ourock was a difficult and complex project in many respects and presented a significant array of challenges to both the Design Team and ultimately the Contractor . Physically , there were significant changes in level between the Waterfront and the Town Centre which had to be overcome , in addition to dealing with large areas of derelict land and unmade ground not to mention the general challenges posed by a seafront location . Overlaying all this was a complex pattern of diverse land ownership and title issues to be resolved in order for the project to work . This involved a great deal of consultation with the likes of Caledonian Marine Assets Ltd who had Rights of Access to the Pierhead area , and also Network Rail with regard to land swaps to consolidate and improve the access to the station and the car park layout , freeing up the Waterfront for public access . Dealing with Network Rail in particular opened up a whole series of complex Approval processes which had to be undertaken , particularly towards the latter stages of the project and through the construction period . Not surprisingly , there was also a very strong local community interest in the project that demanded a wide ranging , long term and time intense level of engagement . Fortunately , our client , Riverside Inverclyde proved to be superb at managing this , enabling the Design Team to focus on design issues and providing the necessary support at the various community meetings and events .

SIMON BELL

Budget , as always , was a major issue . The project represented a substantial investment in the town by Inverclyde Council but it was by no means gold-plated . The necessary civil engineering work required to reclaim areas of land , construct new sea walls and provide all the other infrastructure to address the complex traffic management issues in the town made substantial demands on the finance available . We also had to cope with fairly substantial changes to the brief once it became clear from the initial design proposals that further opportunities existed to make major and long-lasting improvements to the Waterfront and the Town Centre .

At over 3 hectares in area , the project was the subject of a major Planning Application with all the attendant pre-application and technical consultations involved . In addition , an Environmental Impact Assessment was required together with Roads Construction Consent and a Marine Scotland License Application ; everything having to be organised and managed stepby-step to enable the design to be developed and applications made at the correct time to allow all the relevant Consents to be obtained for the eventual site start .

This was a major project for the Practice and an exciting opportunity . On the whole , I think the experience tended to reinforce our belief around what constitutes good practice . From a design perspective , this meant engaging completely with the civil engineering elements of the project in order to fully understand the various issues ,

restrictions and opportunities in order to be able to pull everything together into a meaningful Public Realm proposal . On a project of this scale and complexity , it was absolutely essential to be able to establish a rapport and a sense of mutual confidence and trust within the Design Team as well as with the Client and the array of different individuals from various technical departments that ultimately became heavily involved in the project . The project represented a genuine collaboration which made dealing with difficult design issues and overcoming problems so much easier than it might otherwise have been .

Engagement and consultation with the local community also proved to be really useful . Members of local business forums and access groups were able to provide a whole range of information about the site and some of the issues surrounding it which put the Design Team in a much better position to develop a meaningful design solution . In particular , we became aware fairly early in the process that local canoeist and kayakers were using the existing beach area as a means of egress from the water to the shore . Their advice was a direct benefit in terms of developing a practical solution that retained an element of beach and incorporated appropriate access arrangements within a fairly substantial infrastructural and levels changes that were needed . Until they came forward at one of the access forum consultation meetings , nobody from the Client ’ s side or the Local Authority had any idea that the area was being used this way .

August 2017 | Landscape Insight 31