• About
  • Work
  • News
  • Search

    • About
    • Work
    • News
    • Search

      All news /Affordable Housing /Architecture /Art /Being Thrifty /Blackburn /Blog /Branding /Britain /British Culture /Charity /City /Coastal Regeneration /Community /Covid-19 /Culture /Design /Developers /Development /Eco-Friendly /Economy /Engagement /Equal Opportunities /Events /Exhibition /Family /Fashion /Festival /Globalisation /Government /Green Space /Heritage /Housebuilders /Housing /Independent Retailing /Interior Design /London /Masterplanning /Music /Placemaking /Politics /Purpose /Red or Dead /Regeneration /Retail /Shopping /Society /Sport /Staiths /Sustainability /Technology /Thrift /Town Centres /Transport /Travel /Undesirable Housing /Uniforms /Urban Design /Vintage /Vintage Festival /Wayne Hemingway
      • The town centre is dead, long live the town centre

        Nov 2022
        City, Eco-Friendly, Retail, Shopping, Sustainability, Thrift, Town Centres
        The future of retail needs a radical rethink, and fast. High streets need to be multi-purpose, multi-use, reflective of local context and relevant to the way people are now consuming. We believe the future is bright for our town centres, for they are the beating heart of the community. We believe that recent store closures […]
      • Right now cities are devalued. But never waste a crisis, this is a time to secure their future liveability

        Oct 2020
        Affordable Housing, Architecture, Britain, City, Developers, Economy, Housebuilders, Housing, Masterplanning, Retail, Urban Design
        On Covid and the future of cities When I moved to London in 1979 the population was 6.75 million. England’s capital city had experienced a decline from 8.9 million over 4 decades (see graph here). A heady cocktail of air pollution (there was even a song called A Foggy Day (In London Town), by Gershwin […]
      • End of the world as we know it?

        Jun 2020
        Britain, Covid-19, Economy, Globalisation, Government, Politics, Retail, Shopping, Society
        The lockdown got us thinking about some big stuff like globalisation. Prior to Covid-19 rearing its ugly head, there had already been much discussion about issues with globalisation. The seemingly unstoppable march of national economies, coming together as one global economy, for the ultimate benefit of the world. Globalisation appeared to tick boxes on all […]
      • What will happen to our town centres?

        Apr 2020
        Being Thrifty, Britain, Economy, Independent Retailing, Purpose, Red or Dead, Retail, Shopping, Society, Town Centres, Urban Design
        Musings on the first lockdown, creativity and the future of public space.  It’s now almost 40 years since we started our design business and perceptions of the creative industries have changed hugely over that time. I grew up in a household where my mum and my nan were always making clothes and my pop was […]
      • Is quarantine the perfect time to give up fast fashion for good?

        Apr 2020
        Being Thrifty, Eco-Friendly, Fashion, Independent Retailing, Purpose, Retail, Shopping, Sustainability, Thrift, Vintage
        Disposable fashion is an awful concept. By the time you read this the UK will have been under lockdown for roughly one week, and our lives as we know them have been drastically changed. We don’t know how long it will last before these restrictions start to ease off, but it has me wondering whether […]
      • Kings Cross: one of the best regeneration projects in my lifetime

        Mar 2019
        City, Culture, Developers, London, Placemaking, Regeneration, Retail, Town Centres, Urban Design
        Until now, this would’ve been met with cries of ‘bang goes the neighbourhood’. Charity shops popping up on high streets have long been seen as a sign of a town’s demise – sitting alongside pound shops, greasy takeaways and long-empty units who’s previous owners were victims of austerity, or Brexit, or universal credit, or whatever […]
      • Blackburn is Open

        Mar 2019
        Blackburn, Britain, Charity, City, Culture, Design, Economy, Events, Festival, Independent Retailing, Placemaking, Purpose, Regeneration, Retail, Shopping, Society, Town Centres
        The definitive history of Blackburn is Open and the build up to The National Festival of Making. In 2012, we had the idea to take what Blackburn had – empty shops in prime town centre locations, an open minded Council, unused evocative buildings, strong industrial heritage, successful diaspora – and embrace these assets to start […]
      • Are all these store closures something to celebrate?

        Jun 2018
        Britain, City, Economy, Fashion, Independent Retailing, Retail, Shopping, Society, Sustainability, Town Centres
        Our town centre thinking continues… This week it’s the turn of another so called “retail institution” the House of Fraser to announce a significant store closure following a shrinking of Mothercare and the demise of the likes of Maplin’s, Toys R Us and a whole raft of retail “brands” (that often actually has done the […]
      • It is time to wage war on the betting shops and mini casinos that blight our high streets.

        Sep 2017
        Britain, City, Government, Politics, Purpose, Retail, Society, Town Centres
        We hate betting shops and the misery they cause.  For the past few years I have been including this image in my urban design talks and arguing that it’s time we either introduce planning legislation that allowed councils to ban betting shops altogether, or restrict them to one per square mile. Initially my views were […]
      • We Were Able To Create A Fashion Label Available To All – Things Aren’t So Easy These Days

        Feb 2017
        Being Thrifty, Blackburn, Design, Events, Fashion, Festival, Independent Retailing, Placemaking, Purpose, Retail, Shopping, Society, Thrift, Vintage, Vintage Festival
        A blog about how affordable rents helped us get started and how through the markets we curate we are, in a small way, helping start-ups “have a go” by providing low cost opportunities.  I grew up in modest background to the sound of whirring sewing machines and with a mum and a nan who always […]
      • What Are We Going To Do To Help A Generation Who Are The First To Be Worse Off Than Their Parents?

        Jan 2017
        Affordable Housing, Britain, Developers, Development, Economy, Equal Opportunities, Government, Independent Retailing, Purpose, Retail, Town Centres
        Improving equality and life chances for the younger generations have always been hugely important to us. Growing up in the 60s and the 70s my guess is that most young people in normal working class communities like the ones Gerardine and I came from in North East Lancashire had the belief that if they rolled […]
      • Designers Returning To The Scene of Their Exploits

        Mar 2016
        Design, Developers, Development, Fashion, Housing, Purpose, Red or Dead, Retail
        A young Kate Moss and low cost housing all in one blog. A couple of weeks ago we posted the above photo on the HemingwayDesign Facebook page of a housing development, The Bridge Dartford that we led the design and master planning of a decade or so ago. The comment posted by user Paul Read […]
      • Vintage Is About More Than Fashion

        Mar 2016
        Being Thrifty, Design, Eco-Friendly, Fashion, Retail, Shopping, Sustainability, Vintage
        Returning to an old chestnut – secondhand clothing and the circular economy. I love fashion (well I would with my background). I love looking at each new seasons mens and womenswear collections. But I stick with looking and very very rarely buy any new clothes (except undies and socks). I have a wardrobe (or 6) full […]
      • What’s All This Obsession With Retail?

        Feb 2016
        Developers, Housing, Retail, Shopping, Urban Design
        Questioning planning orthodoxy is what we do and have always done.  Most housing developments we work on at HemingwayDesign have a “mixed use” element. “Mixed use”, in simple terms, means “a development that blends a combination of residential and commercial, cultural, leisure services, institutional, or industrial uses”. In terms of good urban design practice, in […]
      • Town Centres Are Starting To Do What They Were Designed To Do

        Oct 2015
        Britain, City, Culture, Economy, Independent Retailing, Regeneration, Retail, Shopping, Society, Town Centres
        In 2015 we continued to discuss and document our positivity about the evolution of town centres, as a more indie and experiential spirit started to replace the dinosaurs that continued to fail and cease trading.  I have “mouthed off” pretty regularly these last few years about the future of our high streets – one recurrent […]
      • “True Cost” – The Movie

        Jun 2015
        Being Thrifty, Design, Eco-Friendly, Fashion, Retail
        Our first brand Red or Dead was nothing if not purposeful, and we have continued to be a voice for ethical fashion. Last week I attended a screening of the new documentary True Cost and took part in a Guardian Live post-screening panel, chaired by journalist Lucy Siegle, who is one of the film’s executive producers. […]