Client
The Necklace Park on the River Wear

Brief
We want to make better use of our river and countryside, and take pressure off a fragile area in our historic city. How do we do this with little impact, while at the same time bringing all ages and communities together?

Approach
We researched best practice in community parks, and then carried out field visits and creative workshops with groups of local people with widely varying interests. This led to our scoping the possibility of a low impact “virtual” park, a 12-mile long “necklace” of pocket parks roughly strung along the chain of Rights of Way paths and the River Wear. Working with local communities and stakeholders, and conducting due diligence into legal, planning, heritage, environmental, wildlife and access issues, we found it was possible to string both existing activities and new areas together in a series of seasonal, ephemeral events supported by an online community website which will use maps as its common language.

Outcome
The Necklace Park, now written into the Durham City Development Framework and City Masterplan for the next 20 years,  gives new hope to those who want to see local industrial landmarks restored, to schools seeking outdoor teaching environments, to performers and artists looking for exciting venues,  to young people finding their feet as masters of their own outdoor universe,  to sporting and environmental  agencies looking for new ways to engage communities with healthy and responsible outdoor living. To be mirrored by an online “Virtual Park” where “marks” will be actively encouraged, Durham’s Necklace Park will serve as a premier visitor attraction for County Durham and the North East of England. Feedback
"Your approach to this project has shown us how to build quickly an innovative community endeavour from the ground up while keeping the environmental and planning impact low. We greatly appreciate your tremendous enthusiasm and drive".
Patricia Holding, Solicitor, Durham County CouncilDeveloping Concepts - II