News: Jigsaw assembles world-class team for Central Winchester regeneration project

Tuesday 5 March 2024

The design will be led by an award-winning team including Henley Halebrown and Peter Barber Architects 

Jigsaw by Partnerships & Places – development partner to deliver the Central Winchester Regeneration (CWR) project has unveiled the team that will collaborate with Winchester City Council to help implement a long-term placemaking solution for the city centre as well as the wider region.   

The partnership has now revealed its stellar design team led by Henley Halebrown, the Stirling Prize-shortlisted architectural practice, and Peter Barber Architects, one of the UK’s leading urbanists as the Lead and Housing Architect respectively. They will be working alongside other architects, urban designers, engineers, landscape architects, sustainability experts, and specialist archaeologists on the CWR proposals. 

Reflecting an ongoing and extensive public engagement and community consultation process, the Jigsaw team will be working in partnership with the council to transform the historic city centre, delivering a diverse mix of uses, including independent food and retail spaces, flexible workspaces, creative hubs, sustainable homes, and vibrant public spaces. 

 
Jigsaw by Partnerships & Places is a partnership between Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Limited (Kajima and Genr8 Developments) and igloo Regeneration with Thriving Investments (part of the Places for People group). The partnership is dedicated to optimising social and economic value by collaborating with local people and businesses throughout and beyond the duration of projects. 
 

Winchester City Council’s vision for CWR is for a sustainable, pedestrian-led quarter with a mix of uses defined by attractive public spaces, reflecting the distinctive character of the city centre.  

The development will better connect the regeneration site including Kings Walk, Friarsgate and the bus station to the wider city and district. It will respond to local housing demand for people of all life stages through a range of tenures, which will support the retention of local people, their skills and talent in the city whilst attracting new innovators and entrepreneurs.  

John Long, executive director at igloo, added: “igloo, Thriving Investments and Genr8 Kajima coming together as Partnerships & Places creates a powerful and innovative new regeneration vehicle in the UK responsible real estate sector. We recognised in joining forces for Winchester that together we could offer a compelling investment and development proposition tailored to the needs of the city and to the multifaceted project. Now a year into successfully working together, I am confident that we’ll be collaborating on many more future projects around the UK.” 
 Oliver Barker, senior development manager at Genr8 Kajima Regeneration, said: “It’s an exciting opportunity to collaborate with such renowned specialists as Henley Halebrown and Peter Barber alongside a forward-thinking local authority with a real vision for what they want to achieve for their residents. Good design is at the heart of our plans for the city centre, and by creating attractive and comfortable living and working spaces, we can ensure that the rejuvenated city will become a desirable place for people of all ages.” 

Cllr Martin Tod, Leader of Winchester City Council said: “Jigsaw have put together such a fantastic team.  One of the reasons we were so keen to work with them was the quality of partners they wanted to bring to the project.  It was great to meet everyone on the team and gives me even more confidence that our partnership with Jigsaw will give our ancient city the strong future we all want for it.”