TOWNSHEND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Westgate, Oxford is a key site in central Oxford providing improved and extended retail space as part of a wider regeneration of the Westgate area, and West End. Townshend Landscape Architects were appointed as consultants to the public realm, working with Ben Hamilton-Baillie Associates to create a shared space strategy for a hierarchy of public streets, lanes and places. This collaboration has aimed to achieve a successful balance between pedestrian movement and buses by creating an emphasis on a series of ‘places’ that punctuate the linear street, reflecting key gathering points and desire lines of pedestrians. The project aims to re-establish the urban grain and permeability of this part of Oxford by extending the quality of the city centre streetscape south into Westgate with carefully selected, attractive, and durable paving finishes, street furniture, signage, lighting, and tree species.