Camlins100Places: A Journey of Celebration, Reflection and Conversation
To mark Camlins’ transition to employee ownership, our director Paul Shirley Smith is cycling more than 1,500 miles across the UK and Ireland, visiting 100 Camlins projects in 35 days.
Setting off from his home in mid-Wales on 22 August, the journey will be a celebration of the people and places that have shaped Camlins over four decades – from the earliest schemes to our most recent work and everything in between.
The trip is being supported by long-time friends and collaborators Hardscape, who have worked closely with Camlins on many of the 100 places being visited along the way.
While celebrating an important moment in Camlins’ story, 100 Places also offers an opportunity to reflect on the long-term impact of landscape – how places evolve, how they endure, and how they continue to support the communities around them.
Along the way, Paul will reconnect with old friends, meet new collaborators, and open up conversations about the state of the art: what matters now and what comes next. The journey will include five fixed meet-ups, the details of which are below, and we would love you to come along and say hello.
Paul is also hoping to raise as much money as possible for Parkinson’s UK, in memory of his stepfather Simon Brett, who passed away in 2024 after living with Parkinson’s since 2008. You can find out more about Simon’s story and support Paul’s fundraising by following the link at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to join Paul on any part of the trip, please contact us at 100places@camlins.com.
Projects
Over 35 days, Paul will cycle more than 1,500 miles to visit 100 projects that span the breadth and legacy of the practice’s work. His route showcases Camlins’ rich portfolio – taking in everything from public realm masterplans to intimate gardens – across cities, towns and landscapes. From Wales to Dublin and Belfast, across to Liverpool, up to Sunderland and back down through Manchester, the Midlands and London, Paul’s journey continues through the South West before returning via South Wales to Shrewsbury. Each stop offers a moment to reflect, connect and celebrate the places that define Camlins’ 40-year story.
Belfast
Big Fish, Donegall Quay – 11am, Thursday 28th August
Belfast marks a pivotal point on the journey – both geographically and in the story of Camlins. The regeneration of Donegall and Queen’s Quays reconnected the city centre to the River Lagan, establishing a new benchmark for public realm in Northern Ireland. This was a catalyst for the wider renewal of Belfast, transforming a forgotten industrial waterfront into a place of gathering, movement and celebration. With civic grandeur and clarity of form, it honours the city’s maritime past while shaping its future. It’s a fitting place for reflection and reunion – where journeys begin, end, and sometimes come full circle.
Liverpool
Mount Street Triangle, Hope Street, Liverpoool – 10am, Saturday 30 August
Liverpool holds a special place in Camlins’ story. More than 20 years ago, we helped shape a series of public spaces that would lay the foundations for the city’s remarkable renaissance in the run-up to Capital of Culture 2008. From the playful fountains of Williamson Square to the civic grandeur of Derby Square and the refined dignity of Hope Street, these projects were all about unlocking the city’s potential through landscape. They show how thoughtful and civic-minded public realm can revive heritage, support culture, and elevate everyday life.
Sunderland
The new Wear Footbridge, Vaux – 10am, Wednesday 3 September
Riverside Sunderland is a city-shaping project – and a reminder that landscape can be the driving force in regeneration. This ambitious masterplan reconnects the city centre with the dramatic River Wear gorge through new homes, civic spaces and infrastructure, including a striking new bridge that opens this summer. At the heart of the project is Riverside Park – a layered, biodiverse landscape designed to bring people back to the river. With play, community growing, SUDS terraces and new woodland, the park will serve as green infrastructure and social glue for the new community.
Manchester
Cutting Room, Ancoats – 12pm, Saturday 6 September
Fifteen years ago, Camlins led the public realm strategy that helped kickstart the transformation of Ancoats – from a forgotten corner of Manchester’s industrial past to one of the city’s most vibrant and desirable neighbourhoods. Investing in the streets was key to unlocking change. Working with the grain of the historic grid, we reimagined the public realm as a contemporary, walkable landscape rooted in heritage. From Canal Square to Cutting Room, the result is a richly layered urban environment that is simple, robust, and full of character and that has become a model for place-based regeneration.
London
strict Coffee, Ponton Road, Nine Elms – 10am, Friday 12 September
London has played a defining role in Camlins’ story – and nowhere more so than Nine Elms. For more than two decades, the practice has helped shape the capital through a wide range of landscapes, from private gardens and podiums to major public realm and masterplans. Nine Elms is the most significant of all: a vast regeneration zone where Camlins helped establish the vision for a new linear park – an organising spine that knits together the entire district – while also working with a wide range of developers in helping to create London’s greenest neighbourhood.
Hardscape Partnership
Hardscape became an employee-owned organisation in 2022, so are delighted to be supporting Camlins in celebrating their own transition. As industry leaders in the supply of natural stone products, Hardscape has spent 30 years collaborating with landscape architects, urban designers and local authorities on inspirational projects of all shapes and sizes, in thousands of locations across the UK, and we’ll be joining Paul in revisiting and celebrating their lasting impact on the surrounding communities.