Basingstoke Place Vision and Place Journey (Meanwhile) Strategy

Augarde & Partners was commissioned by the Sovereign Hill Partnership (SHP) to produce a Place Vision to revitalise Buckskin and South Ham, a residential neighbourhood built as part of the 1960s Basingstoke town extension (with half of the homes currently owned by SNG). The neighbourhood is at a “tipping point” with recent loss of social infrastructure, housing becoming not fit for purpose and lack of opportunities creating a significant social challenges. Drawing on engagement with 100+ key stakeholders from the area and the region, working closely with the community engagement consultants and through employing a local person within our core team, together with Turner Work architects we devised a new Place Vision “An opportunity for all” and a Place Journey (Meanwhile) Strategy. The scope of our works also includes advising on the masterplan generally, and specifically to create a brief for the local centres and a new community hub.

The Place Journey sets out a strategy and a business plan for delivering 50+ projects through four stages (5 years and beyond) to reanimate assets, test non-residential programmes and forge partnerships – ultimately working towards creating a range of community, employment, cultural, commercial and leisure offers within the long term scheme. To kickstart the strategy, we identified and commissioned local partners to deliver five early projects. These comprised of a community-led film, a pilot workspace, new local trails and murals, a local stories book and event as well as co-design process working with a community association to define a replacement centre and a long-term plan.