Dacorum Borough Council commissioned Feria Urbanism to organise and lead a series of visioning events aimed at defining key principles to guide new investment and development in Hemel Hempstead town centre.

Working closely with a range of stakeholders, we gathered views and ideas that shaped the foundation of a forward delivery plan. With further housing growth planned across the town, our work focused on ensuring the centre had the capacity and flexibility to support an expanding population.

In 1946, the government designated Hemel Hempstead as the site of one of its proposed new towns designed to house the population displaced by the London Blitz, since slums and bombsites were being cleared in London.

The initial plans for the Hemel Hempstead new town were drawn up by architect Geoffrey Jellicoe. His view of Hemel Hempstead, he said, was “not a city in a garden, but a city in a park” and this legacy of green spaces and water still define the town centre today. Our work continues his tradition and proposes restoration of many of the original aspects of the new town ambition.