BFF were commissioned by Fleet Town Council to create an outline Masterplan for the centre of Fleet, in Hampshire, based upon around the redevelopment of the Town’s Arts Centre and Library Complex

Proposals centred on the creation of a new public square off the High Street, connecting the town’s main public buildings; The Harlington Theatre, The Library and The Council Offices into a single civic complex. This became the anchor at one end of a masterplan creating a new series of linked urban spaces parallel to the Town’s High Street.

The Harlington Centre opened in 1972 as a civic complex offering a main hall, meeting rooms and offices. BFF were commissioned by the Council to explore the options to repair, refurbish or replace The Harlington. We investigated the alternative options, identifying the benefits, the constraints and the cost implications for each, in an exhaustive process leading to a weekend of public consultation and a vote as to the preferred route for development. It was established that the repair and refurbish options would bring considerably less improvements to the facilities available but were not significantly less costly than a rebuild. The option chosen by the local community was the construction of a new theatre with the creation of a new Public Square along-side it.

As an expansion of the original commission, BFF were asked to extend this thinking to the adjacent areas of the Town Centre and undertake a wider study of those areas which were used as surface car parks despite their location just off the High Street. The premise of the masterplan was to test how the redevelopment of the Harlington could stimulate and facilitate the wider regeneration of the area.

The proposals provided a focal point for Town Centre Regeneration with a combination of commercial, cultural and leisure facilities, to provide a heart to the Town Centre and encourage footfall and ensure a commercially viable and sustainable development. They included the introduction of a new urban residential population to help Place making and transforming the Town Centre into a self-sustaining community. The proposals integrated the new masterplan with existing retail areas and management or a reduction in surface parking areas.