Starting with TfL’s most prominent interchange at Baker Street, which hosts 32 million yearly passengers, our foundational framework aligns planning, licensing and activation across the whole neighbourhood, and allows for the successful commissioning and direction of the project’s key delivery teams for the next decade.

FreeState was commissioned to to deliver an experience vision for Baker Street, one that is visionary and actionable. At its apex sits TFL’s sense of purpose, as embodied by the DEVCO pillars. Being commercially astute, socially useful, community-led, and people-driven is the meaningful baseline for the vision of any TFL commercial development. 

With TfL now positioned as the most proactive of landlords, it will be the most extraordinary of places. Beautifully curated, an ever-evolving campus of rich activities, it will answer the needs and wants of a complex audience.

Undeterred, FreeState accepted a commission to create an experience masterplan for Network Rail and Leeds City Council’s ambition for a Destination Station capable of achieving three key objectives: one, create an attractive, relevant, and resilient destination in and of itself; two, become the magnetic force and therefore link between the regenerating Southbank and the hitherto more affluent north; and three, be the catalyst for – rather than barrier against – an inclusive economy, one that in activating space to the south seeks to help rebalance the city, without negatively impacting on the success of the north.

Bringing stakeholders to the table, employing a mix of traditional and digital research techniques, and utilising an infrastructure-light start-now, plan-long term approach, we delivered a feasibility study, an investigation report, a Station Campus vision, and are currently in the developed-design stage of the intervention, including planning and licensing, detailed design and specification, and staffing and operations. With all stakeholders joined at the hip and supercharged by its importance for the south, the three-year activation plan launches in July 2022.

Once up and running, we will continue to work on the project and are in talks with a view to taking on similar projects across the main client’s estate.

Our first task was a precinct-wide audit of the traveller experience, with a mandate to develop a vision that filled identified shortfalls and developed an experience that resonated with the airport’s employees, its suppliers, its clients and, most importantly, its travellers. Following on, our recommendations for creating a door-to-plane experience included working with and helping inform the Aus$1 billion masterplan for the new international terminal, radically overhauling of the design of its domestic terminal, the development of over Aus$100 million operating system, producing a staff and supplier traveller experience training toolkit, and advising on the setting up a of a traveller experience management department.

A physical and digital intervention, the Stepping Forward experience masterplan has progressed to design concept and is now in various stages of delivery. Crucially, as well as working closely with key stakeholders, including the airport’s airline clients, the brief for the identity that sits at the centre of the intervention was such that it should not be overshadowed by the city’s own identity and yet, at the same time, be of the city. We continue to work with the airport on a project-by-project basis and look forward to becoming permanent consultants to the ongoing traveller experience, pandemic allowing.