Designers commissioned to work with Team Barrow

Team Barrow, a partnership between central government, Westmorland and Furness Council, and BAE Systems to develop the town, have confirmed contractors have been appointed to work on the multi-million-pound project.

Arup, a collective of designers, engineers and technical experts, work on a wide variety of projects internationally. Earlier this month the company was commissioned to assess the viability of floating offshore wind farms in Scotland.

AR Urbanism have also been commissioned by Team Barrow.

The urban design company has worked on projects across the UK including streetscapes around London Bridge and masterplans for Boston in Lincolnshire and the Mayflower Quarter of Southampton.

Last month the £200 million Barrow Transformation Fund was signed off by the Government. On March 25, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the investment would be coming to Cumbria over the next decade.

A week later the board responsible for overseeing the delivery of the project met for the first time and was led by interim chair Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

The decision to invest in the regeneration of Barrow was in recognition of the town’s critical role in the delivery of the UK’s submarine programme.

BAE Systems, which already employees more than 13,500 people in the area, needs to increase its workforce to enable delivery of the Astute, Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS submarine programmes.

The delivery board is due to meet again early next year when plans to involve the wider community of Furness will also be set out.

A spokesman for Team Barrow said: “We are delighted to welcome Arup and AR Urbanism as the newest members of Team Barrow and look forward to working with them on the development of the concept and early phase masterplan.

“Supported by Homes England, this is an exciting project and a key enabler to helping make the town an attractive place for people to live, work and thrive, with more information to follow in the New Year.”