Reading Borough Council and Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone fund commissioned Feria Urbanism to explore the future of three conservation areas in Reading town centre: the Oxford Road Conservation Area, the Market Place and London Road Conservation Area, and the St Mary’s Butts Conservation Area.

The project began with a series of site visits and the engagement of the public in each of the three areas. We used our large-scale engagement boards which attracted attention and helped our team to connect with more than 100 people. We wanted to find out what people thought about each space within the town centre and how it could be improved. Further consultation was carried out through a purpose-built website.

After the successful engagement phase, the findings were translated into a series of ideas and projects for the three areas. These were tested with the client side and Historic England and form the basis for future changes to the areas.