Hemingway teams with Wimpey

Hemingway Design is joining forces with Wimpey Homes to create a Tyne and Wear housing estate, including design of street furniture, plans for which were unveiled yesterday (Tuesday).

The appointment comes as Wimpey Homes seeks to revitalise large-scale housing developments. Work is scheduled to begin in Spring 2002, once planning permission has been granted.

Benches, dustbins and lighting will form a key part of the design project, according to Hemingway Design [co-founder] Gerardine Hemingway.

The entire project is designed to create a ‘contemporary, best-practice model for urban living that puts people first’, she adds.

Wimpey hopes to tackle problems often associated with housing estates, such as child safety and communal garden areas, with the 688-home development, which will be situated on the banks of the River Tyne at Gateshead.

‘We wanted to become involved in forward-thinking, affordable housing right at the beginning of the process and see it right through to completion,’ Hemingway says.

‘The core of our business has always been large-scale housing developments and we were looking for a way to breathe new life into this area,’ says George Wimpey City Living managing director Ronnie Baird.