Making spaces more comfortable

Climate change means that designers, planners and managers of public space will have to consider factors such as increased need for shade and shelter.

Lewis Jones

Trees will become more important in design and management of streets and public spaces generally.

At the site scale, designers can take a range of actions to make public spaces more comfortable in a changing climate, with the provision of shade becoming particularly important. Examples include:

• enclosed and comfortable spaces that stimulate use of public space making sure they can provide shadow, light, sun and shelter from wind and rain
• providing shade on the sunny side of streets with trees or structures like colonnades
• counteracting the wind disturbance that tall buildings can create at their base and consideration through tree planting or ground level wind breaks using screens or street furniture around existing buildings
• greater planting and creation of shade in surface car park design.

However, it is also important to allow solar exposure through consideration of microclimates when providing landscapes or street improvements. This means noting summer and winter aspects and providing shade and shelter in some positions and allowing winter solar gain in others. Designers can also look at the potential of fountains and water features to adjust the localised microclimate.

If they are to encourage public activity at all times of the day and evening, spaces also need pedestrian movement and overlooking. The design of buildings should incorporate the need to maintain overlooking alongside passive design measures to avoid excessive solar gain.

Streets should be comfortable environments with maximum use of trees to provide shade. However, trees need investment in root space and management, particularly as existing streets in urban centres are often crowded with underground utilities. New planting can be expensive in both capital and revenue terms and therefore can be seen as low priority, however a wider cost benefit analysis highlights their value in microclimate control and general environmental protection. Just one or two large trees can have a huge impact on the streetscene and the wider health, climate and economic benefits need to be considered alongside the maintenance cost.

Community organisations like Trees for Cities and business stewardship or partnership schemes such as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) may play a role in tree provision and maintenance. There is also community concern over tree loss and the time needed to recover tree cover, which can be harnessed to effect change.

Photo by Stephen McLaren

Chiswick Business Park

Chiswick Business Park was designed in the late 1990s when climate change was not generally treated as an important consideration. The focus for the developers was that it should offer a high quality working environment.

The development now demonstrates how designing a high quality landscape naturally integrates adaptation measures such as large trees, surface water and good irrigation which will ensure comfort for people is maintained as cities get hotter.

Read more about Chiswick Business Park.

Priority: adapt public space to climate change
Tags: green infrastructure, public space, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces