URBAN REALM DESIGN |
Venn Street Market | LB Lambeth
Commissioned by Lambeth Council in 2006, the transport + public realm team at Urban Initiatives (who went on to form Urban Movement), embarked on a large design study of Clapham’s Old Town neighbourhood. Venn Street was advanced as the first phase of the project and was opened for use in 2011 at a total cost of approximately £385,000. Venn Street was one of the first schemes to be considered by TfL’s new Design Review Panel in 2010.
Typical of many side streets off the High Street, Venn Street was dominated by kerbside parking on both sides of the carriageway. The outdoor seating for the street’s cafes and restaurants were restricted to narrow strips adjacent to the building frontage, limiting the streets commercial potential and forcing pedestrians into single file due to the very narrow footways.
The council closed the road every month to trial a local food market. The success of this market encouraged them to seek a weekly weekend closure to extend the operation of the market, redesign the public realm to prioritise pedestrians whilst making more room for the frontage businesses.
By removing the double red lines at the southern end of the street, through negotiation with TfL, we were able to relocate the resident and business parking bays to both ends freeing up space in the middle. We then created a single flush ‘shared’ surface with space for licensed tables and chairs, trees, seats, cycle stands and whilst maintaining through traffic. A weekend road closure now allows the market to operate weekly. The footways and central open plaza space were paved in yorkstone with the main carriageway in concrete ‘Tegula’ setts. Locally reclaimed granite setts were used to create the parking bays at each end of the street, creating a simple understandable visual language. Pop-up power supply units were installed down the centre of the street to service the market. All the existing mature Silver Birch trees were retained in the footways and supplemented with mature Italian olive trees to complement the street’s mediterranean cafes and develop a distinctive character.
The Department for Transport gave permission to create Lambeth’s first Restricted Parking Zone, to avoid all painted road markings, with parking + loading controlled with wall mounted plates. A loading facility, marked on street with simple steel studs, allows the numerous businesses to be easily serviced. Streetlights and signs were mounted on adjacent buildings to reduce clutter in the street and free up space for pedestrians and cyclists.
We worked with local businesses and graphic artist to develop a brand for Venn Street that has helped to increase its profile and secure the market. The design is based on the Venn diagram and a wall plaque explains the origin of the street’s name and the story of the Venn family.
Typical of many side streets off the High Street, Venn Street was dominated by kerbside parking on both sides of the carriageway. The outdoor seating for the street’s cafes and restaurants were restricted to narrow strips adjacent to the building frontage, limiting the streets commercial potential and forcing pedestrians into single file due to the very narrow footways.
The council closed the road every month to trial a local food market. The success of this market encouraged them to seek a weekly weekend closure to extend the operation of the market, redesign the public realm to prioritise pedestrians whilst making more room for the frontage businesses.
By removing the double red lines at the southern end of the street, through negotiation with TfL, we were able to relocate the resident and business parking bays to both ends freeing up space in the middle. We then created a single flush ‘shared’ surface with space for licensed tables and chairs, trees, seats, cycle stands and whilst maintaining through traffic. A weekend road closure now allows the market to operate weekly. The footways and central open plaza space were paved in yorkstone with the main carriageway in concrete ‘Tegula’ setts. Locally reclaimed granite setts were used to create the parking bays at each end of the street, creating a simple understandable visual language. Pop-up power supply units were installed down the centre of the street to service the market. All the existing mature Silver Birch trees were retained in the footways and supplemented with mature Italian olive trees to complement the street’s mediterranean cafes and develop a distinctive character.
The Department for Transport gave permission to create Lambeth’s first Restricted Parking Zone, to avoid all painted road markings, with parking + loading controlled with wall mounted plates. A loading facility, marked on street with simple steel studs, allows the numerous businesses to be easily serviced. Streetlights and signs were mounted on adjacent buildings to reduce clutter in the street and free up space for pedestrians and cyclists.
We worked with local businesses and graphic artist to develop a brand for Venn Street that has helped to increase its profile and secure the market. The design is based on the Venn diagram and a wall plaque explains the origin of the street’s name and the story of the Venn family.
