Streetscape outside Oriental One, showing a generous space for movement, planting and transport.
Portfolios & Sketchbooks

Gillespies presents: Streets for people

The primary purpose for streets are to act as route from a-to-b, but they are also some of our most frequently used public spaces.

They shape how people experience a town or city, influencing whether a journey feels direct, comfortable and connected to its surroundings. Alongside movement, streets support trade, social interaction and moments of pause. Their design affects all of these factors and successful streets balance these different demands. When the design works, streets become more than corridors; they contribute to local identity and public life.

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Stockport Bus Interchange sits within a dense and complex urban setting, where carefully planned routes help people move clearly through the site. Changes in level create distinct spaces for movement and activity, alongside places to pause, rest and observe the city around them.

Pedestrian priority

Prioritising pedestrians is not simply a matter of removing vehicles. It means considering the whole experience of moving along a street.

Routes should be clear, direct and accessible, with surfaces that are comfortable underfoot and crossings that respond to the ways people naturally move. Unnecessary obstacles or unclear boundaries can make a street more difficult to navigate, particularly for people with limited mobility or sensory needs.

Continuity is important. A generous pavement can quickly lose its value if it becomes narrow or obstructed at key points. Coordinating planting, lighting, furniture and signs helps preserve clear routes while ensuring that the features supporting street life are positioned where they are most useful.

Initial design for King's Boulevard outside King's Cross.

Pedestrian priority - in focus

King’s Boulevard forms a busy pedestrian route from one of London’s major railway stations, requiring generous and direct space for large numbers of people on a daily basis. This design maintains the continuous flow while integrating trees and seating, creating opportunities for shade and rest without obstructing movement.

A pedestrian-focused street must also make room for stopping. Seating, planting and active frontages can turn a route into a place where people feel comfortable spending time. These elements work best when they support movement rather than compete with it, creating places to rest at the edges while keeping the main pedestrian routes clear. Trees can offer shade and shelter, while planting creates seasonal interest and a softer transition between buildings and traffic. Where space is constrained, even small interventions can improve comfort and help establish a more human scale.

The relationship between movement and activity is particularly important on high streets and in town centres. Shops, cafés, markets and building entrances rely on visibility and access, but they also help animate the public realm. Landscape can provide the structure that allows these uses to extend into the street without creating clutter or restricting movement. Pedestrian priority therefore involves more than circulation. When people can move comfortably and find reasons to stay, streets can support trade, conversation and a stronger sense of shared public life.

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At Darlington Pedestrian Heart and Walworth Square in Elephant Park, seating and planting are positioned alongside well-used pedestrian routes. These green spaces offer moments of comfort and respite, allowing people to pause while remaining connected to the activity of the surrounding streets.

Materials that define a street

Materials influence how a street feels underfoot, how clearly it can be understood and how well it belongs to its setting.

A considered material palette can help organise a complex streetscape. Changes in texture or tone can indicate crossings, entrances and thresholds, while consistent paving can create continuity across areas with different uses. This clarity is especially valuable where pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport need to occupy the same street. Material choices should respond to the character of the place rather than impose a new identity upon it. Local stone, brick, metalwork or other familiar materials can connect a streetscape to its architectural and historic context. In other settings, carefully chosen contemporary materials may provide a useful contrast while maintaining a sense of continuity. The strength of a palette often lies in restraint. Too many competing surfaces, colours and details can make a street feel fragmented. A smaller number of robust materials allows the wider character of the street, including its buildings, planting and daily activity, to remain visible.

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NOTE - This image was commissioned by Gillespies and should not be used in any way without prior permission

At Stockport Bus Interchange, subtle changes in material, colour and texture distinguish routes for walking and cycling from areas intended for rest. The restrained palette makes these different functions easy to understand while responding carefully to the surrounding architecture. Meanwhile the water feature in Darlington Pedestrian Heart brings a playful combination of materials together.

Details such as kerbs and drainage channels may appear secondary, but together they shape the quality of the street. They influence accessibility, maintenance and how comfortably different materials meet. Street furniture and lighting should form part of the same approach, reinforcing the overall design rather than appearing as separate additions.

Materials must also withstand intensive use and changing weather. Their long-term performance depends on how they are specified, installed, maintained and repaired. A surface that weathers well can develop character over time, while a complicated detail may become difficult to replace or manage. This long-term view matters because streets are rarely static. Uses change, utilities require access and new demands emerge. A successful streetscape needs enough consistency to retain its identity while allowing individual elements to be repaired or adapted without undermining the whole.

Streets as public spaces

The success of a street is not measured by movement alone. It can also be seen in whether people feel comfortable walking, whether businesses can connect with the public realm and whether there are opportunities to rest and meet.

Landscape-led thinking brings these needs together. Clear routes establish the framework, while planting, seating, materials and active edges give people reasons to engage with their surroundings. Practical requirements remain essential, but they do not need to define the experience of the street.

When movement is balanced with comfort, identity and public life, streets work harder for the places they serve. They become useful and memorable spaces in their own right, shaped around the experience of the people who use them every day.

Wapping Wharf at night.
At Wapping Wharf in Bristol, pedestrian movement, planting and places to pause are brought together within an active streetscape. Shops and restaurants animate the edges, helping the street support local activity while remaining a comfortable place to walk and spend time.

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