Urban Design

Denny Town Centre

Brief

Denny town centre is fragmented, comprising primarily of 1960's development of two and three storey buildings, an array of shops, offices and public houses with elements of social housing. The brief, compiled by Falkirk Council, was to review the existing town centre plan and propose a new masterplan and designs to regenerate the town centre.

Response

Falkirk town centre has evolved as a thriving new sub-regional centre supported by four district centres, one of which is Denny.  It provides an important community function, as an alternative to Falkirk, for local convenience and services. Footpaths and roads are generally narrow and the conflict of pedestrian and vehicular movements are evident.  The raised pedestrian access to the central core and parking, has over time resulted in a mixture of social and building fabric issues which in turn result in unattractive and unsafe environments.

We proposed a new masterplan to create a mixed use scheme comprising a modern retail offer of foodstore and shops, together with enhanced environmental works, a new library and housing to revitalise the town centre.  Primary traffic circulation is re-routed around the town centre to the north rather than through it, affording the opportunity to traffic calm the town centre, whilst providing access to the new public car parks, foodstore and service areas.  Pedestrian access to the various buildings is far more user friendly.  The volume, mass and scale of the buildings were carefully considered to reflect the grain of the town centre at a human scale.  Public spaces are located to compliment the scale of the redevelopment, serving as meeting places thus encouraging interaction, essential for the future vitality of Denny.

Outcome

Keppie, in partnership with Henry Boot Developments, has been selected by Falkirk Council to implement the town centre regeneration plan.   Advance highways, enabling works will be completed prior to the main construction works, commencing as soon as possible thereafter.

Team