Grantham Town Centre Regeneration

KMA led a multi-disciplinary team to produce a heritage-led town centre action plan for Grantham. With funding from Historic England and commissioned by South Kesteven District Council, the purpose of the project was to deliver a design charrette open to all that would look at the key heritage assets of the town, and how these stitch together to create a liveable town.

From early visits and during the design workshops themselves, it was clear that heritage plays an innovative and function role for Grantham’s community. A good example is St Wulfrum’s Church, an ancient and grand building that is not only a functioning church, but a venue for community events that are highly distinctive. The ambition is that Grantham carries this approach to other assets such as the marketplace. In turn this helps to build a network that connects the town that is safe and creates a better environment for the promotion of town centre housing opportunities.

Grantham has a fantastic opportunity to implement measures with the opening of a new bypass. This allows changes to be trialed that will significantly reduce the impact of what is currently heavy through traffic on the high street and reduce the strain on the parallel Watergate which has an abundance of independent and interesting retail.

The team included rtu, Gillespies, urban movement and Cushman Wakefield, who all brought expertise and experience to the project of both planning and delivering place change in similar places.

Artwork was produced by Rob Thompson in conjunction with KMA.