Palmer Park (Reading) Design Framework
Following on from our commission to create a development framework for the former civic offices of Reading Borough Council, the Authority approached Urban Place Lab to develop options for a new leisure facility and destination at Palmer Park, east of the town centre.
With a new community swimming pool as the focus of this, in combination with the existing athletics track (the oldest athletics track in continuous use in the UK), the design and integration of supporting infrastructure in the park grew in significance.
Consequently, our brief expanded to take into account the programming and design of the wider park facility, factoring the strong multicultural patronage of the Park by different user groups, existing popular play facilities, and new facilities including community growing spaces, low-impact zones for landscaped car parking and realigning lost axis, designed as part of the parks Victorian heritage.