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FoRM Associates ceased trading at the close of 2012 following a decade of fruitful collaboration. During this time the company delivered many innovative and award winning projects in the field of urban design, architecture and landscape architecture both in the UK and internationally.

The founding partners Igor Marko, Peter Fink and Rick Rowbotham will continue their work as independent practitioners.

Urban Design > Squares and Urban Spaces

New Market Square

Newport

RIBA International Competition / Second Prize 2006
Client City of Newport

Team FoRM + Alan Baxter Associates

The new Market square is a key space reconnecting the town centre with its Usk River edge. The new spatial organisation redefines the present ambiguous and ill-defined area into a pedestrian dominant space and non-conflicting traffic hierarchy. The Steel Wave sculpture by artist Peter Fink is relocated as a focal point of a visually dynamic wave like deck cantilevering over the river to form a dramatic and panoramic gateway to Market Square.

The timber platform provides a soft conclusion to the stone floorscape, a positive link with the marine environment of the river. The waveform from reinforced grass platforms frame the new square and provide passive amenity. Large-scale broad leaf trees frame the square and provide a sense of enclosure and seasonal response.