LUC was commissioned by Orkney Islands Council to develop the Kirkwall Urban Design Framework, to provide comprehensive strategic guidance for the development of Kirkwall over the next 10 to 20 years. The document will be used to inform the statutory local plan review process.The framework aims to create urban development strategies based on an holistic understanding of the city’s history, landscape, townscape, access, greenspace patterns and economy. The scale of the commission demanded that Kirkwall be considered in relation to its context and its fit within the Orkney landscape and the local topography of the Bay of Kirkwall.The intention is that the framework will supplement existing planning documents and processes. It will assist in preventing inappropriate development and insensitive suburban sprawl lacking in character and distinctiveness. It will also inform initiatives for pedestrian access network development and greenspace protection/management. A central aim is to reinforce the distinctiveness of Orkney’s capital and use a city space framework to guide the planning process to these ends.LUC was responsible for research into the historic development of Kirkwall, its built heritage, urban characteristics and townscape character zones and the visual relationships between town, countryside and the sea together with the contribution of key buildings, trees and greenspaces. Managing a specialist team of economists, traffic advisers and architects, we then collated findings and developed several guiding strategic principles for future development of the city. A number of specific potential development sites were considered by LUC’s team in outline.An important aspect of the project was the extensive community consultation undertaken by LUC and the subconsultant team.This was a challenging project due to its scope and complexity, but our efforts were rewarded as it won a 2009 Landscape Institute award for Local Landscape Planning.
