News

As discussed in our recent article ‘Once a Highway, Always a Highway?’ understanding the fundamentals of what constitutes a ‘highway’ and the process of removing highway rights can be critical to new development.

The concept of what constitutes a highway was established long ago, when there were few written laws and local authorities were not in existence.

Coming towards the end of a turbulent year for us all, we are proud to announce that Markides Associates is now wholly owned by its employees. We believe that employee ownership offers a number of highly valuable benefits to our business and staff. We are in no doubt that this move will help us further expand our already talented team and allow us to retain our stability and independence over the long term.

Markides Associates recently completed a feasibility and cost study for the expansion of existing 20mph zones within the town of Kendal on behalf of Kendal Town Council. Referencing the latest policy guidance for the implementation of 20mph speed limits, MA undertook a GIS-based analysis of average recorded speeds across the town, with this being used to determine the suitability of reducing speeds across the town.

Markides Associates attended the 'Connected Cities: Rail at the Heart of Build, Build, Build' online conference on Monday 5th October 2020. The conference was hosted by Connected Cities and featured a number of presentations discussing the future role of rail travel, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Markides Associates are pleased to have been part of the design team for a 171-room hotel located adjacent to London Luton Airport, which achieved planning consent during last week’s Luton Borough Council planning committee.

Updates From Markides Associates

This Newsletter could have been unusual, as everything in our lives over the last few months has been dominated by COVID-19. We have been fortunate at Markides Associates in that none of our staff, or their families, have been directly affected by the pandemic, but we recognise of course that thousands of people have.

Want to reduce construction traffic by 75%? Maryam Shakiba and Matt Harris discuss their findings on the benefits of CLT.

Markides Associates have been appointed by Landsec to assist in the planning and design for a large commercial development on the South Bank, in the London Borough of Southwark.

Damian Tungatt discusses what's keeping workers away from the city centre, and what may happen if there's no return to the status quo.

We have all now realised that the majority of us can work effectively at home. As the media likes to frequently tell us, the ‘new normal’ is London bankers safely working from their kitchen tables in our more remote dormitory towns and our need for the office is increasingly identified as the social part it plays in our working lives as opposed to the traditional place of toil we once knew. The office is now seen as the creative hub - a place to discuss ideas and have beers with our colleagues…. so why are we not rushing back after months of enforced isolation?

MA's Annika Davies examines the latest proposals to ban pavement parking in England.

On Monday, Transport Secretary Grant Schapps, announced plans to prohibit pavement parking and make active travel journeys easier and safer. When parked cars occupy the pavement, they force pedestrians to move around the vehicle by entering the carriageway. This clearly presents a safety risk, but it also presents a major barrier to carrying out daily journeys for many disabled people and people with prams or buggies.