Vision

Our vision for RE-STATE is to transform the Osney Mead Industrial Estate and Oxpens site into an innovative neighbourhood; which responds to current and future challenges faced by Oxford’s communities.

Meeting the client brief

To meet the client brief, we are proposing to include the following within our masterplan:

• A method for sustainable living.

• A resilient site in terms of flood management and climate mitigation.

• A connected place by increasing permeability within the site, the connections between Oxpens and Osney Mead, and their connections to Oxford’s city centre and green belt.

• An activated place with increased active frontages, legibility and an integrated mix of business, residential, community and commercial land uses to support the creation of an innovation quarter.

• A minimum of 450 homes at Oxpens and 247 homes at

Osney Mead including 50% affordable housing.

• A connection to the waterfront.

• A sequence of key public spaces drawing people into the site. Our concept of RE-STATE was created as way to RE-invent the Osney Mead and Oxpens site drawing from their former STATE, both as part of the green surroundings of Oxford and then part of its 19th and 20th century industrialisation. Therefore, we aim to reinvent the area as a centre of innovation, as per its industrial past and present, but in a green and sustainable context for future generations. Our development looks to the future, but is rooted in the past.

Our goal with RE-STATE is therefore to deliver INNOVATIVE LIVING which draws from the current needs of the people we envision living in our site, but creates a resilient and future-proof neighbourhood which responds to the percieved current and future challenges faced by Oxford’s communities.

In our goal for innovation, it links to, but aims to go beyond, the UK Government’s Innovation Strategy (2021) and plan to Build Back Better (2021) in that it facilitates investment to research and development including university-business innovation and the ‘Science Superpower Agenda’ but it aims to promote inclusivity and new ways of living rather than looking only to the private sector for innovation.

In order to facilitate innovation and create resilience and future-proofing, we have to re-orient our approach to masterplanning. We draw from the Design Council’s System Shifting Design report (2021) to consider both system-conscious design (which has an awareness of the wider system and how systemic issues are connected) and system-shifting design (which aims to change a system).

We do not claim to ‘re-make the system’ with our design, but we aim to design with an awareness of the current systemic challenges and with the goal to facilitate a future system shift. We cannot design a resilient place without this awareness and ambition which will stay within the ‘safe and just space for humanity’ between the social foundation and ecological ceiling advocated in Doughnut Economics (Raworth, 2012) For our ‘system-conscious’ design, we have considered the key challenges that face the future of our development. These are:

• The Climate Crisis;

• Post-Pandemic Living; and

• Social Polarisation.

These are illustrated to the right. Our consideration of these challenges are informed by the scenario testing workshops undertaken with the client team in October 2021.

Our ultimate goal for Innovative Living is sustainability meaning ‘meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations’ (Design Council, Beyond Net Zero, 2021 p.1)

We aim to address these challenges with five design objectives that will create a resilient development for future communities. These will promote inclusivity, a sense of community, wellbeing, a sustainable local economy and a strong relationship between people and nature. These design objectives are:

RE-STATE Understanding Key Challenges

Local neighbourhoods

Climate resilience

Sustainable movement

Inclusive communities

Thriving local economy

Climate Crisis

Rising temperatures

Increased flood risk

Increased chance of extreme weather events

Post-Pandemic Living

Social isolation Struggling high streets Struggling local businesses Poor mental health and wellbeing Access to nature

Social Polarisation

Lack of affordable housing Wealth gap Access to education Ageing population Racial injustice Gender inequity Ableism