30 Stories

Tom Bloxham MBE takes us back to the early days of Urban Splash

RIBA Chief Executive Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick on good design

TV presenter and architect George Clarke on friendship and shared passions

“An ability to do the impossible”: Prof. Michael Parkinson reflects

The last word: Suzy Jones looks to the next 30 years

Page 04

Page 08

Page 16

Page 34

Page 58

The soundtrack of US Scan here to listen to our US30 playlist – a series of songs handpicked by those who know US best

03

The First Word Josephine Smit Architecture journalist

“We never want to be the first in anything we do,” said a representative of one of the nation’s top housebuilders, as he showed me round his company’s latest development. Instead of innovating, the firm had reduced the creation of places where people would build and live out their lives to a formula, a set of design and construction processes and practices that could be pretty much repeated in any and every location around the UK. Its shareholders have been delighted; the buyers have found themselves living in homes commonly derided as ‘boxes’, often with little or no amenities or vibrancy.

There has long been an alternative way of developing and living. Since the late 1950s, creatives like the US artist Donald Judd had been drawn to the old industrial buildings of New York City’s SoHo and elsewhere.

These buildings may have fallen into disuse but they were robust, ripe for creative conversion and had the two characteristics that artists needed in studios and homeseekers have coveted ever since: space and natural daylight. More than that, they were an intrinsic part of the urban fabric, a familiar face in the neighbourhood, and with the arrival of new residents, cafes and bars, they could start to send the ripples of regeneration further and wider.

Urban Splash followed that alternative course, picking up forgotten but often valuable buildings that were in the direst straits and overcoming all the odds against revival. It converted the buildings that others spurned, transformed the derelict into the desirable and worked with creative, young businesses in architecture and other disciplines.

Think of Smithfield Building in Manchester, Bristol’s Lakeshore or the grand Royal William Yard in Plymouth. All were local landmarks that expressed the prosperity and industry of their cities and were woven into the daily lives of their communities, as a department store, business headquarters and Royal Navy victualling yard respectively. By the late twentieth century all had found themselves out of time and struggling to find new investment and purpose.

Renewed relevance has come not only from residential and other new uses but also from good design, distinctiveness of the commercial mix and activation of place. At a time when mainstream developers were filling ground floor commercial spaces with big brands like Starbucks or Tesco, Urban Splash was signing up independent record stores, bars and cafes at Smithfield Building. While developers of big city office-led schemes were creating exclusive corporate enclaves, Urban Splash was promoting a more messy and inclusive form of urbanism. It created a vibe that attracted people.

Every development has its own distinctive sense of place. Lakeshore’s green and suburban site lent itself to a residential conversion promoting a more sustainable way of living, including such features as nature trails and allotments. Royal William Yard’s scale and stature made it ripe for both residential and commercial uses, and it has been enlivened by pop-up arts performances, craft and food markets and community activities.

“Urban Splash followed that alternative course, picking up forgotten but often valuable buildings that were in the direst straits and overcoming all the odds against revival” Since schemes like these took shape, the UK has seen accelerated shifts to online working and shopping, driven by technological change and the pandemic.

Developers and local authorities have learned they can no longer rely on big-name retailers and corporates to occupy urban schemes and provide footfall in high streets and town and city centres. The kind of mix of local and independent businesses that occupied Smithfield Building is now being advocated as a potential future survival strategy for these locations.

Activation of places with events – now called curation – has also become a more mainstream activity for major developers and landlords, as are the principles of social value, to ensure that local communities derive benefits from development.

At the same time, conversion and refurbishment of existing buildings – now termed adaptive reuse – are today considered essential in limiting the environmental impacts of construction and buildings.

Principles of circular economy and whole life carbon are being applied to decisions around whether to rebuild or refurbish, leading many to conclude, as American Institute of Architects former president Carl Elefante so famously said in 2007, that “the greenest building…is the one that is already built”.

Homes of all types and ages are being retrofitted, following in the footsteps of innovative projects like Chimney Pot Park, in Salford, where Victorian terraces were brought up to date by turning their layout upside down to create an open plan first-floor living space with terrace garden.

Doing things as differently as this is not always plain sailing. The UK housebuilding industry has long been exhorted to swap its traditional building methods for more modern, factory-based methods of production, to help resolve its labour and skills shortages. Modernise or Die was the blunt title, and clarion call, of a report produced by Mark Farmer, CEO of construction consultancy Cast, for the government in 2016 on the issue.

In offsite production, Urban Splash saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the new build housing market, between the UK’s mass-market homes and the highly-bespoke, architect-designed one-offs commissioned by individuals. It produced modular homes that were standardized in production but anything but in design, with buyers given the chance to match their home layout to their way of living. At New Islington in Manchester, that freedom allowed buyers to customize homes by adding or removing walls prior to manufacture to give more traditional or open plan layouts. But the company, like others in the sector, was unable to realise its ambition, being thwarted by the UK’s volatile housing market, which failed to give the certainty of demand needed for factory production, and the sheer scale of transformation needed.

Still, the UK construction industry faces a fundamental need to change; it must either build differently or grow its workforce to meet future market demand, with the Construction Industry Training Board estimating that an additional 225,000 workers will be needed by 2027. And there are many other challenges for our built environment, including regenerating a new generation of disused shopping centres and other buildings, restoring pride and activity to left-behind neighbourhoods now suffering further through a cost-of-living crisis, and addressing the climate crisis in earnest.

Continuing to apply the housebuilding practices and processes of the past won’t help answer these questions; the need for innovation couldn’t be greater. Urban Splash has repeatedly been told “It will never work” over its history; that’s why it chose the phrase as the title for its book celebrating 25 years in business. After 30 years, the company can say that most of the time, it has.

05

Let’s start with US Tom Bloxham MBE Chair and Co-Founder, Urban Splash

2023 marked 30 years in business for Urban Splash and throughout the year, we’ve been speaking to people who’ve joined us on our journey.

We start with our Chairman and co-founder Tom Bloxham MBE, who talks through three decades of learning, developing and planning for the future...

Back in 1993 we established Urban Splash with a clear vision. We borrowed the mantra of the citizens of ancient Athens – “We will leave this place not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was left to us” – and set about transforming disused and unloved buildings up and down the country.

We didn’t really know what we were doing but it was always our mission to add value, finding places no one else wanted – places that had a history of social and physical decline. While others called them problem sites, we saw them as opportunities; charming structures with character that could be regenerated and enhanced for a new generation of occupiers.

Images Afflecks Palace in Manchester – where Tom sold posters and sub-let surplus space

We didn’t (and still don’t!) care whether a building was from the 1780s or 1980s, we just wanted to apply the same principle of creating distinctive affordable homes and workspaces, that were well-designed and easy to move into.

We’re now 30 years into that journey and have created over 6,000 new homes, 2 million sq ft of workspaces, hundreds of jobs, and have thousands of people living and playing in our neighbourhoods.

It’s all thanks to an unconventional approach of putting the place first, identifying each building or scheme’s unique points of character and fusing them with modern design ideas.

The early days But how did it all start? Back in 1993, I met my co-founder Jonathan Falkingham – an architecture graduate who had established his own practice, in Liverpool in the early 90s.

I liked his style and ideas and I knew we could do something pretty special if we put our heads together. Collaboration has always been important to me – something I learned back selling my posters at Manchester’s Afflecks Palace – a place filled with like-minded individuals.

06

Our first venture together, predating Urban Splash, was BaaBar, opened in April 1991, a cheeky, modern venue and the first modern bar in Liverpool, and I think the first bar with a 2am licence – something confined to nightclubs at that time.

That venture started in Liverpool before quickly evolving into a recognisable brand in other northern locations. We learned a lot in a very short space of time and assimilated our experience to take on other projects in Liverpool’s Ropewalks – including Concert Square and Liverpool Palace.

We took inspiration from New York and the great European cities filled with people living at their hearts, and created our first apartments at Concert Square – pioneering a new trend for Liverpool and the north. We were told there’d be no demand, people wanted the suburbs not the buzz of the city. We completely disagreed and saw the appeal of the city as a key selling point.

Urban living had been done well the world over, and it was time to bring it to our burgeoning Urban Splash places – starting in the North of England.

We brought shared experience – Jonathan’s design approach, and my knowledge of commercial space and property – something I’d flirted with when I sublet spaces at Afflecks. Place was key, and we made it our mission to deliver great spaces that would establish a new setting and identity; Concert Square for example was the first public square in Liverpool in more than a century.

Culture scene setters We flew the flag for great design, flexibility and for bringing entire places back to life. Our early Urban Splash buildings became cultural hubs closely affiliated with music and arts – proper passions of mine; Liverpool Palace was inspired by my experiences selling posters on Camden Lock market and we nurtured it to become home to Cream, The Farm, The La’s and Oceanic.

We then turned our attention to the inside of such buildings. Loft living was stealing the spotlight in Manhattan, so why not in Northern cities, where we had an equally gritty, postindustrial backdrop?

We then took the idea down the M62 to Manchester, redeveloping Ducie House near Manchester Piccadilly station. It was the same gritty-end-of-town premise, but one that quickly attracted a similar influx of names – Simply Red, 808 State and Lamb to name a few.

“It was always our mission to add value, finding places no one else wanted – places that had a history of social and physical decline” Top left Liverpool Palace, before Middle and bottom left Fort Dunlop, Birmingham – before and after Above Baa Bar, Liverpool Right, top row Matchworks, Liverpool – before and after Right, bottom row New Islington, Manchester – before and after

07

In the years since we’ve done this again and again, creating places like Royal William Yard in Plymouth, New Islington in Manchester, Port Loop and Fort Dunlop in Birmingham and Park Hill in Sheffield – a new cultural quarter, Stirling Prize nominee, and a building the Sunday Times said helped put the city on the map.

“We flew the flag for great design, bringing entire places back to life. Our early Urban Splash buildings became cultural hubs” Challenges No 30-year journey would be complete without the inevitable bumps in the road, and we’ve had many issues thrown our way – largely as a result of macroeconomic trends. The global banking crisis of 2008 hit us hard and temporarily changed our business model as we shifted towards asset management.

True then as it is now, agility helped us through; we saw that people very much still wanted great design and an Urban Splash home, they just couldn’t get mortgages to buy them. Hence we offered our homes for rent for a few years before getting back onsite at schemes in New Islington Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Plymouth from 2009 onwards.

The macroeconomic and political landscape will always influence business performance, but we’ve been undeterred from trying new ideas. In each case we’ve learned lessons and moved forward with a renewed outlook.

A vision for the future This piece doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, and our history is vast, as too is our vision for this decade.

We’re planning 4,500 new homes and 500,000 sq ft of commercial space in the next five years, delivering schemes as far south as Plymouth and Milton Keynes, and as far north as the Lake District. Each will be created sensitively and in line with what’s already there.

Crucially though, they’ll be created by great Urban Splash people, and another priority for our immediate future is to continue to attract the biggest and brightest talent into our business. I’ve talked here about flexibility, and as much as we’ve always been a flexible developer and landlord, we’ve been a flexible employer too, establishing a unique working culture that empowers people.

Since 1993 I’ve met hundreds of colleagues who inspire me, and I want to ensure we keep surrounding ourselves with people we can learn from. Those who’ve left have often gone on to establish their own businesses and you’ll find many of them in our supply chain.

For those that stay, we’re investing in them, nurturing them and giving them the tools they need to keep that Athenian mantra alive for the next 30 years and beyond.

08

09

Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick Chief Executive Officer, RIBA

The importance of good design unites RIBA and developers like Urban Splash Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick is the first female chief executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). We interviewed Valerie about her new role, and how developers and architects can harness and celebrate great design in the UK.

It is interesting when you talk to people about the unexpected twists and turns their careers have taken. I find they often describe jobs they have done which, at the time, felt like detours from the path they were on but, in retrospect, were crucial steps to where they are now. This is certainly the case for me in that I feel that so many of my previous experiences have prepared me for my current role at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

In my very first job, at the National Audit Office, I undertook value for money audits of public bodies worth billions of pounds, including housing associations. I worked for the then regulator and funder, the Housing Corporation and for a housing association. As chair of the Woolwich Creative District Trust, I led a multi-million-pound regeneration, creating a cultural hub in a deprived area of the city. I have acted as the equality lead on the board of Network Homes who provide affordable housing, and I am presently chair of Wandle Housing Association in South London.

While I am not an architect, I feel I bring with me a strong sense of just how important homes, places and spaces are to people’s lives – their power to offer security, facilitate growth, level playing fields, empower individuals and strengthen communities.

Just as I was inspired by the expertise and dedication of the healthcare professionals I represented while Chief Operating Officer at the Royal College of General Practitioners, I am equally struck by the talent, ingenuity and creativity that is evident among RIBA’s members. The service that architects offer society is incredibly important.

Left ‘It Will Never Work’ at the RIBA in Liverpool in 2018

It is both a daunting and exciting time to be leading an organisation like RIBA. Whether it’s the housing crisis or the poor condition of our schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure, it seems the built environment is rarely far from the headlines. I believe that good design has never been more critical to our

lives. For our part, RIBA continues to campaign to put placemaking at the heart of a properly resourced planning system. And we are committed to ensuring that the industry is equipped with the standards and guidance it needs to minimise its climate impact.

The development sector also has a fundamental role to play in meeting the UK’s severe housing need, regenerating our most hard-pressed communities, and delivering a net zero future. Belief in importance of good design unites RIBA and design-led developers like Urban Splash. A major mindset shift is needed to ensure that we are reinventing and reusing existing buildings wherever possible, avoiding the need to demolish and start fresh. Championing this ‘retrofit first’ mindset is a key priority for RIBA’s new President, Muyiwa Oki and the theme of our Reinvention Award, due to be presented for the first time this year.

Reinvention and reuse are words that characterise much of the work of Urban Splash. Over its 30-year history, the company has developed a well-deserved reputation for creating thoughtfully designed, vibrant and connected places where people are able to thrive. Its projects have been recognised by over 40 of RIBA’s prestigious awards and in notable collaborations such as ‘It Will Never Work’ – a 2018 touring exhibition co-curated with RIBA North that explored the challenges and opportunities associated with award-winning Urban Splash projects.

We in the UK are lucky to have such a rich and diverse pool of design talent. But we must not take this for granted. At this crucial time, we should take every opportunity to celebrate forward thinking architectural design, strengthen collaboration across the wider built environment sector, and ensure that architects are widely embedded in the development process. If we are to inspire the next generation of architects, we must say loudly that good design isn’t just the preserve of the privileged – it exists to make life better for everyone.

10

Building stronger communities through collaboration Sammie Steele Managing Director for Placemaking and Regeneration, Places for People

Places for People are long time friends and partners of Urban Splash. In 2014, the pair formed a joint venture partnership, resulting in the delivery of hundreds of new homes in thriving communities. Here, Places for People’s managing director Sammie Steele talks about the partners’ common values.

There’s a strong bond between Places for People and Urban Splash. Our shared work is driven by a team of great people – each passionate about creating lasting legacies and delivering something we can all be proud of.

Such partnerships are crucial for Places for People as we strive to improve customers’ lives. We are a social enterprise committed to creating and supporting thriving communities where everyone matters – be that through the development of homes, schools, shops, community and leisure centres or providing access to job opportunities, training, and specialist support services.

We’re meticulous in choosing our partners.

It’s essential that anyone we collaborate with shares our vision, with a strong desire to improve the lives of others. Doing the right thing is at our core.

Over the past decade, Urban Splash has done that, demonstrating that its work aligns with our values.

Everything from the people – Simon Gawthorpe, Mark Latham, Guy Ackernley and their teams who each mirror our appetite for collaboration – to the work itself.

Collaboration in action We’ve delivered hundreds of homes together since 2014, the most notable being at Park Hill in Sheffield and Port Loop in Birmingham.

At both of those developments we have assimilated our expertise and are already nurturing new communities

and looking after our new residents. Take Park Hill – an imposing development, that can be seen from most vantage points in Sheffield. This structure’s had a huge impact on me, and my favourite memory of our partnership is seeing it for the first time. It is so prominent, with so much potential, and I’m saddened to think that not long ago it was left to decline – especially in a city that greatly needed new homes.

“There’s a strong bond between Places for People and Urban Splash” As partners, Urban Splash and Places for People were united in our total commitment to bring this building back to life for Sheffield. Our focus was on prioritising the creation of something brave and new and delivering a truly mixed tenure community with homes for all coming through in the first three phases – the affordable, purchase and rental homes in the first two residential phases, as well as the student accommodation phase.

We created accessible commercial spaces too – providing great opportunities for small scale businesses to thrive in a burgeoning cultural quarter.

11

“Our mutual respect, honesty, and trust drives us to do right by our communities”

Facing challenges together But successes aside, there are inevitable stumbling blocks along the way. Placemaking today comes with numerous challenges – the place needs to be right for the community, both for neighbours and our new residents, pioneering sustainability, helping residents live greener by design, addressing the housing shortage and building safety regulations.

By working collectively, we can foster a deeper understanding of what needs to be done to ensure our communities set new standards and raise the bar for design, sustainability and by being truly accessible to all.

Top Community events at Port Loop in Birmingham Top right Park Hill residents event Bottom right Brick House communal gardens at Port Loop Above Community events at Port Loop in Birmingham

At Port Loop, that meant nurturing a new community on former industrial land. The site is already starting to transform into a wonderful neighbourhood where the initial phases provide houses of varying typologies using modular construction to deliver large open plan spaces for our new residents. We also repurposed this largely unusable land into luscious green spaces,

including a new public park which was installed early.

And we designed the area so that residents could enjoy access to the adjacent canal – all of which promoted a healthy outdoor lifestyle for our residents.

At Park Hill, we had to create something that would help the people of Sheffield fall back in love with the building. I’m proud that we’ve now enticed people back up to Park Hill, with accessible and affordable homes, workspaces and green spaces that have redefined this part of the city.

A look to the future With a decade of collaboration and strong bonds formed, I am excited about our future working with Urban Splash.

Creating sustainable and thriving communities for the long term comes with responsibilities, and having a trusted partner like Urban Splash by our side brings immense benefits. Our mutual respect, honesty, and trust drives us to do right by our communities.

12

The best thing?

Urban Splash people Over 30 years many remarkable people have moved through the Urban Splash ranks. In this article, we catch up with three trailblazers: Lucy Goddard – Creative Director and Co-founder of NCstudio, Sam Lenehan – Managing Director of KOMI Group and Lisa Ashurst – Founder of Ashurst Comms, who used their experiences at Urban Splash as a springboard to transform their own futures.

Lucy Goddard is Creative Director and Co-Founder of NCstudio. She cites Urban Splash as being instrumental in forming her work hard, play hard mentality, which she still stands by although these days it’s more work hard, family hard! With a big dose of tenacity, she established a new company mid-recession, and here she tells us more.

Since leaving Urban Splash in 2007, I co-founded interiors and branding studio, NCstudio (formally NoChintz). Now in our 16th year, we have an established client base both here in Manchester and nationwide, working across several sectors from hospitality to the private rented sector.

Not content with that, nine years ago, we launched a new venue for Manchester, Foundation Coffee House. Gearing up to launch its fourth site in the city, the concept has now also launched Storehouse; a large events space in the city centre.

At Urban Splash there was a work environment that instilled a deep team spirit for collaboration, ideas and contribution. This incredible sense of teamwork, ideas sharing and basically working together to meet deadlines and bring visions to life had a big impact on me. I’ve carried that collaborative spirit, culture, and approach into everything I do now – a well learnt lesson applied to all our new ventures.

I’ve so many memories of my time at Urban Splash, one awkward one stands out as particularly unforgettable. In one of my first months of employment I went into the office at the weekend to crack on with a project. I thought I’d deactivated the alarms, however, clearly hadn’t... a few minutes later the place fills with anti-theft thick deterrent smoke!

Picture me crawling on all fours trying to escape and then having to answer to the three fire crews that were dispatched upon reports of a ‘major fire’; all made worse by my flooding the chairman’s office with smoke and having to call in the directors to reset the system at the weekend...

“...there was a work environment that instilled a deep team spirit for collaboration...”

13

Sam Lenehan is the Managing Director of the KOMI Group, owners and operators of one of the largest digital media portfolios in Europe. KOMI is at the forefront of the changing way in which people engage with brands and consume media, with a portfolio attracting over 2.5 billion content views per month, working with brands like Meta, Disney, HSBC and The Jimmy Fallon Show. Sam left Urban Splash in 2021 and tells us about his journey.

I left Urban Splash just two years ago, torn between the prospect of something new, and the unique working culture that I’d come to enjoy. KOMI was a new challenge and a new sector for me, but thanks to the confidence I’d developed at Urban Splash, it’s one I knew I could pursue.

Urban Splash has this uniquely autonomous culture, and everyone working there is proactively encouraged to get involved in other projects outside of their 9-to-5.

For me that was KOMI who, in 2020, appointed me as non-exec director alongside my work at Urban Splash.

The two roles complemented each other, helping me grow. My main role at Urban Splash was evolving the company’s modular housing brand. We achieved so much as we pioneered a new method of construction in the UK and I was honoured to be part of a small team that signed deals with the UK Government and with partners overseas. I’ll never stop appreciating the experience that Splash afforded me. The shareholders invited me to push myself outside my comfort zone every day. They often encouraged me in to rooms

Lisa Ashurst is the Founder of Ashurst Comms.

Lisa managed our public relations for six years, before leaving in 2008 to set up on her own.

I had six joyous years at Urban Splash, putting our name on the map and bringing our developments to life through great coverage in regional, national and international media.

It was my job to tell the world about the cool things we were doing. In my time at Splash, we went from a small regional developer to a nationally recognised brand.

I was privileged to manage our fully integrated public relations function, which gave me the confidence and foundations to build Ashurst Communications to offer my skills out further into the industry and help more construction and property brands raise their profile.

I thoroughly enjoy being my own boss, working with lots of exciting and talented people to assist their businesses with public relations and marketing. I have stayed in property and my work is as varied today as it was when I was at Urban Splash – I can find myself putting a band called Carpark on in a car park in Wandsworth; then hosting a public consultation in Whalley Range; then setting up an exclusive interview with the Financial Times; then creating a social media campaign to promote an office in Manchester; then live broadcasting an international competition announcement over YouTube; then organising countless lunches, dinners, meetings and events at MIPIM. It might a cliché but no two days are ever the same and thank goodness for that!

I’ve always had a desire to use my skills to help others, that’s why alongside my work I’m massively honoured

“I am immensely proud to have been a part of the story” I felt I had no right be in – how many 26 year olds are afforded the trust to go on a solo mission to Tokyo to build relationships with international partners!

There were many other highlights too, working with great people all over the business, learning from the directors and seeing the bold way they took ideas and schemes forward where others were afraid, raising capital on a Monday and meeting furniture designers on a Thursday – every week was new and exciting. All of it helped me to build the confidence to push forward in my role today.

Making the permanent move to KOMI was a huge decision, it felt like I was leaving a family. But as with most former Splashers I’m still well-connected to Urban Splash and passionate about the brand and its future. I am immensely proud to have been a part of the story and will take the lessons that I’ve learnt and apply them to KOMI as we get ready for our next phase of growth... watch this space!

to be a trustee of Manchester’s iconic Band on the Wall (other trustees include Urban Splash CEO Julian Curnuck) and last year we completed the major refurbishment and expansion of the venue. I’m also a member of the Manchester Contemporary Art Fund and a supporter of Manchester International Festival and Aviva Studios – Factory International.

I am also a Man City season ticket holder.

I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunities that arose at Urban Splash. There was so much camaraderie and every property launch saw us work hard and play hard together – with great results! I won nine awards for our communications at Urban Splash which I am very proud of. I formed relationships with outstanding and talented people that started while I was at Urban Splash and still enjoy today both professionally and personally which includes a whole load of life-long friendships. It was an incredible experience working with such a creative team and it’s enabled me to introduce and connect like-minded people together having learnt from the best in the business.

The best thing though are the Urban Splash people.

We bonded and have so many memories.

Fortunately for me I’m still involved with this great bunch and am proud to run our Urban Splash alumni network, responsible for getting colleagues old and new together for regular meet ups and to share our successes. At the moment the alumni is pretty informal and I run it voluntarily to help former colleagues keep in touch and share opportunities. We’ve done some lovely events including a walk across Morecambe Bay which

involved a visit to the Midland Hotel too and I hope to do more events and get togethers soon.

I’ll never forget the huge PR campaign we generated around Chimney Pot Park in Salford – the first ‘upside down houses’. We had people camped outside for days before launch; we had more press interest than I’ve ever seen, and it was a prime example of us boldly going where others hadn’t, introducing a new design concept to the world. I had the honour of being the mouthpiece and person to tell the story – that’s a career high I tell you.

Whenever I hear “I bet you look good on the dance floor” by Arctic Monkeys I think of Urban Splash. There’s a quite lengthy story behind why but it involves Park Hill, crazy timing, a request for T-shirts and a festival in the USA...

14

We help customers put down roots and make their home Happy ever afters don’t just happen; they are supported by our asset management team.

Dave Morgan is residential asset management associate director at Urban Splash, overseeing a portfolio of 2,000 customers living in 1,000 homes. Here’s how.

I’ve been at Urban Splash for 22 years – more than half my life! We’ve launched every type of conceivable home in that time; from upside down terraced homes at Chimney Pot Park in Salford, to apartments in 200year-old Georgian buildings in Plymouth, and even houses built in factories.

The best part of my job has been welcoming customers into those spaces that literally create something for everyone. A huge part of the appeal has been the way we’ve been able to present these homes to our customers, ensuring they’re accessible and available – be that through open market purchase, Government affordability schemes, private rent, and things like Rent to Homebuy – which allows customers to staircase their way into home ownership at a comfortable pace.

Lessons along the way But while much has gone right, we’ve learned lots along the way. In recent years that’s included a big focus on improved customer service, surveying and engaging with our residents so we can constantly evolve and improve.

That engagement’s resulted in adaptations to make our customers’ lives easier, including investing in technology to ensure our customers can reach our team in many ways, including via a customer engagement app – something that helps keep everyone in our neighbourhoods up to speed and in touch.

The missteps and challenges have varied, but one that often comes to mind is the day we conducted a viewing, only to realise we’d entered the wrong property.

My colleague and I knocked on the door, our very polite customers let us inside, before we then wandered around the house to conduct a viewing – blissfully unaware we were in the wrong house.

The incumbent residents looked on aghast wondering why we were there; they’d no plans to move but no one addressed the awkward elephant in the room.

Thankfully, when the penny dropped everyone soon saw the funny side and moved on with their day – the customers we’d imposed on stayed with us for many years after that, but it still sticks in my mind as a valuable reminder to get things right and always pay close attention to the detail.

Mishaps aside, we’ve forged some very solid relationships over the years, especially with customers who’ve stayed for the long term. That’s something I’m really proud of, especially in the rental sector where it’s often perceived as a more fleeting experience.

We’ve got an impressively high percentage of residents who’ve put down roots in our Urban Splash neighbourhoods, choosing to make them their long term, if not forever homes. We’ve got customers who’ve rented for 15 years or more and much of that is down to the positive relationships we’ve formed together.

It’s also in part down to the breadth of our portfolio with a diverse range of properties across the country.

We’ve had customers renting with us in one city, before we’ve then supported them with relocation, finding them another Urban Splash home in a different region – making the transition quite seamless.

Emerging trends And while it’s great looking back on those long-term relationships and successes, the team and I are constantly looking ahead. Building on the success of the aforementioned app, we want to keep leveraging technology to encourage better interaction – and we’ll keep investing in green initiatives to ensure that our customers can live sustainably in their neighbourhoods – with things like green energy providers and sustainable transport options.

Another emerging trend that will dominate in the future is customer experience, and we’re increasingly investing in engagement across our neighbourhoods, with a front of house representative in some of our buildings helping to foster a strong sense of community and providing a permanent port of contact for our residents and guests.

30 years’ experience has made us strong and well equipped us for the future; we’ve invested steadily in our residential team, with 17 brilliantly skilled colleagues now working in this part of Urban Splash. They’ve an average service length of 10 years at the company, so they know our properties and our portfolio inside out.

We’re neither estate agent nor property manager; we’re a mix of both displaying skills across the board.

Our extensive portfolio and respected brand are our anchor for a very strong future, one that I’m proud to be a part of.

Top left Saxton in Leeds Top right ‘Upside-down’ homes at Chimney Pot Park in Salford

15

The funny thing about the future...

In 2023, Suzy Jones was appointed as Urban Splash Director of the Future, and she explains why this newly created role is so vital.

I have a history with Urban Splash. When I left university, I began working for a company who leased a commercial unit at Timber Wharf, the same building which Urban Splash has called home since the 2000s. I had a rather fixed perception about the trajectory of my life at that point and no inkling it would lead back to the same building, 20 years later, as Director of the Future for Urban Splash themselves.

“Using foresight and innovation, we’ll deliver a vision to leave things better and more beautiful than they were left to us” That’s the funny thing about the future, none of us really know what it holds. As human beings we have evolved a unique ability to project our thoughts into it, make predictions and conceptualise what we think the future looks like so we can plan accordingly, but the future is both uncertain and certain at the same time, a bit like Schrödinger’s cat, it doesn’t have a reality... until it does.

In my new capacity as Director of the Future, I am responsible for using foresight and innovation to establish strategies that deliver commercial success and the company’s vision – to leave things better and more beautiful than they were left to us. That means my job is to think beyond immediate horizons, at the pioneering concepts required to imagine, design and build a better future through the projects we take on, and the decisions we make during the process of delivery.

Urban Splash are focusing on a development pipeline of 4,500 new homes and 500,000 sq ft of commercial space. These will become a reality within the next 10-20 years whilst their impact on people’s lives and our planet will be felt for considerably longer. We can expect our current reality to change quite dramatically during this period, as our climate changes, societal and cultural expectations shift and technology impacts our lives in new and unexpected ways. Having a role solely dedicated to thinking within these timeframes is refreshing and commercially prudent.

The only control we have over the type of future that will materialise, is the decisions we make as we shape it. Of course, we have no idea what lies ahead with absolute certainty, but we do have agency over the choices we make, the paths we take and the type of future we try to be a part of. Either we make decisions that improve the likelihood of a better future or we don’t. To continue with the Schrödinger metaphor – we can, and should, do everything possible to ensure when we open the box, the cat is alive.

Top right We’re building homes and workspaces across the country, in places like Campbell Park, Milton Keynes Bottom right Timber Wharf in Castlefield, home to Urban Splash for the last 20 years

URBAN REDESIGNERS WITH A PASSION FOR HISTORY, PLACE AND PEOPLE

George Clarke and Urban Splash go back a long way.

He first collaborated with our team in 2017 when he designed the FAB House concept at the Smith’s Dock neighbourhood in North Shields. Here, George talks about shared values and a shared vision for better quality housing.

I first met Tom Bloxham 20 years ago.

Back then, I was fresh out of university and randomly found myself redesigning a house in the South of France – the region that plays host to the annual MIPIM property festival.

If I’m honest, I didn’t even know what MIPIM was, but one of my friends who was an associate at a big UK practice invited me to one of the event’s many parties. As it turns out, Tom was in the same room, and the fan boy in me was delighted to see him there.

Even back then I was a massive fan of Urban Splash; while many of my friends at architecture school seemed to be hugely obsessed by architects, I was slightly too obsessed with what Urban Splash were doing.

This was a brand that disrupted – with a rebellious attitude that I loved. They wanted to make change and transform urban environments to make neglected or abandoned parts of our towns and cities more exciting places to live.

They loved converting old buildings into vibrant places for people to live, eat, work and play.

So many architects see their buildings as objects, but Urban Splash saw them as positive-change-making elements of cities whose effects could ripple out to other surrounding buildings beyond their own sites.

They were urban redesigners with a passion for history, place and people and that really appealed to me. I put Tom way ahead of the architects other admire.

18

19

Forging friendships So, back to that room in MIPIM. Sadly, I wasn’t confident enough to go over and say hello to Tom, but thankfully my confidence had grown when I met him properly 10 years later, enjoying drinks together in 2012.

I’d also in that time met Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan Falkingham. We met just after I’d presented a television series called ‘The Great British Property Scandal’ – focusing on the vast number of empty homes in Britain.

I was appointed by the government to be an Empty Homes Advisor and managed to get an Empty Homes Loan fund off the ground to help bring empty homes back into use. The government wanted me to put a panel of experts together and suggested Jonathan. He was brilliant. He was already heavily involved in several empty home areas, particularly in Liverpool and made a massive

“This was a brand that disrupted — with a rebellious attitude that I loved” Images FAB House at Smith’s Dock in North Shields, designed by George Clark and TDO

difference to the panel, to those communities affected by the scandal of empty homes being created through failed regeneration programmes.

Together, with government, local authorities and the Empty Homes Loan Fund we managed to bring 9,000 empty homes back into use, and Jonathan’s been a close friend ever since.

Committed to collaboration In the decade since, our friendships have grown, very much underpinned by a shared love of history, old buildings, conversion projects, urban re-design, while at the same time being radical.

Tom and Jonny have always had a shared passion with me for design and understood the power of great design to genuinely transform towns and cities and to provide very cool, contemporary homes for people who appreciate design as much as we do.

Urban Splash took risks with buildings and places that so many other developers weren’t brave to take on. Even their company name jumped out as something different. Like the great music that has come out of Liverpool and Manchester over the last 30-50 years they were game-changing.

In 2017 we got to work on a joint project in the North East, an amazing opportunity for me to work with my friends close to where I grew up.

That project, and the closeness that’s followed have helped me get to know many more amazing members of the Urban Splash family. We know how to have a lot of fun together at work and a lot of fun together outside of work. In fact, now I come to think of it, there isn’t really a boundary line between work and play. Somehow it all seems to happen at the same time!

There’s still much to be done I’ve learned so much over the years – both through my own work, and through projects with the likes of Urban Splash, but we’ve still got lots to do as we strive to create even more new homes.

I hope that UK housing in the coming years becomes the most beautiful and sustainable housing the country has ever seen. We need to build amazing homes that make us happy and keep us healthy both mentally and physically.

Top Urban Splash will be creating new green neighbourhoods at places like Campbell Park in Milton Keynes Left Community at Port Loop in Birmingham

Our homes have the potential to be so much better, more intelligent and more life-changing than they are now. I also hope we come up with different ways of financing housing with new, disruptive economic models, particularly when it comes to land and tenure, that make homes affordable for young people.

I suppose I’m dreaming for an end to the housing crisis; that isn’t going to happen in the next few

“We need to build amazing homes that make us happy and keep us healthy”

years unfortunately, but we can take steps in the right direction by focusing on what we build, instead of focusing on quantity.

Housing targets are a waste of time in my view, but most of the time we fail to meet the targets, so don’t set them in the first place. It really should be about quality over quantity. Unfortunately, when it comes to the very big housebuilders who are responsible for the design and construction of most of our housing stock at the moment, it’s the other way round.

Quantity comes before quality and that must change.

Pioneering change So, what can be done? A new generation of super green new towns would be a fantastic way to make a real difference at scale. I’m a new town boy and would love to see an amazing new generation of 21st century new towns that would genuinely make a difference to housing across the country.

Imagine Urban Splash leading the way on an international design competition with some of the best architects, urban designers, highways, landscape designers, health and well-being specialists, ecologists. Together that’d be the greatest team of new town consultants on the entire planet – and would be pretty amazing, no?

A bitter sweet conclusion The song that best reminds me of Urban Splash is ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ by The Verve – themselves north west of England revolutionaries. It’s a great rock n’ roll track that captures the beautiful and painful battles Urban Splash has faced in the last 30 years.

This is a business that’s taken on the property sector – an industry that’s stuck in an old mould – so here’s to the next 30 years and the changes that are yet to come.

22

Architecture has the biggest potential to effect change Felix Mooneeram Photographer

Photographer Felix Mooneeram specialises in architecture and design, photographing beautiful buildings across the globe – including those in our Urban Splash portfolio. This is what the photographer sees.

Park Hill in Sheffield is one of my favourite buildings to photograph. There’s an incredible juxtaposition of brutalist concrete, brightly coloured windows and far-reaching green views of the Peak District National Park that is magical to capture.

My work is as much about capturing people’s relationship with their built environment as it is about the buildings themselves. At Park Hill I really enjoy visiting the businesses who’ve made the building their home – artist studios and creative agencies for example – seeing how they’ve carved out their identity within the space and getting that on camera.

My style has developed considerably since the early days of shooting with Urban Splash – but I’ve always aspired for my work to be honest and humanistic.

Human interaction is a really important part of my work; you can tell a story by capturing moments of how people organically behave, from how they lie on the grass together, or how they gather around a tree or seating area, how they walk along the edge of water – the ways they play on design elements that aren’t necessarily designed to be played on.

With my interior shots, it’s more about the physical space. I like to shoot the locations empty so that the viewer can easily imagine themselves in the scene.

Right Chips, New Islington, Manchester

I’m lucky enough to really love my job, capturing places like Park Hill with such stunning views is no hardship! My background is in design, and I’ve always

been interested in the power of it on people’s lives.

I think architecture and urban design has the biggest potential to effect change and I love to see how people interact with it. I’ve been inspired by some of the best in the game; Nadav Kander, Luigi Ghirri, Fan Ho – each incredibly skilled creators.

“I like to shoot locations empty so that the viewer can imagine themselves in the scene” They, like me, strive to capture the best of our built environment; buildings genuinely do have identity and personality – something that’s often best revealed by the w ​ ay they respond to the sun. Sometimes that’s through strong shadow play, with the silhouettes somehow feeling bolder and more three-dimensional under such intense light; sometimes it’s through more of a softer or filtered response which elicits a quiet, more reflective personality.

“Park Hill in Sheffield is one of my favourite buildings to photograph”

26

Using the right equipment is crucial to the success of each image. My set up is a full frame camera with a range of varying focal length lenses. I use tilt-shift lenses to correct distortion and ensure perfectly straight architectural verticals in camera. I like to get some distance from my subject and shoot back at it with longer focal length as I find this creates more intimate and evocative imagery than that made with wide lenses.

“Working alongside Urban Splash over the years has been a joy”

Working alongside Urban Splash over the years has been a joy; I’ve gradually adapted my own approach to do justice to the company’s diverse portfolio.

This is a brand that’s never stood still, inspiring freelancers like me to embrace innovation, change and new ideas. I strive to reflect that in my photography so I can capture the essence of each unique structure.

Top Royal William Yard, Plymouth Left 3Towers, Manchester

In the words of fellow Manc Mr Scruff: “you better keep moving, or you’ll be left behind”. I think that mantra’s perfect for Urban Splash. Here’s to the next 30 years.

27

30 years on, the mission has been substantially accomplished The story of Urban Splash is inextricably linked to that of Manchester itself. It’s a period chronicled by journalist, PR boss and adoptive Mancunian Andy Spinoza in his new book, Manchester Unspun. Andy remembers how it started for them all...

How Tom Bloxham and I ended up knowing each other and working together does not start, strangely enough, with our mutual education at the University of Manchester. I studied there a bit before him, and even though our times there crossed, I was too interested in hanging with the wannabe journos in the Oxford Road union building than browsing the poster stalls in the main hall where Tom started his entrepreneurial empire.

It was, in fact, a razor-wielding barber that brought us together. Dave Gerrard, the tattooed rockabilly who styled Morrissey and Marr’s hair, and in the mid-80s was doing his best with mine at his Afflecks Palace old school barber shop.

While snipping away, Demon Dave would regale me with colourful tales of the poster king’s generosity in the Hacienda cocktail bar, where he would hold court with his entourage of staff, suppliers and celebs – something I seem to have missed out on as I was either watching indie bands or, later, throwing my arms in the air on the dance floor. Years later, I met his urbane partner Jonathan Falkingham and found him to be equally generous with his time and his hospitality.

When reporting for the Manchester Evening News

from 1988, my daily diary page highlighted on the emerging bright sparks around town. Who could ignore the growing influence of Urban Splash and its colourful co-founder? So it was Tom and I met in pubs and new bars like Atlas and Dukes 92, in creatives’ congregations fulminating at Manchester’s abysmal “Up and Going” city branding. “You cannot be serious,” we shouted at Manchester’s leaders, who saw sense and let Tom and other wise design heads in on the regeneration game.

Tom, for all that he knows how to really throw a party, was deadly serious... I remember the launches of Smithfield Buildings (below), next to Afflecks, and Sally’s Yard, which he and pals chanced on while finding their way home from the Hacienda in the wee small hours.

When I set up my PR firm in 1998, Urban Splash was one of our first clients, and our work took in the early days of New Islington, before he quickly realised that his mission was of a scale which needed more PR than any agency could deliver. He took the function inhouse, though of his promotional genius we could say that he took Urban Splash’s PR inside his very being.

In my book Manchester Unspun, I try to show how city-building was at the very heart of the Hacienda; its first membership form read: ‘Intention: to create a sense of place’ and Tony Wilson regarded Tom as a fellow collaborator in the re-imagining of Manchester. Thirty years on, that mission has been substantially accomplished.

Given that property, like life, is never always a smooth ride, my book tries to describe Urban Splash’s ups and downs even-handedly and honestly, for posterity. And Tom, ever generous of spirit, and totally committed to city building, is still talking to me... I think.

28

Andrew Grant Founder, Grant Associates

They’re hell-bent on blowing traditional perceptions apart Incorporating nature into new urban communities enables development to improve people’s quality of life, boost biodiversity and help deliver on environmental and climate goals. Andrew Grant, founder of landscape architect Grant Associates, outlines how thinking on designing nature into development is evolving.

While property developers are fairly good at protecting nature these days, it’s not always been the case. Buildings often took precedence, especially in bustling urban landscapes, yet, Urban Splash has always been a different breed, championing nature and weaving green spaces into their plans from the very start.

From small acorns...

My relationship with Urban Splash began back in 2002 when I was invited to be part of the Will-Alsop led design team transforming the New Islington development in Manchester. My practice was relatively new back then, so it was a tantalising prospect to be part of something so exemplary.

The plan? To take this unloved, dense area of the city fringe and transform it into a Copenhageninspired urban neighbourhood. The vision was perfect – but as I found on my first visit, the reality was not.

My first journey to a misty Manchester remains etched in my memory. Arriving at what was then called the Cardroom Estate, I explored the rundown areas of the neighbourhood, every aspect underscoring the immense challenge that lay ahead. It was an eerily quiet morning, until the silence was disturbed by an unidentified bagpipe player providing an almost comical soundtrack to the day. I’ve still no idea who or why there were bagpipes playing but it’s something I’ll never forget...

Perhaps it was the bagpipes, perhaps it was the potential, but we left that visit feeling determined.

An impassioned Urban Splash were hell-bent on blowing traditional perceptions apart. They encouraged us designers to challenge the norm and do things differently, working with us as we

got under the skin of the area – engaging local people and shaping sustainable designs that would stand the test of time.

The result was Cotton Field Park, the epicentre of New Islington – the neighbourhood filled with green space, wetlands, wooden sculptures, and a marina.

It has helped not only appeal to a new population of human residents, but other species too – including the many Canada Geese who call Cotton Field home.

It was hailed as a success, with Manchester Evening News recently calling it an ‘oasis’ for Manchester.

Old Mill Street at the eastern end of New Islington is another example of good public realm, with light columns and a distinct road pattern – courtesy of Urban Splash letting us have a bit of fun with design. We even included a nod to the area’s nature, installing cast iron discs in the road design, each bearing the motif of a plant that grows in canals – a rare species found in local waterways which, we felt, deserved some recognition.

New Islington was so transformative – for Urban Splash, for Manchester, and for us as a practice – giving the UK a great example of urban development done differently. We built on it, taking on other Urban Splash schemes like Park Hill – an even more dense, concrete, Brutalist building. With Urban Splash’s free thinking we softened the existing fabric of the area, creating new green spaces and enhancing those already there.

A great future While Urban Splash has blazed a trail in the last 30 years, there’s still a long way to go as we look to greener futures. We’re way past the point of token gestures and deciding which parts of a neighbourhood should be green or blue; now, pioneering sustainable design is about protecting biodiversity and species.

“New Islington was transformative — a great example of urban development done differently”

29

And of course, it’s about human connections with the environment around them and finding new ways to bring people closer to nature. Port Loop in Birmingham – another Urban Splash scheme we’re proud to be a part of – is a good example setting a pioneering new precedent for the role of green and blue, with a masterplan that gives residents a unique relationship with the canal network encircling the site.

“They encouraged us designers to challenge the norm and do things differently” As we move through the next 30 years, we’ll face many more obstacles on this front, especially as we challenge perceptions. We need to celebrate nature and understand how that might look.

Sometimes the healthiest habitat might be the most unkempt one, but we need to learn to look beyond the aesthetics, finding a balance between good designs and protecting species.

We also need to work with developers, constantly assessing the viability of a scheme and the challenge of delivering sustainable resilient landscapes. There’s a sense that if you develop the right environment, you nurture a community of people who like their setting and are therefore more likely to look after it. That’s been an interesting theory of the projects we’ve worked on – generating that sense of ownership that this is our collective world, and together we need to look after it.

We’ll adopt this approach as we look to a future of more pioneering Urban Splash places – Windermere and Swansea for example; two extremely different sites, but each with vast potential.

From that misty Manchester morning to the new projects we face today, Urban Splash has been a joy to work with. As we look to a future of climate change and commitment to the natural world, I look forward to extending our relationship – offering creative, innovative, and pioneering pathways to safeguard and celebrate our environment not only for today, but for the long term.

Left Cotton Field Park at New Islington, Manchester Right Residents park and gardens at Port Loop, Birmingham

“Port Loop is setting a pioneering new precedent for the role of green and blue”

30

An oasis for Manchester Longtime Urban Splash collaborator Len Grant is a renowned and award-winning photographer, writer and now sketcher, who’s dedicated his life to capturing and recording contemporary Manc history.

Here Len talks about his work with US.

I was convinced I’d have those comments edited out but no, nothing was changed. It was warts an’ all, and I respected Splash for that.

Urban Splash has been hugely successful: there’s precious little space left in their reception to display yet another award. But there have been massive challenges too. I guess this is the same for innovators in any sector.

It was more than 20 years ago that I first began working with Urban Splash, but make no mistake I was already well aware of the brand long before that formal relationship started.

It was 2001, Manchester was changing and was an exciting place to be. I was commissioned by the New Islington Client Group to support Urban Splash’s ambition to turn a rundown council estate into ’the best place in Manchester’. These were the very early days of the project, and I was recruited as ‘documenter of change’, formally invited to record the story from the very beginning.

I got to know many of the existing residents and was able to tell their stories, rather than just record the physical changes. That was a privilege and I’m still in touch with some of them 20-odd years later.

What I recall most was Urban Splash’s transparency: an eagerness to admit that not everything was easy, and that disagreements do happen. The existing residents weren’t keen on more canals, more water.

The Splash team acknowledged this, included it in the consultation document, and worked closely with the residents to demonstrate how waterside living could be made as safe as possible.

When I wrote my first book about New Islington a few years later, one or two of my interviewees were less than complimentary about Urban Splash.

But there are many years ahead when Splash will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with inner city housing and urban regeneration. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to this iconic brand if and when those at the helm finally hang up their trilbies.

For now I’m proud to have been a part of the brand’s history. If I was to sum up my memories in a song it’d be (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

by Oasis. We actually adopted the song title to introduce the New Islington consultation document.

It could just as well be the mantra to my three decades of storytelling in Manchester; the creation of New Islington has been a big part of that.

“…there are many years ahead when Splash will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with inner city housing and urban regeneration”

31

Left Len Grant with a copy of his book, ‘From the Ground Up’, in 2007 Top Middle, Top Right and Bottom Left New Islington today Bottom Middle New Islington starting to take shape Above Some of the original residents at New Islington in Manchester

THEY ARE PIONEERS AND INNOVATORS Park Hill has dominated the last decade of the Urban Splash story, as well as the Sheffield skyline.

Constructed in 1961 as an urban utopia, the place fell into decline in the 1990s. But Urban Splash recognised the pioneering spirit and quality of the Brutalist icon and embarked on a long and complex rescue mission, that has both revived the building and helped the people of Sheffield fall back in love with their city landmark. Three architects that have played a role in Park Hill’s restoration talk about what it has been like to work on this unique project.

Annalie Riches of Mikhail Riches helped us create 195 homes at Phase 2 of Park Hill – the most recently completed area of the building.

I have always loved Park Hill, as a student in Sheffield it was already considered failing but there was something awesome about it, almost like a geological feature, a cliff face. It was an uneasy building as it seemed to symbolise architects’ failure to design housing, it was certainly instrumental in my desire to be involved in that sector.

I remember where I was when I found out it was going to be listed, I was delighted but wondered who would be crazy enough to take it on. Of course, it could only have been Urban Splash. This place requires vision, long term dedication and belief.

When I found out about the competition for Phase 2 I knew we had to win. Urban Splash, never ones to follow a rule book, decided to give all shortlisted architects flats and a single A4 brief which invited us to ‘spend as much time on the site, live and breathe it, wholeheartedly commit – can you do this?’ This was a stroke of genius. We wandered the derelict flats still containing the traces of former residents and developed our ideas in that fortnight.

We evolved a design that was respectful of the historic fabric, keeping as much as possible, but also alluded to the former residents’ lives and what they had done to make their flats a home. We looked at Phase 1 by Hawkins\Brown and Studio Egret West and were inspired by their approach to the interiors and the display windows on the streets.

Our final presentation was sprayed on the walls of our flat, it was certainly the most fun we’ve ever had competing.

The construction phase did require a wholehearted commitment. We started on site in February 2020. Built during the pandemic there were

A decade ago, Roger Hawkins of Hawkins\ Brown joined us on the design and creation of the first phase at Park Hill, creating 260 homes of mixed-tenure.

I was fortunate enough to live in Sheffield back in the 1980s. I was a student then, coincidentally living on Duke Street right opposite Park Hill. The building fascinated me, and I knew it was an important part of Sheffield’s history – so much so I was part of the campaign to save the building – something that helped it secure its Grade II Listed status.

Fast forward to the early 2000s and Sheffield City Council set up a developer-led design competition. I knew we had to be a part of it so I approached Nick Johnson – who was at the time deputy CEO at Urban Splash – to see if we could work on something collaboratively.

Nick had also been a student in Sheffield and I knew he had a similar affection for the place.

We enlisted the support of Tom Bloxham

weekly issues to resolve. From materials stuck in the Suez Canal to teams of subcontractors catching Covid. Despite these challenges I am immensely proud of what has been achieved.

And very excited to be involved with Phase 4.

It’s been incredibly gratifying to meet new residents at a conference organised by Concrete Communities, and learn how much they love living there.

I know of no other developer who would take on such a complex project, stick with it through thick and thin and make it the success it is today. All credit to Urban Splash in changing the negative perceptions of Park Hill and making it a living, breathing part of Sheffield once again.

I feel very privileged to have been involved.

who was on board. Though he did note Park Hill was only 30 minutes from Manchester – something he thankfully didn’t use in the marketing! Nick camped out in our office and we prepared a joint submission with some wonderful sketches from my colleagues David Bickle and Katie Tonkinson. It became clear as the design proposals developed that Park Hill needed more than a building proposal and Studio Egret West were added to the team to consider master planning and landscape. This went on to become a fantastic 50/50 collaboration.

The proposals fully engaged with the residents and local community to change attitudes about the potential future for Park Hill, not just its physical repair. There was a ‘squint test’; from a distance (or through squinted eyes) it was the same iconic Brutalist building, but up close you could see love and care would go into its transformation. The choice of vibrant colours, wooden handrails along the streets, corner windows into each flat, bespoke bathrooms

and kitchens were always designed in the context of bringing love back to Park Hill. Today our work at Park Hill – the biggest single section of the building – is complete, with 260 homes filled with a new generation of occupiers, and a first floor filled with businesses. It was a remarkable feat to bring it back into use and draw people in Sheffield back here.

This success can be attributed to Urban Splash’s vision, tenacity, and willingness to collaborate with designers like us. The company’s ability to attract leading talent also helps, with colleagues that can make things like Park Hill happen.

Our journey has been filled with many highlights but being shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2013 stands out as the most significant moment for me. Recently, I had the opportunity to experience Richard Hawley’s Olivier-award winning musical “Standing on Sky’s Edge,” which served as a reminder of Park Hill’s place in Sheffield’s history.

I’m proud that we too have played our role.

Nick Riley of Whittam Cox Architects designed Béton House, the student accommodation phase of Park Hill.

Park Hill is an iconic building complex which represents Sheffield’s visionary approach to post war housing. As a local practice we wanted to play our part in its regeneration, creating Béton House – a block at Park Hill that now comprises studios and townhouse clusters for 356 students. It was a divergence from the tenure of Phase 1, but thankfully something that Urban Splash recognised a need for.

I’ve followed Urban Splash for many years. A former colleague and mentor had once worked for them, and he gave me a collection of their marketing brochures for some original projects. I’ve always admired their focus around design and heritage, as well as being one of the first property companies in the UK to really understand customer experience and brand.

I felt I understood Urban Splash well and that gave me the confidence to approach them with the student accommodation idea. They loved

it but were keen to collaborate with a student accommodation developer; Tom Bloxham asked if we could introduce potential partners and I brought David Campbell at Alumno into the conversation.

the sky and the personalised front doorsteps, as well as the small washing line pegs on the south-facing balconies. Each detail showcased a remarkable depth of thought and care within the original design.

We all met a few weeks later and the rest, as they say, is history.

We were also keen to develop a new connection and narrative with Le Corbusier whose work had influenced and inspired the original design.

What Hawkins\Brown did in Phase 1 created a bold visual change and impact; this was necessary to ensure everyone could see Park Hill was changing following so many years of neglect. Our approach was about retaining as much as possible and respecting the authenticity and originality of the fabric. I hope we’ve done it justice with Béton House, which is now filled with students and enriching this burgeoning new cultural quarter.

We had a clear design concept very early to create a unique three-storey student house typology which worked extremely well within the structure.

Applying this to the south block felt natural as the configuration of this block has a quadrangle with a central external amenity space.

We drew design influence from Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn – the original architects of Park Hill. Immersing ourselves in the abandoned state of the building, we gained firsthand experience of its raw derelict form.

Coupled with extensive research on its history, this exploration provided us with a personal connection to Park Hill. Witnessing the various design elements up close proved to be invaluable for our creative approach. We observed the north-facing streets in

Looking to the future, I’m excited to see what the final phases bring. I hope Urban Splash continues to ask difficult questions and attempts to answer them too.

They are pioneers and innovators; sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. But their passion for doing things differently and better remains consistent.

36

The likely lads who grabbed hold of the North’s architectural marvels Michael Parkinson CBE Professor – University of Liverpool

Professor Michael Parkinson CBE is a renowned voice on urban regeneration. An Ambassador for the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool, Michael has also served as adviser on urban affairs to UN Habitat, the European Commission, the European Parliament, OECD, EUROCITIES, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the National Audit Office, the House of Commons Select Committees, the Core Cities, and a range of cities in the UK and Europe.

In this special feature, Michael talks about the rise, fall and stagnation of northern cities, and the role of Urban Splash and other pioneers in nurturing sustainable new communities that can serve the needs of a changing population.

Northern cities played a transformative role in shaping England during the 18th and 19th centuries. Dynamic urban powerhouses, they drove the nation’s transition from an agrarian society to industrial powerhouse.

Among them was Manchester; ‘birthplace to the industrial revolution’. Manchester’s cotton mills and textile factories fuelled unprecedented economic growth and triggered a surge in population. Sheffield was ‘Steel City’ with an internationally renowned metalworking industry, while Liverpool’s thriving port played a pivotal role in facilitating trade and commerce.

Their impact was felt across the country, propelling England to the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.

An era of decline But that was then... What became of these cities by the 1970s and 80s was heartbreaking. The decimation of traditional industries resulted in severe economic hardship – something compounded by a lack of investment from

central government. The result was urban decay, with abandoned factories, crumbling infrastructure, and rising crime rates threatening once thriving urban centres.

By the start of the 1990s, northern cities were written off. There was no market; no desire for city living in amongst crumbling and unloved structures; no appetite for investment – petrodollars were only ever going to end up in London. And as for government funding? A lethargic, longstanding Conservative administration, rising inflation, and fraught macroeconomic situation meant investment in the North was never going to be a priority.

But in walked Tom and Jonathan with their vision for Urban Splash, and an enviable tenacity and ability to do the impossible. These likely lads wanted to grab hold of the North’s architectural marvels and cultural heritage – reigniting the economic prowess once so prominent here.

“...in walked Tom and Jonathan with their vision, enviable tenacity and ability to do the impossible”

37

I remember meeting them in the early 90s; Jonathan, an architect with great vision and incredible design ideas, and Tom – an entrepreneur with a knack for turning those ideas into a reality. They were up against a bleak economic backdrop, with only a handful of cheerleaders supporting their plans. Nonetheless they took a chance and began to challenge the way we saw cities – first in the North, then moving South.

When Urban Splash was formed in 1993, city centres weren’t perceived as the drivers of the economy, and nobody had really seen scale and potential or the tourist visitor economy and culture. It was around this time that I was appointed by the European Commission to write a paper on their economic potential – citing great examples of continental urban centres that had stoked a renaissance. It wasn’t just capital cities; Barcelona, Lille, Malmö, were all great examples of the time – each packed with museums, galleries, urban housing, shops, café culture, and bursting with vibrancy.

A new era for the North Exporting that blueprint to northern England?

Why that was just a pipedream; until of course Tom and Jonathan got involved...

Working in partnership, they set about their plans.

They saw that northern cities were cheap – why wouldn’t they be after decades of decline?

While their developments started small, Concert Square, Sally’s Yard, and the like, they fought the consensus and started to put northern cities on the map. They took unloved, disused old structures and gave them new life; they were ridiculed for the notion, but they soon proved the doubters wrong.

The art of placemaking They did this by maintaining the connection between the physical, the economic and the cultural. Architecture isn’t just about creating beautiful buildings, it’s about placemaking and using design to appeal to everyone, anchoring new places in which all can live, work and play.

The advent of New Labour in 1997 brought their approach into the mainstream. Investment in the North was back on the table, regional development agencies were formed, urban regeneration became a reality, revitalising run-down areas and improving infrastructure.

Other industries played a part. It was around this time that the aviation industry became more accessible, with Easyjet and Ryanair making air travel more affordable. The impact of this was two-fold; Brits could hop over to Europe with greater ease, opening up a new appetite for café culture, cycling, and great buildings and infrastructure; we liked what we saw and wanted a slice of it on our own shores.

Europeans reciprocated, with new routes allowing them to head over to undiscovered northern cities in the UK; Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, each renewed thanks to sound regeneration programmes and investment in the arts and creative sectors that made them appealing to overseas tourists. While our stance on flying in 2023 may be changing, it’s hard to overlook its role in the UK and Europe’s urban renaissance over the past few decades. Technology has played its role too; so-called disruptors like Airbnb and Uber making it easier to visit and navigate cities.

Urban Splash contributed to this evolution, defining the zeitgeist, but as we move towards a new future, I do think the company’s biggest challenges are yet to come.

Top Jonathan and Tom being interviewed by Michael at their staff celebration this year Above Sally’s Yard in Manchester

38

“By the start of the 1990s, northern cities were written off”

Right now, we’re in a global age of uncertainty.

Covid changed the way people want to live, work and shop and that’s going to alter the blueprint of the city; everything’s going to be much more experiential. As for urban homes? Well, there’s an ongoing conversation around converting former commercial buildings to create much-needed homes; safe to say, Urban Splash has a track record in this field...

Cities of the future Ultimately, if we want to grow our northern cities, we must embrace what’s ahead. Developers will design places that accommodate our changing lifestyles as we minimise the impact of climate change, respecting our urban environments; we’ll likely see a change of government in the next 18 months too.

Urban Splash no doubt has plans to tackle these pressing issues – continuing its march to establish well-designed, sustainable urban places. The company’s already ahead of the curve; I don’t know another developer that has a Director of the Future in place, but Urban Splash does – and it’s something that will serve the team well as partners, banks, funders and customers will likely make investment decisions based on green credentials.

Top left Concert Square in Liverpool – before and after Top right Park Hill in Sheffield

Tom, Jonathan and the whole of Urban Splash have proven they can read the signs and trailblaze – especially when it comes to retrofitting and

“Time again they’ve been told “It will never work”, but I believe Urban Splash will lead the charge”

conversions – something that will continue to be important as we look for sustainable solutions There is of course a lot outside of the power of property developers; the gulf between the rich and poor is wider now than it was 20 years ago; there’s social injustice, inequality, not to mention a lack of adequate housing, but we can tackle the issues. It’s going to come from collaboration, a government willing to invest, and the audacity of companies like Urban Splash as they boldly go where others won’t.

Time again they’ve been told “It will never work”, but I believe Urban Splash will lead the charge as we create well-designed neighbourhoods that will become internationally renowned examples for a new age.

39

Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage Since its inception in 2018, the Urban Splash Residential Fund has invested in a diversified, UK-wide portfolio that now comprises 437 new homes and recently benefitted from a £20m funding deal with Barclays. Fund manager Akeel Malik tells us how meetings, MIPIM, and Matt Damon helped bring the business to life.

I wouldn’t say Matt Damon entirely inspired the Urban Splash Residential Fund, but his words perhaps helped get things going back in 2017.

Matt’s film ‘We Bought a Zoo’ features a line that’s always stuck in my mind.

The lead character Benjamin Mee faces much adversity, uttering the phrase “sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage”.

Those few words became my mantra, and they’ve never served me better than in 2016 when I headed on a plane to the south of France, determined to make my mark and meet with the property sector’s great and good at the annual MIPIM property conference.

I’d longed for a career in real estate. I wasn’t long out of university but had co-founded and exited an EdTech business and worked for UBS in the City; I wanted to transfer my skills across to something new – property.

Once at MIPIM I sacrificed the niceties of the hotels, instead renting a budget Airbnb boat in the harbour which came without a shower, toilet, or heating. I wanted to spend my time and money meeting with property’s influencers at the event.

I approached Tom again when we were back in the UK asking for a more in-depth meeting.

It went well and concluded with Tom asking me what I would be doing if I could ‘wave a magic wand’.

My response? I said that I wanted to put my experience to work and establish and build a residential fund.

“Fast forward to today and we have established something special”

Knowing the business as well as I do today, I’m not at all surprised that Tom agreed to explore the idea. Along with our partner Paul Gough, we share the belief that while there’s no substitute for experience, age and experience are not always the same thing. I’ve since met so many Urban Splash colleagues and consultants who’ve been able to realise their own vision or ambition with Tom.

I had my sights on one company in particular – Urban Splash. Though the company is actually older than I am (I’m 28), I’d read up on its history, and I was fascinated by their desire to do things differently. What I’d seen of their ambition and attitude resonated, so I set about accosting the company’s founder and Chairman Tom Bloxham.

Fast forward to today and we have established something special. The fund has £150m of assets under management and has now acquired 324 new homes – many of them Urban Splash homes – in a UK-wide portfolio, and this year we secured our first funding deal with a big-name bank – a £20m agreement with Barclays. We’re also building a great team, including James Richardson who joined us from McKinsey and is incredibly focussed on how we can deliver the best experience for our residents.

While I did manage to grab some time with Tom (thankfully more than 20 seconds!), we didn’t get too far in our conversation; MIPIM’s a manic place so our chat was confined to a quick hello and the chance to exchange numbers.

We’re on a journey to create a new reputation for rent, with long-term offerings that help build communities – and with a strong focus on the environment and accessing green energy and green spaces. Our ideas and appetite for change very much mirror the longstanding pioneering approach of Urban Splash itself.

Looking back, that 20 seconds of insane courage at MIPIM has served me well, and I’d guess that Tom, Jonathan and all of the Urban Splash directors have been similarly bold over the last three decades. I’m thrilled to be part of the story and look forward to what we can achieve over the next 30 years and beyond.

40

41

Ahead of the curve Urban Splash has strong connections with the RIBA. As part of our 30th anniversary, some of the institution’s former Presidents share their thoughts on the business’ pioneering journey.

“If anything makes one believe in the art of the impossible it is the improbable story of these rock stars of urban regeneration” George Ferguson CBE PPRIBA RIBA President 2003 - 2005

Read the full article here

I’d never seen anything like it. It’s an icon Paul Taylor and Tracey Stephenson co-founded Staying Cool in 2008, creating design-led boutique serviced apartments aimed at people who want to feel both completely at home and thoroughly looked after. Fast forward to today and Staying Cool’s as popular as ever, with fans including The Times newspaper and in this article, Tracey reflects on shared anniversaries, shared ideas, and getting her concept for a new way to stay off the ground.

We’ve long been friends of Urban Splash; my business partner Paul Taylor left the Granada Television board to study at the Manchester School of Architecture.

He took the bold step in the early 2000s to invest in one of the Urban Splash Box Works apartments in Castlefield, buying a shell space and making it his own.

I’d often visit Paul there in the early 2000s. Paul met Tom Bloxham and the Urban Splash gang after they started using his home as an example of what can be done to a shell space.

A few years later in the mid-2000s, Urban Splash had been appointed to transform Rotunda, an iconic tower in the centre of Birmingham. I’d studied in Coventry so knew the building well.

I’d never seen anything like it. It’s an icon and I knew it would be safe in the hands of Splash – with their growing reputation as an innovative, design-led developer.

I also knew that we had to get involved...

Paul and I had set up Staying Cool, combining the best of our travel experiences, Paul’s architecture credentials and my tourism and marketing experience a couple of years earlier. We invested in 15 apartments on the upper floors of Rotunda. We had a great time working with Splash – transforming the interiors from residential to hotel-style.

There were hiccups though. It was 2008 and we were at the start of that famously significant global economic crash. It was a really tough time for the business especially when our bank decided to withdraw our financing. Any time I hear

Duffy’s song ‘Mercy’ I’m transported back to those turbulent days; I don’t know if it’s because it was out at the time, or because of the prominent lyrics, but it’s a tune that takes me right back!

Urban Splash were brilliant though, and we worked together to explore a way through – agreeing to lease the apartments until we were able to rearrange the finance. That flexibility – something you still see with Urban Splash today – helped us realise our shared vision – a completed building, a restored icon, and for us, our boutique serviced apartment offering.

The day Rotunda opened its doors Urban Splash and Staying Cool hosted a joint reception in our newly fitted out apartments to showcase the building – we were so proud! Urban Splash had created something really special at Rotunda; their aesthetic resonated with us and our guests – really addressing our passions for design, detail and difference, and we were delighted to be a part of it.

They also share our love for the arts, and for our own anniversary we’ve launched the Creative Heights events programme at Rotunda – inviting creatives in the city to get involved and use our spaces. We’ve also toasted the occasion with our specially brewed Rotunda Pale Ale, with local artist Stacey Barnfield designing the cans so they look like a mini-Rotunda.

It’s similar to the way in which Urban Splash have celebrated this year. I love the brand and everything the team has done over the years – especially

“It’s an icon and I knew it would be safe in the hands of Splash” in Birmingham. I’m a trustee and chair of the Trading Board at Birmingham Museums Trust so I’m keen on anything Urban Splash has done in the city – things like Port Loop and Fort Dunlop.

I imagine the same pioneering attitude and appetite for new places will propel them through the next 30 years and beyond, so today I’m raising a can of Rotunda Pale in their honour and saying thank you for helping to take Staying Cool to great heights!

43

Urban Splash has nurtured something special Our homes and workspaces have stolen the limelight over the past 30 years, but we also work hard to anchor each Urban Splash place with delicious, independent food and drink operators who add to the menu. Some of those customers tell us why they chose to operate out of our neighbourhoods at Royal William Yard in Plymouth, Park Hill in Sheffield and New Islington in Manchester.

Yannick Loué is founder of Le Vignoble, a longtime fixture at Royal William Yard in Plymouth.

When we started out, we wanted to create the ultimate wine heaven. The setting created the perfect backdrop to help us achieve that; Royal William Yard occupies a beautiful spot on the Plymouth waterfront, meaning our customers are only too happy to oblige in a delicious freshly poured glass of wine while taking in the view.

Wine can sometimes induce a level of snobbery and pretentiousness, something we’re keen to obliterate; we don’t like to lecture our customers on what they should be drinking. Instead we encourage friendly conversation allowing us to understand more about their tastes so we can sample great drinks together!

It’s something we’ve been doing for more than ten years now at the Yard, a place we have seen completely transformed in that decade. There were a handful of us ‘early adopters’ back then, taking a chance on the potential of what had been a rundown, disused formal Royal Navy victualling yard.

Today, thanks to the foresight of Urban Splash and the confidence of some very impressive food, drink, retail, and other operators, it’s an incredibly vibrant and unique place, brimming with bars, restaurants, shops and galleries that leave customers spoilt for choice.

We’re proud to be part of the story and look forward to continuing our future with Urban Splash.

Liam Manton and Amy Harrison are well known in Manchester’s drinks scene.

Liam, one of the co-founders of Didsbury Gin, and Amy, a seasoned F&B marketing professional, recently opened Finders Keepers – a new bar at New Islington Marina.

Jack Wakelin and Tom Aronica are well-known in Sheffield. Having established the city’s Bench in Nether Edge – a venue that’s been named one of the UK’s 50 best cocktail bars – the pair recently opened the doors at The Pearl at Park Hill.

We’re passionate about world class drinks and the team we’ve built at Finders Keepers are really raising the bar in terms of the offering.

What’s not to love about Park Hill? We feel honoured to be taking on a site with such cultural history in the city.

We’ve lived in Ancoats for years now, with our growing local community merging with the adjacent burgeoning neighbourhood of New Islington – each of them becoming culinary and drinking hotspots in recent years thanks to the foresight of developers like Urban Splash and others.

With such a rich heritage preceding us, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to create a venue that did the location justice as well as fulfilling our ambition of creating something special not only for the community, but the wider city, and beyond.

We felt compelled to be a part of it, so building on our drinks experience in the city we were driven to create a new venue in which everyone – from locals to visitors – could enjoy amazing cocktails with great hospitality.

Finders Keepers is just that, a place that complements the vibrancy and energy of New Islington and adds to Manchester’s thriving cocktail scene as a whole.

Urban Splash has nurtured something special at New Islington – and that’s been the foundation for us independents who’ve turned our dreams into a reality at the Marina. We hope Finders Keepers complements our neighbours’ offerings and look forward to toasting the area’s success with anyone who fancies a finely created cocktail.

As Park Hill’s transformation evolved, we recognised the need for the addition of a ‘local’ and achieving that has been our ambition. We’re delivering that with our own interpretation, serving cocktails, craft beers, natural wines, and bar food – lending an opportunity to showcase some of the brilliant regional suppliers we’ve worked with since opening Bench too.

Ultimately, it’s a celebration of what’s great about Sheffield and South Yorkshire culminating in one great space. Urban Splash has embraced Park Hill’s heritage and local community and at The Pearl we’re aiming to honour that too.

44

45

Simon Allford

RIBA president 2021-2023

For 30 years they have designed everything they can lay their hands on Urban Splash has received widespread industry recognition over the past 30 years, with highlights including a RIBA Stirling Prize nomination for Park Hill in 2013, as well as winning more than 50 RIBA and 27 Housing Design Awards. Urban Splash was also once named as RIBA’s highest ever national award-winner – testament to a great relationship with the institution. Here, former RIBA President Simon Allford reflects on Urban Splash, and why design is so important.

Design matters. Of course it does. And if something is well designed it is good and does good. And that is regardless of whatever it looks like. Design is not taste.

Nor is it fashion. If it is very good it may later be judged as art – but that is for later.

Urban Splash know this because for thirty years they have designed everything they can lay their hands on. They have designed new public private partnerships; interesting purchase and rental models; new ways of managing and operating as a business and as an owner of architecture.

They continuously rethink the product by rethinking the process. They are ambitious and work architecture at the scale of the city whilst simultaneously they are engaged in the detail of the room, the resident, the retailer. They make designs that accommodates the very different lives

“They know perhaps better than anyone that there are many problems and few boundaries. That is why they live by design”

lived by the mass of very different people that pass by, through and reside in the cities in which they work.

This is not easy. In fact I know it is very difficult.

But that is what drives them on. To take something somewhere, that is often lost or unseen, understand it and make it much better than it was before. Better planned, operated, made and then of course better enjoyed. That is design at its very best. The bigger the set of problems the greater the opportunity to make something good, something both everyday and extraordinary. Design as the resolution of complex problems by incisive and simple actions. Actions that then allow them and their collaborators to make great architecture, infrastructure, and pieces of city.

They do this by thinking long term. Both by looking back and rethinking what exists – think Park Hill or Royal William Yard in Plymouth. Or looking forward and imagining what might be – think Britannia Basin or Chips.

I have never been interested in authors’ declarations of the import of good design. After all no one would promote bad design. When asked What are the boundaries of design? Charles Eames countered What are the boundaries of problems?

Urban Splash work in some very difficult places, where money and aspiration are often curtailed by the events of history. They know perhaps better than anyone that there are many problems and few boundaries. That is why they live by design.

Above Park Hill in Sheffield – RIBA Stirling Prize nominee in 2013 Left The RIBA-award winning ‘Stairway to Devon’ at Royal William Yard in Plymouth

46

We both want to create special places for people to live and work Milton Keynes is the location for a new joint venture between Urban Splash and Manchester-based developer Glenbrook. Glenbrook Development Director Sunny Johal sets out the joint ambition.

If you listen to “Ghost Town” by The Specials, you’ll realise why it reminds me of Urban Splash. Its lyrics talk about a run-down area of a city, and the power of change.

It’s a song that perfectly characterises Urban Splash for me. I’ve watched this business do great things for two decades now. As a Birmingham boy, I saw first-hand what they did at Fort Dunlop in 2006, and how their vision to repurpose the former Dunlop tyre factory helped revitalised the city. To this day it’s the Urban Splash project that resonates most with me.

Birmingham also helped me forge friendships with some Urban Splash colleagues based in the area – including the company’s associate development director Adam Willetts.

I’ve seen a lot of commonalities between Urban Splash and Glenbrook in that time; we’re both pioneers – us with build to rent and Urban Splash with regeneration.

We share values and a mutual desire to create special places for people to live and work, while challenging the status quo. It’s important to us that project solutions are innovative and creative but also functional and sustainable. That is why I believe our new partnership has the potential to be extraordinarily successful.

The diversity of our combined team means we have access to more fresh perspectives and innovative minds than ever before. With teammates from a variety of different backgrounds, cultures, and trades, we have all the ingredients for a super-charged workforce, capable of achieving anything we set our minds to.

Our first project will be the regeneration of Canalside, part of the Campbell Park development in Milton Keynes, building a green neighbourhood that encourages behaviours that support a more sustainable way of living, working, and playing.

While nobody can predict the future, it’s safe to say that Urban Splash will no doubt continue the success of the last 30 years. They will continue to “live well by design” by pushing boundaries and I am looking forward to working with them and to learning from these radical thinkers.

We are keen that the project produces a living space that prioritises human beings and their connection to nature. Community and quality of life are at the centre of all plans for the new homes, and there are continuous, ongoing conversations about how best to promote neighbourliness, inclusivity, and good health for all future residents.

Above Sunny Johal of Glenbrook with Nathan Cornish of Urban Splash

47

I love the people, the mission and the innovation Creating innovative buildings and transforming existing ones is a complex undertaking, and while the Urban Splash development team is on the ‘front line’, they’re supported by brilliant colleagues working in operational roles. Three of those colleagues share their stories.

Aliceson Hurst has been with Urban Splash for 17 years, a time in which she’s worked her way around the business, now serving as residential tenancy manager in Manchester.

She successfully juggles work with being a mum of three young children.

Happy birthday Urban Splash – a business that’s afforded me some great experiences.

It’s a company that’s allowed me to do so much – be that visit places I may not have otherwise been, through to furthering my career without fear of a glass ceiling. To think I started off at reception as holiday cover, before taking on an office admin role, a purchase ledger role during the recession, before then moving across to sales ledger and credit control and becoming AAT qualified.

A few years ago, I knew I wanted a new challenge and was keen to try a more customer facing role, I had always enjoyed the residential management side of the business so was keen to transfer my skills to this team.

I’m fully committed to my job, I love it, but I’m equally as committed to my hectic family life and raising small children. Thankfully, the flexibility of Urban Splash means I can do both; every day is different which is what I love the most, there is such diversity in every project and it’s such a supportive environment to work in.

If I had to choose a favourite Urban Splash scheme, I’d say Chimney Pot Park in Salford. It’s an oldie but a goodie, and I’ve fond memories of watching colleagues rally around for the scheme launch when I first joined the business. I’d never seen an ‘upside down’ house before and I thought they were great.

Every last bit of space put to good use – I suppose that’s what Urban Splash is renowned for!

Fred Doherty is head of IT and has been at Urban Splash for 19 years. Fred lives and breathes the brand, even living in an Urban Splash home...

Reiss Whiteley is our financial reporting manager.

He’s worked at Urban Splash for two years and has already seen changes within his role.

I suppose you could say I put my money where my mouth is with Urban Splash. This company’s been home for me for almost two decades – both professionally and personally.

I can’t listen to the song “We built this city” by 80s rockers Starship without thinking about Urban Splash. It’s a great, forward-thinking company, and my own experience here proves what others say about this unique working environment.

In that time, we’ve created some very special places, with plenty more in the pipeline! My favourite schemes are the Midland Hotel, Fort Dunlop and Royal William Yard – but perhaps the best of all is Longlands Mill in Stalybridge – which is also the place I call home.

There is a real sense of community at Longlands, and I love the vaulted ceilings, exposed brick and cast-iron columns. After nearly 20 years the building and scheme are still looking great, the development being a real catalyst for regeneration in the town.

I couldn’t not move into an Urban Splash building, this business is so special to me and in my almost 20 years here we’ve had many highs, and a few lows, but I’m proud to say we’ve achieved so much, sometimes against the odds!

Urban Splash built my home, but it’s also given me lots of friends too, and the best thing about working here is the people. There’s a real sense of belonging and a fantastic team spirit; everyone helps each other out, even if that means doing something you wouldn’t normally be responsible for.

I started as IT manager and the role has now evolved into head of IT/IS. It’s my job to look towards the future and help guide the direction of technology within the company. Splash have always encouraged a mobile workforce with a ‘work from anywhere’ policy, from building site to the office or at home.

Having this flexible approach encourages an agile workforce who can cope with changes and new challenges. I think this is key to our success.

I’ve been here for just over two years, but my role’s already changed considerably – seeing me move into a management role, supporting colleagues around me, while still focusing on my own career and learning from our longstanding finance colleagues Sarah and Julian.

Urban Splash promotes flexible working which is great although I love being in the office so I’m in most days through choice. For the first time in my career, I enjoy a balance and can actually have a life outside of work each week.

The best things about working here are the people, the mission, and the innovation. I love working with my team and seeing their development.

If my colleagues are developing, then I am too and ultimately that’s helping us build the dream (finance) team.

And although, we’re working back at head office doing our things, we do still like to get out and see our schemes; I think my favourite is Stubbs Mill – you can’t beat an old factory transformation!

30 years of adventures in urban art and creativity Since 1993 Urban Splash has worked with creative visionaries across the country to infuse life into its neighbourhoods. From the cow parade sculptors in Manchester, to Benjamin Verdonck taking residence in a bird’s nest at Birmingham’s Rotunda, to the graffiti installations of Park Hill, each exemplifies the profound impact of artistic expression on our urban landscapes. In this article we meet two artists from Plymouth, where we have forged relationships with artists and cultural institutions to celebrate the unique arts scene.

Hannah Harris is CEO of Plymouth Culture, a strategic development organisation that exists to support and enable the growth of culture across the city.

Plymouth’s burgeoning artistic community never ceases to amaze me. We’re surrounded by talented painters, sculptors, photographers, and other visual artists, each using the city’s heritage and natural elements as their inspiration, while fusing it with their own creative style.

Plymouth Culture is an organisation that exists to enable that community, helping them flourish and finding partners who can further promote their work – including Urban Splash.

I’ve long been aware of the company and the work they’ve done at Royal William Yard over the years, so it made sense to collaborate when the opportunity arose through the High Street Heritage Action Zone in 2022.

We were tasked with installing a striking piece of art at the Civic Centre; this mid-century building will undergo a transformation by Urban Splash, and our install would breathe the lightness back into a city space – we saw the building as a metaphor for revitalising the city and a beacon for a new chapter.

The first installation ran in January 2023, a striking Barbie-pink light installation inspired by Creative Concern and created

by JHAV Ltd, spelling out the words ‘what will you make of it’ – a challenge to the people of Plymouth to think towards the future.

The install was one of many thought-provoking art installations around the city at that time as part of British Art Show 9 – designed to ignite conversation.

It had so many layers, not least forming part of our 10-year culture plan for the city to make art more accessible. Installs like this allow everyone to consume art – not just those who can afford to buy exhibition tickets and cross thresholds into galleries.

Urban Splash has proven over its 30 years that it understands and empathises with those in the arts scene. They understand the impact of architecture on our daily lives, and we have a shared consensus when it comes to the role of buildings. We each want them to cross our radar each day, make us smile or, as was the case with the Civic install, provoke conversation.

Top left Light installation as part of British Art Show 9 at the Civic Centre Top middle Royal William Yard’s Squiggly Wiggly Giant Squid Top right / bottom right Ocean Studios Bottom middle Illuminate Light Festival at Royal William Yard

Francesca Hawkesworth is the Programme & Exhibitions Lead for Real Ideas at Ocean Studios, a social enterprise and Plymouth’s largest artist studio complex providing affordable studios and workshop facilities for makers to develop their practices in the heart of the Royal William Yard.

Urban Splash has created something quite special at Royal William Yard. Once a rundown collection of former naval buildings, it is now a thriving community and a place that’s helping us retain Plymouth’s best creative talent.

Creators have always gravitated to bigger, more-established global cities, but a facility like Ocean Studios helps to buck the trend, offering new workspaces and studios that can rival international alternatives.

With the support of Urban Splash, we can host creators of all disciplines; painters, visual artists, ceramicists, jewellers, print makers. We give them a space to develop their practice, no matter the stage of their journey – be they well-established or just starting out. We host workshops and exhibitions; we offer coaching and development, and crucially we connect our artists with the uniquely supportive community that is Royal William Yard.

The Yard offers us so much and our artists are captivated by the inspirational canvas here – be that massive open spaces, amazing architecture, beautiful historic features, or heritage, it’s the perfect environment in which to test an installation.

Artists are inspired by the interplay of light, the surrounding ambiance, and the sheer joy of sketching the Yard’s unique backdrop. We have a deep fondness for the raw authenticity and texture that define this venerable space; it’s not a pristine white cube, it’s 200 years of rich tapestry. Urban Splash grasped that heritage, fused new architectural ideas, and brought it back to life; fast forward to today and our own artists are doing that through their own crafts.

And now, we want to give more people access to the space through family experiences, mindfulness creativity workshops, and other events and initiatives that make art more accessible.

While we’re incredibly proud of our artists exhibiting internationally, we equally celebrate those experiencing their first art moments here.

It’s a sad reality that arts education and opportunities have been diluted in recent years and it’s our mission to promote the opportunities available to people in and around Plymouth. We want to stay at the forefront of trends and how things are working; we’re fortunate enough to have other bases in Plymouth such as our 360 immersive dome at Market Hall in Devonport; collaborating at both venues gives our Ocean Studios artists another place to platform their work.

We’ll continue to celebrate the region’s best creative talent, with the Yard as the perfect starting point.

It’s exciting to be here working with Urban Splash; united by shared values and an unwavering dedication to the arts, we will work together to amplify the profound influence of artists in Plymouth and beyond.

50

A shared passion for great design is the bedrock of our relationship shedkm is a Liverpool and London-based architecture practice that has helped bring many an Urban Splash place to life – from Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, to Matchworks in South Liverpool.

Here, shedkm’s Managing Director Hazel Rounding talks about the longstanding collaboration.

It was back in the 90s that our Urban Splash and shedkm relationship began. Jonathan Falkingham – one of the co-founders of Urban Splash – was a former student in Liverpool where he met then tutor Dave King. The pair hit it off and got involved in some of the early schemes working on both residential concepts. We helped design Collegiate in Liverpool, and commercial sites like Matchworks.

When I joined shedkm I soon saw the synergy between our two organisations; the bedrock of our working relationship. We each share an enthusiasm for regeneration and appreciation of the value of good, strong, deliverable design. I still remember those very early meetings with Tom and Jonathan and the ideas we shared as we brought that areas of the city back into use.

Moving through to the 2000s and we undertook more great work. Matchworks was an art deco structure in much need of repair and re-invention. The vision really excited us – a chance to jointly create a brief and regenerate through bold transformative architecture, whilst respecting the original design. It was 26 years ago, long before anyone else was talking about retrofit

or sustainability credentials. Urban Splash and shedkm did however sit up and champion regeneration – leading us to collaborate as client and architect to find a new use for buildings which had almost become known as ‘problems’ to cities rather than assets.

In the mid-2000s we took on more big schemes together. Fort Dunlop in Birmingham was a real highlight, and I fondly remember the days of driving up and down the M6, blaring out the Housemartins ‘Build’ – the energy resonating with me and the work we were doing.

With Fort Dunlop successfully transformed by 2006, we then continued with the even bolder step of turning the Victorian terrace upside down and creating hundreds of new homes at Chimney Pot Park in Salford – somewhere which has since won 16 awards including a Housing Design Award.

The success of those schemes is down to Urban Splash’s culture and ethos; they have this sheer determination to find ways to solve the regeneration of existing structures and the ripple effect that has on neighbouring areas.

However it’s not always been easy; we’ve often been challenged on our collaborative schemes – be that by costs, unknowns and a desire to go where others had failed, but this made us more determined as a team and we balanced the pain with collective spirit through team-building nights out and study trips!

Urban Splash have always been good at ensuring that the project team became a united single vehicle.

As for what’s ahead, who knows where Urban Splash will go. I’m particularly interested to see the plans of their newly appointed Director of the Future Suzy Jones, and how she’ll take the brand even further. Urban Splash has always been ahead of the curve, and if they can continue to be bold and ‘think outside the box’, whilst retaining the underlining values of great design and improved lives for end users, then they absolutely will be a huge player in the future.

Top left Chimney Pot Park, Salford Top right Fort Dunlop in Birmingham Bottom right Matchworks, Liverpool

51

Music, Modo, and Margi Clarke!

Our memories of 1990s Liverpool Jane and I knew we wanted to take a slightly different path. When we married in the mid90s, the route was pretty much laid out for you; set up in suburbia, start a family, and watch Brookside! But we wanted to live a little and set our sights on a home in the heart of Liverpool – the city we both called home.

That wasn’t as easy as it sounds though; there wasn’t much being built in the city, and the closest you got to a house was a terrace in Sefton Park – but that just wasn’t what we wanted.

We read about Urban Splash in the local press; we took a keen interest in the grand plans of these urban pioneers. They used words we liked – architecture, design, loft living. It was all a bit more Manhattan than Merseyside, but it caught mine and Jane’s attentions.

We soon signed up, opting for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, open plan loft. It was really spacious but we daren’t fill it with much furniture as we wanted to live in a minimalist way. We’d indulged in loft architecture books and international magazines and wanted to keep that same aesthetic.

Soon, our flat featured in Elle Deco and Living Etc magazines. We were well chuffed, and before long we’d even had TV royalty Margi Clarke round for some filming!

But as great as all that was, there was still a lot of emptiness around the city. Urban Splash were working hard to make things happen, but the idea of cities operating beyond the 9 to 5 was alien to most.

Northern cities weren’t ready for a population, so swift change was needed. When we first moved in, there was no supermarket, save for the brilliant world food market on Bold Street.

There were no bars, and our socialising was done in the old Ropewalks pub. There wasn’t even anywhere to park our car, so Jane and I resorted to making shifty deals with local people with

Jane and John Pinnington were the first ever customers to move into an Urban Splash home, buying a loft apartment at Concert Square in Liverpool. John talks about life in Liverpool in the early 90s – and the highs and lows of being an early urban adopter.

a bit of land; one construction worker used to give us his keys at night on the agreement we shifted the car by 9am the next morning!

But soon, that changed – largely in part thanks to Urban Splash and the company’s vision and ability to make good ideas a reality. By the late 90s they’d totally transformed Concert Square, anchoring it with popular venues like Modo and Beluga – places you’d find Jane and I most nights.

We started making lots of new friends – including the gang who worked in the Urban Splash offices which back then were on Wood Street.

This whole new cultural district was established, with us living in an urban utopia. I worked in graphic design, so the office was a short stroll from our flat; Jane worked as a lawyer so it was a few minutes’ walk over to the courts for her each day.

We look back fondly on this early Urban Splash era. We lived in a cool, converted warehouse unlike any other homes in Liverpool, surrounded by a growing group of friends and watching the city start to come to life right in front of our eyes.

We lived the dream for five years and, as with most back then, our decision to start a family meant we had to move out of the city.

Northern cities had begun to change – thanks to the likes of Urban Splash – but we were still way off the kind of things you see now, like city centre schools and green spaces. So, we made the move to suburbia to start another chapter in our lives – becoming parents.

Though we were sad to leave that era behind, it’s been great over the last two decades living a different life, settling along the waterfront and growing our family.

We’re still as happy as we were back then, and Jane and I often play over the memories.

It’s great to indulge in nostalgia and relive those days when we were ourselves urban pioneers.

Top John and Jane’s first apartment from the 90s at Concert Square in Liverpool Bottom Early days of Concert Square in Liverpool

52

We’ve blazed a trail over the last three decades and now it’s time to roll up our sleeves for the future Julian Curnuck Chief Executive Officer, Urban Splash

Like many a party goer up and down the country, we’ve had a great time celebrating our 30th birthday, reminiscing on all that we’ve achieved. But now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get ready for the future, as Urban Splash continues into its next era. Propelled by the trailblazing spirit that’s got us this far, we look forward to continuing to create new homes, workspaces and neighbourhoods country wide. In this article, our new CEO Julian Curnuck reflects on what we’ve learned, and what’s yet to come.

It’s been a year to remember; we celebrated our 30th birthday and I took on the role of CEO – after 16 years as CFO of the business – so there’ve been some important milestones all round.

New opportunities During our three decades in business, we’ve always been on the look-out for new regeneration opportunities – eagerly waiting for the right ones to come around.

So it was fantastic to grasp new schemes this year, including the news in the summer that we’d been appointed as preferred bidder to take on the future of the iconic Cole Brothers building in Sheffield.

We have some great ideas to re-imagine the building and bring a vibrant mixed-use offer with substantial areas of the building reopening for the public.

From a corporate perspective, we also announced two new important partnerships, a £10m financing deal with Grosvenor which will assist with funding the early stages of developments and a new joint venture with fellow-Manchester developers, Glenbrook to bring forward the first phase of a scheme in Milton Keynes.

The challenges in the commercial property market have been widely reported but against that backdrop, we have been able to maintain our occupancy and attract new customers to our buildings, securing more than 50,000 sq ft of lettings and welcoming, amongst others, businesses including Rip Curl, The Pearl and Amscan International to our portfolio.

We’ve also seen that success extend to the Urban Splash Residential Fund; the Fund is very important to the wider Urban Splash business –

“I’m lucky to be working with a very talented team who’ll ensure our new neighbourhoods meet high standards and are futureproofed”

53

an important partner in bringing a high-level rental offer to our residential schemes. It’s been impressive to see the Urban Splash Residential Fund double the size of its portfolio, and continue to deliver a strong operational performance whilst also building resilience having successfully secured a £20m revolving credit facility deal with Barclays this summer.

As we look ahead, I’m excited about more joint opportunities and initiatives with the Fund, building on our successful six-year partnership.

Never standing still Urban Splash has been my work home for nearly two decades and there have been many career and company milestones in that time that I can look back on and be proud of. These have all resulted from the vision of our founders and the collective effort of our Urban Splash team which has often blazed a trail, tried things out and generally had a go when others might have thought twice.

We’ve invested in new ideas and they’ve not always paid off but we have done this with the sole aim of making things better than we found them by using great design and having a shared commitment of bringing to life new communities for people to live, work and play in.

So, while I can reflect warmly on all that we have accomplished, as we near the end of our 30th year, I’m putting my mind to the next 30 years which present a whole new set of challenges, not least the impacts of climate change and technology and the varied needs of different types of customers across multiple generations.

I’m lucky to be working with a very talented team putting plans in place to make sure both our business and our new neighbourhoods and commercial buildings meet our high standards and are future-proofed. Campbell Park Northside in Milton Keynes is just one of those new neighbourhoods. We’re in the early design stages here, but our ambition is to develop a new neighbourhood of around 1,500 new homes. Our joint venture partnership with Glenbrook will help unlock the first part of the scheme and we hope a forthcoming planning application will enable us to start working on the delivery of 450 apartments set in acres of green space.

We’re also progressing plans for other opportunities such as our schemes at Swansea and Windermere and are looking to complete the final phases at the award-winning neighbourhood of New Islington in Manchester.

Working in joint ventures with like-minded peers has been a real positive for the business over the last

Top CGI of Mansion House at Port Loop Above Urban Splash staff celebrate 30 years of the business

54

10 years as we’ve strived to bring neighbourhoods to life. Our partnership with Places for People being a great example; together we’ll continue to deliver the final phases of Park Hill in Sheffield and are looking to accelerate the development of Port Loop in Birmingham where we’re onsite with a new phase of homes – including 58 dual aspect apartments designed by architects shedkm.

We’ve also submitted a planning application for 500 new homes in the next phases.

Investing in talent All of this wouldn’t be possible without our people, and we’re fortunate to have a talented team in place.

We hope to keep building on that and are always on the lookout for new colleagues who have a positive outlook and share our passion and values.

To respond to future challenges we have created new roles in the business and continue to invest in our team, welcoming 10 new colleagues into Urban Splash since the start of this year – with plans to grow the team further in 2024.

Learning from the past Inevitably, you don’t turn 30 without making a few mistakes along the way and we’re no exception.

“We’ve learned from everything that we’ve done, and I believe we are better for it” We’re proud pioneers and at times have taken leaps into the unknown, well aware there’s inherent risk attached to doing anything new. Whilst we have rightly taken the opportunity this year to celebrate our past successes, it’s understanding and learning from the mistakes you make and indeed, the failures, that really matter if you are going to grow as a business and succeed in the future.

We actively encourage a frank and honest discussion across the business about what’s worked and what’s not and as importantly, why not. This understanding, together with our wealth of experience, has been used to make important changes and better prepare us for the future ahead.

We’ve learned from everything that we’ve done, and I believe we are better for it. We remain undeterred and are as inspired as ever. We now look forward to developing both our future facing neighbourhood model which will allow us to do our bit in delivering more of the much-needed, right type of new homes in the right places and our approach to flexible workspaces which meet the future needs of our customers.

We have always been a purpose led regeneration and property business aiming to leave a positive mark on the world by using great design and transformative ideas, to breathe new life into undervalued buildings and places – and this hasn’t changed. How we do this going forward will be different, particularly with climate and carbon footprint issues at the fore, but we will set the bar high and continue to create exemplary, multiuse, multi-tenure new places where our customers of all ages can put down roots and enjoy their time both in and out of work.

I’m proud of the past, and I’m excited about the future. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and crack on.

Image Cole Brothers building, Sheffield – CGI

55

We’ve watched them add their ‘magic dust’ to create the inspired and unique We’re proud to work with a great range of property agents across the country, skilled individuals who help market our vast commercial portfolio of office, retail, restaurant, and gallery space. In this article we meet two of those agents: John Nash from Canning O’Neill and Daniel Harris from Daniel Harris & Company.

John Nash is director at Manchester-based agents Canning O’Neill. The agency has a strong reputation in the North West, and a specialism for commercial space in the region.

I’ve been at Canning O’Neill for a decade now, and Urban Splash have become one of our most important clients in that time. Our specialism is in Manchester and the surrounding areas, so we have the knowledge and contacts to support Urban Splash in its large portfolio here.

Urban Splash is renowned for doing things differently, and whilst some said it will never work, the portfolio just stands out. Urban Splash also has a knack for great locations, investing in areas that others walk away from, and again that’s appealing to occupiers who want to be at the frontline of regeneration.

What I like most though is Urban Splash’s grasp on change. The property industry doesn’t stand still, and we’ve never seen a more radical shift in workspace needs than in the last three years.

That revolution of our need for office space is something that’s shocked many, but not Urban Splash, whose longstanding commitment to flexible leases has helped them see deals through.

They’ve also continually shown they have the foresight to invest, keeping those workspaces fresh and filled with the facilities that modern occupiers want – breakout spaces, green space, communal areas, cafes. The latest example of this is at Boat Shed in Salford Quays, where a new café space complements the rich offering already in place.

They’re different, they’re bold and they’re appealing to occupiers. I hope we can work with them in the next chapter of their story.

Top right Boat Shed at Salford Quays Bottom right Beehive Mill in Ancoats, Manchester

Daniel Harris runs Daniel Harris & Company, a commercial agent that specialises in areas on the fringe of Manchester city centre. For 20 years, Daniel has worked alongside Urban Splash, helping us find the right occupiers for buildings in Castlefield, Ancoats and in between.

Urban Splash has always had a knack for standing out. And I don’t just mean the buildings!

I remember one day in 2019, Tom Bloxham inviting me for a discreet walk around the Northern Quarter, but his inimitable style and ever-present leather trilby, patent Doc Martens, and check suit meant it was never going to be low-key.

But that ability to stand out from the crowd isn’t just confined to Tom’s dress sense, and the design of Urban Splash buildings over the year has been varied, colourful and ensured that they attract the right kind of occupiers.

Their approach is distinctive, and when we began working together in the mid-2000s, our mission was to identify customers who could seamlessly align with Urban Splash’s vision for community development. We were first tasked with finding a retail occupier for a convenience store in Castlefield, and in keeping with their ethos, Urban Splash sought an independent operator with an entrepreneurial spirit – someone who could resonate with the future residents.

Our search led us to Mital Morar, then a college graduate, who has since successfully established his General Store concept across Manchester and Salford. This collaboration marked the convergence of like-minded individuals and set the tone for Urban Splash’s transformative aspirations in Castlefield and Mital’s future success.

Fast forward to today and we’re still proud agents, extending our Urban Splash relationship, marketing their newer space at Beehive Mill – perhaps my favourite building in their portfolio – and Waulk Mill

in Ancoats, watching them add their ‘magic dust’ – seeing the potential to create the inspired and unique. They’re still as revered now as when we started working together 20 years ago especially amongst past colleagues and advisors who we see around the North West.

I’m looking forward to the next 20 years of working together; Urban Splash makes it easy thanks to flexible arrangements with customers, but also because of its proven foresight in a changing world. There’s always an appetite for upgrades, with Urban Splash investing in new designs and refurbishment that attract occupiers and meet their sustainability targets.

56

Flexible working’s new to some, but we’ve been doing it for 30 years Back in the 90s Urban Splash flung open the doors at its first workspace development at Ducie House in Manchester.

It was pitched as a creative hub, becoming home to the city’s super cool musicians like 808 State and Simply Red. Part of the appeal was flexibility, something that’s been a firm fixture of our commercial offering ever since; Urban Splash associate director Emma Gardiner explains.

Happy birthday Urban Splash. I’m proud to have worked here since 2002, managing 2 million sq ft of commercial spaces in which businesses can thrive.

Back when I started, I realised that Urban Splash was the exception to the rule. It’s fair to say the wider commercial property sector’s always had a more rigid reputation, with developers tying businesses in to long leases, with strict terms that made short term business planning pretty difficult. Urban Splash never did that, instead we pioneered a more flexible approach; from the early days of Tom doing those deals at Ducie House, to the way our team do things now, we’ve just always put the occupier first, ensuring that the lease meets their need.

Outside influences We saw it during the global crash of 2008. Businesses were in no position to sign up for the long term, and our flexible ways helped us retain (even attract) new occupiers.

A better example perhaps is Covid. Back in March 2020, we knew immediately our customers would be in panic mode – wondering how their business would survive, let alone thrive during this unprecedented time. With a fantastic team working alongside me and access to all the resources Urban Splash has to offer, we were able to step in with various initiatives to make things easier.

Within a couple of days each of our businesses was sent a package of support options – updated as we received more information from the government.

We knew we needed to think outside of the box, so we developed a business plan with each occupier, considering their short- and long-term goals.

Right Pho at Royal William Yard, Plymouth

the new situation. Interim services were highly promoted by our in-house team so food takeouts and pop-up events in line with Covid rules got the traction they needed to prosper. We set up a dedicated website page keeping everyone up to date with what was open, and worked with planning authorities to help hospitality businesses apply for outdoor space when indoors was off limits.

Thankfully the challenges presented in Covid have minimised and we’ve been able to continue stronger than ever with flexibility at the heart of what we do. There is no ‘norm’ for how a business should look, each will evolve at its own pace and so we’ll continue to address each one with a fresh eye, open to new ideas and solutions in tackling any changes that arise – planned or otherwise!

We helped them fill out grant forms to access funding, reinstated demised areas to aid new working regulations and offered marketing support. Our team’s main aim during this period was to keep momentum and morale high and above all, provide a connection so they never felt alone despite the vulnerabilities Covid exposed them to.

It’s just one example of our agility as a brand. While the residential side of the business – the upside down houses and beautiful mill apartments – have often grabbed the headlines, our commercial workspaces have played a leading role in the last 30 years.

The response was amazing, testament to the innovative business owners who fought hard to hang on. Working closely together we did everything we could to adapt to

I’m proud that so many great businesses call us home and hope that unique and flexible attitude will appeal to more businesses in the future.

Partnerships are in our DNA Many Urban Splash neighbourhoods have been delivered in purposeful partnerships – be that with local authorities, housing associations, or private sector partners – and here, Director Nathan Cornish reflects on some of the company’s best collaborations.

2023 marks 30 years in business for Urban Splash, a time in which we’ve created thousands of new homes, workspaces and new neighbourhoods from Manchester to Plymouth and just about every major city in-between.

The proverb goes ‘two heads are better than one’ and its one we buy into at Urban Splash. Much of our work over the years has been delivered in partnership with other brilliant organisations and people from across our sector.

This year, we added to our extensive list of partners with the news that we’d signed a new, £10m deal with property heavyweights Grosvenor. The deal got me thinking about all of the diverse communities we’d created with partners over the years, and in this article, I’ve reflected on some of them below.

Public sector partners (1993 - present) This article would simply be too long to mention all the local authorities we’ve worked with, but it’s something we value highly. Almost all of our 70 or so schemes have been in partnership with the local council. Current live projects see us working with Manchester City Council, Milton Keynes Development Partnership, The Lake District National Park, Plymouth Council, Birmingham City Council, Sheffield City Council, Swansea Council – and more!

Places for People (2014 - present) Back in 2014, we were thrilled to form a long-term JV partnership with Places for People.

This deal enabled us to continue developing and managing ground breaking, regeneration schemes across the UK – places like Park Hill in Sheffield – a dynamic new neighbourhood that The Sunday Times recently said was helping make Sheffield the ‘Capital of Cool’.

“Much of our work has been delivered in purposeful partnerships – be that local authorities, housing associations, or private sector partners”

We’re still proud to be working with Places for People as we tackle the next exciting stages at Park Hill and Port Loop.

Manchester – a portfolio which Aviva’s Gregor Bamert called “diverse... well-designed, well-located and of high quality”.

Pears Group (2014 - present) The ink was barely dry on our deal with Places for People before we signed up another major partner – Pears Group.

Grosvenor Estates (2023 - present) And so to 2023, when we announced our newest partnership with Grosvenor – a real estate heavyweight who have committed to a £10m deal.

The initial £135m joint venture deal funded part of our Urban Splash commercial portfolio, which at the time consisted of 35 properties including Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, Matchworks in Liverpool and Smithfield Buildings in Manchester.

Pears MD Jonathan Rose, said at the time he was “delighted” to assist Urban Splash, adding “we look forward to working together”. Nine years on and our partnership is still going strong.

Aviva Investors (2022 - present) More recently in 2022, we secured a new £43.5m refinancing deal with Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc – a huge endorsement for our commercial assets, our people and the customers operating out of our buildings.

The deal refinanced 800,000 sq ft of workspace in Liverpool and

Announcing the deal, Rachel Dickie, Executive Director, Investment, Grosvenor Property UK, praised our “track record of bringing forward some of the UK’s most innovative regeneration schemes” adding that Grosvenor is “delighted to be able to support them to continue to expand.”

We also continue to with along with other long term valued partners such at the Canals and Rivers Trust, Historic England and the National Trust, the list is almost endless but its something we don’t take lightly.

These partners open access to land, funding and expertise that allows us to work together to deliver, what we hope will be, more award winning schemes.

58

A symbol of Manchester’s growth Manchester’s changed a lot in the past 30 years. Once blighted by the legacy of industrial decline, it’s now earned its place on the world stage, with a transformation that’s come with cultural enrichment – nurturing homegrown talent while celebrating international art in all its forms.

Our Chair and co-founder Tom Bloxham MBE’s never been far from shaping the city’s cultural scene, especially in his role as Chair of Manchester International Festival (MIF). Here Tom draws on the parallels of the two roles, and reflects on Manchester’s newest cultural anchor at Aviva Studios.

Manchester is my adopted home, and the place in which I get to live, play, and do most of my work. Whether that’s helping transform disused buildings and areas of the city through Urban Splash, or in my role as Chairman of Manchester International Festival (MIF), it’s an honour to play a part in the city’s growth in the last 30 years.

2023’s been quite the milestone on both fronts.

In July, we celebrated our Urban Splash 30th anniversary – a time in which we’ve delivered awardwinning, world-class transformations of forgotten buildings and neighbourhoods. The result is more than 6,000 new homes, and more than 2 million sq ft of workspace – not only in Manchester, but in Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Plymouth and other English cities.

Then in October, we launched Aviva Studios as the new permanent home for Factory International and the Manchester International Festival. It’s the largest national cultural project in the UK since the Tate Modern in London opened its doors in 2000.

The creation of Aviva’s been both enjoyable and challenging – and reminiscent of my experiences with Urban Splash. In both roles, I’ve had the pleasure of working with individuals who seem to thrive on the seemingly impossible task of transforming unloved, abandoned parts of Manchester into thriving places where people can live, work, and play.

MIF has brought interesting but decaying spaces back to life through the arts and I’ve enjoyed every minute of its entrepreneurial story. One of the wonders of the festival has been our ability to help Manchester rediscover amazing spaces, and while the performances

quite rightly take the headlines, I don’t think MIF has had enough credit for its role of being that catalyst for rejuvenating Manchester’s built environment, including opening up Mayfield, Albert Hall, and Halle St Peters – each of which were original MIF meanwhile use venues.

That changes now with Aviva Studios, home of Factory International and MIF, and a permanent artistic hub for the city. The venue will create and support up to 1,500 jobs and will add £1.1 billion to Manchester’s economy in the next ten years.

It’s a place where we’ve tackled complex and ambitious ideas, bringing new artworks to life and uniting great artists and art forms under one roof, something evident with a launch programme headlined by Danny Boyle’s Free Your Mind – a large-scale immersive performance based on the film The Matrix.

The city seems excited about this new centre of excellence for art and culture and Aviva, like our Urban Splash neighbourhoods, is a symbol of Manchester’s growth in the past 30 years. Since we started out in the early 90s the city has shaken off the hangover of industrial decline, evolving into a cultural hub with international appeal that gives well-established European cities a run for their money.

With Urban Splash and Factory, innovation, excellence, accessibility, affordability and ambition have been the guiding principles – and that’s positively impacted on Manchester. From a city that once made cotton and textiles, we now make art that’s being shipped around the world; Manchester has become a city of art, culture, and creativity, and I can’t wait to see what the next 30 years will bring.

59

“It’s an honour to play a part in the city’s growth in the last 30 years”

Top New Islington – CGI Left Aviva Studios in Manchester (© Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA and Factory International) Above Danny Boyle’s Free Your Mind (© Tristram Kenton, courtesy of Factory International)

61

The future needs US Suzy Jones Director of the Future, Urban Splash

It’s time to face the future and find new ways to create communities that address the changing needs of people and planet. In this article, Director of the Future Suzy Jones, outlines the dynamic forces shaping our tomorrow, the business models of the future, and the new ways in which we will judge commercial success.

Since around 1945, the world has been living through an unprecedented period of exponential growth and activity. The scale and speed of advancement during this very limited period in human history, known as the Great Acceleration, has resulted in a technological revolution, thriving wealthy cities, more productive farming, and tremendous medical advances extending life expectancy from 50 to 80 years in less than a century1.

The phenomenal growth in the global socio-economic system has provided firm foundations on which to flourish – relative peace, population expansion, escalating global GDP, swelling cities, increased productivity, vast reserves of oil and gas and minerals, large scale global mobility and extraordinary advances in planetary scale communication. Operating in the near vertical curve of the Great Acceleration is a great place to do business.

Left Campbell Park, Milton Keynes – CGI Above Saxton in Leeds

Gaia Vince, Adventures in the Anthropocene, 2014. P3 www.goodreads.com/book/show/597869.Homeland_Earth 3 www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/digest 1 2

It is, however, an unsustainable trajectory causing multiple inter-related global challenges. In Homeland Earth: A manifesto for a new millennium Edgar Morin and Anne Brigitte Kern2 write of “interwoven and overlapping crises” affecting humanity and argue that the most ‘vital’ problem of our time is not any single threat but the ‘complex intersolidarity of problems, antagonisms, uncontrollable processes, and the general crisis of the planet’ – a phenomenon they labelled the Polycrisis (or William Gibson’s Jackpot if you prefer that reference), a term and theory reiterated in the World Economics Forum Global Risk Report 2023 3 describing a “cluster of related global [challenges] with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part.”

J. R. McNeill, originator of the term the Great Acceleration, argues it is idiosyncratic of the current age and is set to halt in the near future when activity and growth will slow.

“How will Urban Splash operate, thrive, make a difference and deliver its purpose over the next 30 years?”

If this is accurate, what does Post Acceleration business look like? What will be valued? In what ways is success defined? How will Urban Splash operate, thrive, make a difference, and deliver its purpose over the next 30 years?

According to Morin and Kern, successfully operating amongst the unprecedented changes we are beginning to see materialise, lies in our ability for complex thought and solidarity, recognising uncertainty and ambiguity as opportunities for creative solutions, learning and transformation via partnerships and common endeavour. This all suggests a future where commercially successful business is less about ego and individual prosperity, and more about sharing knowledge, collective success, partnerships and unanimity.

Like any individual business Urban Splash is not responsible for, nor does it have the ability and capacity to overcome the world’s problems.

Graphs showing trends from 1750 to 2010; indicators for the structure and functioning of the Earth System.

Socio-economic trends Population

Real GDP

8

6 5 4 3 2 1 0

2.5

TRILLION US DOLLARS

TRILLION US DOLLARS

70

7

BILLION

Foreign direct investment

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000

1

0

400 300 200

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2010

YEAR

15 10

0 1950

3

2

1

2000

1800

1850

100

1900

1950

2000

1750

1800

1850

600 400 200 0 1950

2000

1950

2000 2010

International tourism

7

1000

6

MILLION ARRIVALS

800

1900

YEAR

Telecommunications BILLION PHONE SUBSCRIPTIONS

Transportation

5 4 3 2 1 0

800 600 400 200 0

1750

1800

1850

1900

2010

YEAR

200

YEAR

1200

2000

300

2010

YEAR

1000

1950

0 1750

2010

1400

1900

400

0

1900

1850

Paper production

5

1850

1800

2010

MILLION TONNES

THOUSAND KM 3

THOUSAND DAMS

1750

Water use

20

1800

40

YEAR

30

1750

80

2000

4

1900

120

YEAR

Large dams

1850

160

2010

35

2000

0

0 2000

25

1950

200

100

1950

1900

2010

MILLION TONNES

EXAJOULE (EJ)

BILLION

2

1800

1850

Fertiliser consumption

500

1750

1800

YEAR

600

3

MILLION MOTOR VEHICLES

1750

Primary energy use

4

1900

0.5

YEAR

Urban population

1850

1

2010

YEAR

1800

1.5

0 1750

2010

1750

2

1950

2000

1750

1800

1850

1900

2010

YEAR

1950

2000 2010

YEAR

Earth system trends 390

360

330

300

270 1800

1850

1900

1950

320

300

280

260

2000

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2010

60 40 20 0 1950

0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6

2000

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

30 20

0

3

2

1

0 1950

2000

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2010

% OF TOTAL LAND AREA

20 15 10 5

25

0

0 1950

2000

1900

1950

1750

1800

1850

1900

2010

1950

2000 2010

YEAR

2000

100 80 60 40 20 0 1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000 2010

YEAR

50

25

% LOSS (AREA)

1850

2010

2000

Domesticated land

30

YEAR

1800

YEAR

Tropical forest loss

1900

6.5

2010

YEAR

1850

7.0

Nitrogen to coastal zone

10

1800

7.5

1750

HUMAN N FLUX, MTONS YR –1

MILLION TONNES

MILLION TONNES

50

2000

YEAR

70

40

1950

8.0

Shrimp aquaculture

60

1900

2010

2000

4

1750

1850

YEAR

80

1900

1800

2010

Marine fish capture

1850

600

Ocean acidification

0.6

YEAR

1800

800

YEAR

2010

1750

1000

1750

HYDROGEN ION, NMOL KG –1

TEMPERATURE ANOMOLY ºC

% LOSS

80

1900

1200

Surface temperature

100

1850

1400

YEAR

Stratospheric ozone

1800

1600

2010

YEAR

1750

1800

2000

% DECR. MEAN SPECIES ABUNDANCE

1750

Methane ATMOSPHERIC CONC., PPB

Nitrous oxide ATMOSPHERIC CONC., PPB

ATMOSPHERIC CONC., PPM

Carbon dioxide

Terrestrial biosphere degradation 40

30

20

10

0 1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000 2010

YEAR

64

Our responsibility is to maximise what we can do and apply our resources where we have control and influence – not only because it’s the right thing to do to prevent all those blue graphs from going off the chart, but also because it makes commercial sense. The past is littered with corporate failures who failed to recognise what’s ahead of them, and where the opportunities exist within a new context.

Yes, the next chapter includes huge technological possibilities, I don’t think any of us can ignore that march, but I would argue the opportunities for businesses to thrive are less about fixating on digital widgets and more about understanding what people and our societies more widely really need.

As Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of Blackrock, said in his letter to CEO’s last year “The next 1,000 unicorns won’t be search engines or social media companies, they’ll be sustainable, scalable innovators.” As an interesting aside, Fink also asks “what are you doing to disrupt your business?”.

For the last 30 years Urban Splash has delivered exceptional places for people to live and work, and better futures for our towns and cities and the people in them. We want to continue to learn, challenge and innovate for good reason, championing good design and collaborating with the best creatives and thinkers. Working with, and learning from people with brilliant ideas, being willing to take risks and challenge orthodoxies are all things Urban

“Taking risks and challenging orthodoxies are things Urban Splash has been translating into success since its inception”

Splash has been translating into commercial success since its inception.

None of that is going to change – Urban Splash is still an exceptional regeneration partner, an industry agitator, and a firm believer in the power of good design. What is going to change is the context in which we are operating and how that context determines how we generate value and therefore commercial success.

One way of looking at business in a future post acceleration is what’s valued will be different.

65

The companies who succeed will be those who recognise where value will come from in a future where commerciality means more than generating a profit. I am of the opinion this future has already arrived – our impact on people and our impact on the planet, where positive, is increasingly generating a commercial gain throughout our entire value chain from investors to customers and end users. The ability of a business to be resilient, to be able to navigate the new context we find ourselves in, is already forming part of our commercial worth. Historically rhetoric has always been that ethical change will be driven by consumer demand, and I don’t disagree with this.

Top Left Royal William Yard in Plymouth Top Right Park Hill, Sheffield Above Our vision for the former Cole Brothers building in Sheffield – CGI

As the influence of Boomers wanes and is replaced by the buying power and political persuasions of Millennials and Gen Z, what these generations value is becoming more commercially influential.

In a democratic world their social and environmental expectations are beginning to impact who thrives commercially and who does not. If a company makes its profits by knowingly accepting investment from big oil, authoritarian dictatorships, misogyny, ethical mistreatment or other dubious sources these generations want to know and will take action. Having said this, in my experience it’s not consumer demand which is driving significant change, that pressure is trickling through from financial markets and insurers, big debt providers whose influence over business is

almost instant. Returning to Larry Fink’s letter, he is clear “[Blackrock] focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients.”

Investors and insurers want to back businesses who are resilient and able to identify opportunities and mitigate the risks associated with the change and uncertainty of Morin and Kern’s ‘Polycrisis’.

I like to think it’s because they believe it’s the right thing to do but I know it’s because they are aware it makes commercial sense.

So what does business in the future look like?

We don’t have all the answers, we never did, but the approach we have taken over the last 30 years provides a solid base from which to demonstrate our commercial value in the next. We focus as we always have on creating extraordinary places where people can thrive; we preserve existing buildings because a building that already exists is always the most sustainable; and we continue to be willing to disrupt, agitate, question convention and do what we believe is the right thing even when it’s not the easiest. Our future challenges, like those of all businesses, may be very different but our purpose remains the same and freakishly relevant ‘We will leave this place not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was left to us’.

Who’s with US?

THE FUTURE NEEDS INNOVATORS Watch now