Camden Town First
Clean and Green - 7th January 2010
CTU commissioned the undertaking of a study to construct what has become 'Camden Town First - A Vision for Change', a streetscape vision for Camden Town. Recently completed, CTU is working with key partners LBC and TfL towards delivering the 5 major projects.
1 Establish high quality landmark gateways for Camden Town
2 Improve the very poor pedestrian experience of Camden Town
3 Connect the north and south of Camden High Street for pedestrians
4 Create high quality public spaces to enhance the street life of Camden Town and encourage ownership of the street
5 Enforce a cohesive Camden Town identity through the design of streets and spaces
This involves major redesigning of Britannia Junction and Cobden Junction
Britannia Junction is the primary gateway to Camden Town. It is the heart of a district that is internationally renowned for fostering creativity and innovation in design, new music and fashion; a reputation which attracts over 10 million visitors to the area each year. The Vision seeks to represent the rich cultural identity through Public art and street trees to improve the quality of the streetscape. We have been careful to ensure that these perform more that just an aesthetic role within the town centre.
The concept of the Britannia Beacon is as a landmark piece of public art to sign the centre of Camden Town. It will also be designed to incorporate lighting units which will provide sufficient light to replace lighting columns around the junction as well as housing improved CCTV equipment, which will significantly reduce street clutter in this location.
Street trees play a major role in regulating the microclimate of an area. It has been demonstrated that particular species help reduce the temperature during the warm summer months and provide welcome shade. They also provide a natural barrier between the street and the pavement, reducing traffic noise and removing harmful pollutants from the air.
Mornington Crescent offers the potential to create a high quality public square and rebalance the priority towards pedestrian movement, without hindering traffic flow around the new footway. It is also expected that this would have a significant regenerative effect on the surrounding area, encouraging on street activity and creating new space for street trees, street performance and public art.
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