging retail property owners to
forward plan to minimise the possible
impact on their assets as much as
possible. At Urban Edge we believe
there are still plenty of opportunities
for physical retail to prosper – it’s
just a case of landlords thinking
differently about the spaces they own,
especially the opportunities to be had
in converting or redeveloping existing
assets into alternative uses.
We have been working with forward-
thinking owners and developers to
adapt their existing assets for a good
number of years, using our experience
and technical know-how to make
the appropriate decisions for each
scheme. A good example can be
seen at Highcross in Leicester where,
following the closure of the House of
Fraser store in July 2017, we worked
with Hammerson to develop proposals
for the subdivision and remodelling
of the vacated four-storey retail unit,
reactivating high street façades and
creating new revenue streams for
the client from areas of the building
considered to be “dead space”. Our
experience on this and other such
Plymouth is the third
new store UEA has
completed for Next,
after successful projects
at Edinburgh and Hanley
As the crisis
enveloping
the high street
has grown,
our skills have
become much
sought-after
by developers
and property
owners
looking to
repurpose
retail assets
“
“
53URBAN EDGE ARCHITECTURE |
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
projects has now led us to examine
similar schemes for clients and look
at repurposing existing units for other
complementary uses such as offices,
hotels or even retirement housing.
Mixed use, multigenerational
living
It is in the latter regard, retirement
housing, where we are really pushing
the barriers.
As architects, we see at first hand
that high-quality, innovative design is
crucial to attract people 65 years and
over. Yet when it comes to housing
provision, the new generation of
senior citizens, the baby boomers
who grew up in the 1960s, represents
an increasingly unsatisfied market.
They are interested in moving to a
home, including retirement living
and care schemes, that better meets
their lifestyle aspirations, yet are often
disappointed by the lack of variety that
later-life housing has to offer. Older
people are increasingly demanding
the opportunity to engage in the
social and economic life of the wider
community. They want to live in urban
and suburban areas and continue
to lead an independent lifestyle,
while maintaining and building new
friendships. We believe that senior
living needs to be provided within our
towns andcities and we are working
on schemes with developers and
operators that actively encourage social
connection through the provision of
shared and social spaces.
We want to create developments
where young and old can live side by
side, both benefiting from the social,
cultural and economic opportunities of
a multigenerational community. This
need for mixed-use developments,
with care, senior living, retail and
leisure on offer, is not only occupier
driven.Urban and suburban retailers,
through upgrading their offer in
mixed-use schemes, can compete with
large shopping destinations. Older
residents can play an integral economic
and social role in the wider national
interest. They represent a new cohort
of consumers – the grey pound –
which is forecast to grow by 81 per
cent by 2030. With the extremely
high land values in cities, the creation
of mixed-use developments not only
answers the demands of modern
living but also creates better funding
opportunities. We believe mixed-use
schemes are key to the creation of
a diverse and sustainable urban and
suburban economy, providing activity,
employment opportunities and vibrant
public spac es.
We believe that
senior living
needs to be
provided within
our towns and
cities and we
are working on
schemes that
actively
encourage
social
connection
through shared
and social
spaces
“
“
UEA delivered this
state-of-the-art £42
million retirement village
on the outskirts of
Southampton