Selected work, Align3d

Flagship project

£100m

Heath Park regeneration, Runcorn

Beacon ProjectNet Zero5-year engagement

Flagship

Heath Park, Runcorn

Concept · visualisation · client agent · project management

A £100m regeneration of The Heath in Runcorn, a net-zero scheme mixing homes, workplaces and public space, described as a 21st-century Port Sunlight, set to deliver housing, jobs and services alongside workspace, labs, parkland and a world-leading vertical farm. The scheme was developed from the initial concept and visuals I produced, grounded in social design, one of the ways I take risk out of a scheme: identifying everyone with a stake, weighing their interests, and building in sustainable solutions that serve the client's objectives. Over a five-year engagement I also produced the CGI, film and website that communicated the vision and the business process, acted as the client's agent, and project-managed the enabling works, the early site preparation needed before building could begin, supporting the programme manager and client.

Initial conceptSocial designCGI & visualisationFilm & videoWebsiteClient agentEnabling works PM

Heath Park: new homes and parkland, visualised

More projects

Regeneration · Employment

A derelict pharmaceutical site turned business park

Repurposed buildings on the business park

My client was chosen as regeneration partner for a 15-acre former pharmaceutical manufacturing site that its previous owner didn't want left derelict. Twelve buildings, ranging from manufacturing to offices and laboratories, were repurposed into a business park with many separate tenants, with other options weighed along the way and new builds and new businesses taking further plots. I managed the design process throughout, working with the client, the local council, tenants taking repurposed space and the new businesses buying plots. The finished park brought large-scale employment back to the area.

Design managementCouncil liaisonTenant & occupier engagement

15 acres · 12 buildings repurposed · large-scale employment restored

Industrial · Health & safety

Blast-resilient control room for a live petrochemical site

Numerous separate control rooms dotted around a working petrochemical site had to be brought together into a single building designed to withstand an explosion, sited further from the working plant for safety. I managed the design alongside the client and design team, and led consultation with 600 employees so the workforce was fully behind a major change to how they worked. The client built the shell, rated to withstand a blast for two hours, and I then oversaw fitting out the inside to the design we had produced.

Design management600-person consultationFit-out oversight

600 employees consulted · two-hour blast-rated shell

Residential · Design management

A 14,000 sq ft home built into the landscape

The house from above, built into the landscape

A private residence of 14,000 square feet, set over two storeys below ground and one above, with a swimming pool sunk two storeys down. A project of real complexity, in effect digging a quarry, building a house inside the hole, then covering the whole thing over so the finished home blended into the countryside. I managed the design from the outset, working with the client and design team to pin down exactly what was wanted, and to make sure the finished house matched it through both design and construction.

Brief formulationDesign managementConstruction delivery

14,000 sq ft · two storeys below ground · sunken pool

Telecoms · Negotiation

Freeing up buildings through a shared mast

A client's buildings housed mobile telecoms equipment, owned and operated by different companies, that was preventing the buildings from being redeveloped, with ten-year leases still in place. Rather than wait them out, my recommendation was to approach the operators about sharing a single new mast on a suitable nearby plot, giving them undisturbed, longer-term leases in return. After long discussions the shared mast went up and the old equipment came down, freeing the buildings for redevelopment. I also negotiated with the mast companies to waive the charges my client would have paid for ending the leases early.

StrategyOperator negotiationLease restructuring

Rival operators · one shared mast · exit costs waived

Commercial · Fast-track

A fast-track European headquarters

A business-park tenant needed accommodation quickly and agreed a long-term lease with the landlord so a purpose-built office could be constructed as their European headquarters. I found suitable plots within the existing park where planning permission would not hold things up and, managing the design, brought the park owner's and the tenant's requirements together into a single building that met both.

Site identificationPlanning awarenessDesign management

Purpose-built European HQ · long-term lease

Retail · Business growth

Taking a high-street retailer online

A small independent high-street retailer wanted to expand into online shopping without losing the personal service that set the shop apart. Their existing premises were sold and suitable flexible working space selected, and a new website was built that helped customers choose the right product. I managed both their property requirements and the continuation of the business into a new online store, so the move from high street to online kept the personal touch intact.

Property managementDigital transitionWebsite build

High street → online · personal service retained

Property · Asset management

Relocating 300 tenants to unlock development

A business-park owner wanted to develop existing occupied buildings, which meant relocating 300 tenants into other offices within the same site. Tenant requirements were understood and planned into the alternative buildings, refurbishment was carried out, and the 300 tenants were moved across. The emptied buildings were then closed up and taken out of use, which cut the rates bill and cleared the way for redevelopment. I held an overseeing role across every aspect, making sure both landlord and tenant requirements were satisfied.

Tenant planningRefurbishmentBusiness-rates strategy

300 tenants relocated on-site · buildings mothballed for development

Thirty years of problems solved