Following our extensive experience working in coastal settings; including in Folkestone and other waterfront locations, we’ve been contributing to early thinking alongside Southampton City Councilto explore the future of the Itchen Riverside, one of the South Coast’s most significant and complex waterfront areas.
We are offering bespoke advice to consolidate years of prior thinking — including the Prior + Pertners Itchen Riverside Area Framework — into a single coherent strategy that knits together the entire corridor: from Crosshouse, St Mary's Waterfront and American Wharf through to Northam and Drivers Wharf.
Rather than a fixed masterplan, the work is being shaped as an evolving framework; one that supports coordinated thinking across sites, while remaining open to input from partners, practitioners and communities as it develops. Further specialist input will continue to shape the work as it progresses.
Our approach rests on three parallel scopes of intervention:
🔭 Building on the Southampton RenaissanceVision - recognising the strength and momentum of earlier work for the area - a vision-led, joined-up masterplan across the whole zone, with architectural texture rather than homogeneity and exploring how those principles can continue to inform future thinking across the wider corridor.
🪡 Stitching the Itchen - public realm interventions that re-establish east–west connectivity and reopen the city to its river.
🧩 Focused Interventions - considering where early, smaller-scale projects could help unlock momentum and test ideas on the ground.
🌿 Climate resilience sits at the centre of it. The work integrates flood resilience with development viability, urban greening and biodiversity — recognising that resilient places and great places are the same thing.
Regeneration of this scale takes time. Meanwhile uses, activation and small moves will run alongside the long-term vision.
This is very much a collaborative process, and we’re grateful to the many stakeholders, local groups and partners who are already contributing to the conversation, we’re looking forward to continuing to work alongside Southampton City Council, especially the City Development Team and others as ideas evolve.
