Elms Field

Elms Field has been transformed with new shops, cafés, an Everyman Cinema, Aldi supermarket and Premier Inn hotel, surrounding a landscaped park with a destination play area.

The field is also used for public events including Party in the Park, organised by Wokingham Town Council.

Sitting on a bench at Elms Field as lunchtime drifts into afternoon, you start to notice the small, everyday details.

From underused space to opportunity

Not long ago, the story here was very different.

Despite its central location, Elms Field was fragmented and underused. Tennis courts, a pitch and putt, a small play area and open land sat side by side but felt disconnected.

In 2010, we agreed a long‑term vision to regenerate Elms Field as part of the wider town centre transformation. The aim was to reconnect this important site with daily town life, creating a sustainable, mixed‑use place that brought people, homes, leisure, shops and green space together, while offering space to breathe in a growing town.

Elms Field before regeneration

Elms Field after regeneration

Shaped by design and community

Construction work began in 2017 and the development was delivered in phases. Homes, shops, cafés, an Everyman cinema, Aldi foodstore and Premier Inn hotel were built around a reimagined park and destination play area. The project delivered 126 new homes, bringing more residents into the town centre and helping to create a lively, sustainable community.

Mature trees were retained wherever possible, with further native planting strengthening biodiversity. Where trees could not be kept, some of their timber was reused within the park as carved features.

Local feedback helped shape the designs, particularly the inclusive play area, created to PiPA standards so children of different ages and abilities can play together. Wide paths, clear routes and cycle parking make the space easy to move through.

A lively heart of the town centre

Completed in phases from 2019 onwards, Elms Field is now firmly part of daily life in Wokingham. It hosts events, markets, fairs and festivals, supports local businesses and provides a green space that feels busy, familiar and well used.

A woman nearby eats her lunch, her phone balanced on her knee as she watches. Two sausage dogs stride purposefully across the grass, their owner following behind. Children run through the play area, doubling back, inventing rules and games as they go, their voices carrying across the park.

A football bounces from one group to another. People pass through on their way into town, others slow down and stay awhile, framed by the crescent of homes, cafés, restaurants, shops, the food store and the cinema. Snatches of conversation drift across the park, mixed with the clink of cutlery and glasses from café tables nearby, all of it unfolding in the heart of Wokingham town centre.

It is a place built not only for now, but for the everyday moments that will shape the town centre in the years ahead.