Wayfinding [Phase Two]

The Feria Urbanism team were appointed to design and deliver a public consultation process to inform a permanent wayfinding scheme for the Green Grid and Green Loop at Whitehill & Bordon.

This multi-disciplinary project involves professionals from the three tiers of local government – the town, district, and county councils – alongside landscape design, architecture, graphic design, sign-making, and fabrication. We initially fitted into this jigsaw by acting as the conduit between the design professionals and the public. However as the project evolved, and in response to our conversations with the public, we started to ask much broader questions. Many of the people participating in our workshops wanted to articulate something about their connection to this so-called natural loop. We challenged them: “This is an ex-military training ground. Is this really nature? What does the word nature even mean?”

The questions and answers that emerged from the consultation addressed local concerns but also, and perhaps more crucially, started to question the language we use to describe the natural world, how narrative and history appear and whether the word “ecology” – used to describe human/nature interactions – might be better used with the type of new town plan that will influence Whitehill & Bordon over the years ahead. Our more philosophical approach to consultation allowed Jennie and Richard to communicate complex ideas and concepts to the wider design team and to the client. In turn, this has influenced both the materiality and the visual design language of the wayfinding scheme. Installation on site is due in the second half of 2021.