Team chosen to revitalise historic town
18 August 2010
The design team behind the popular Bristol waterfront development Temple Quay 2 are now set to breathe new life in to the heart of Stoke town centre.
URBED, which has played a successful role in major regeneration projects across the country, has been chosen to lead the Stoke Town masterplan.
The team, which includes Jan Gehl Architects who designed Copenhagen’s public spaces, DTZ and Arup and is led by URBED, is looking at ways to revitalise the current town centre as well as the neighbouring former pottery works at Spode.
The legacy of the town’s ceramic heritage will be brought to life through contemporary uses of the heritage buildings and redevelopment opportunities offered by the Spode site.
Ideas being explored through the masterplan process include creative courts and Spode lanes - made up of alleyways of cobbled streets with small independent shops and creative art spaces – as well as circus squares, with open space for street theatre and dance.
More immediate uses for the important site will also be woven into the masterplan process with a combination of leisure uses, creative low-cost studio spaces and exhibition and performance space all creating possible short-term uses.
Councillor Mervin Smith, Stoke-on-Trent council cabinet member for City Development said: “The appointment of URBED is a significant step in the regeneration of the historic town of Stoke. The team have worked on successful projects across the country and I am keen to see the vision they have for transforming Stoke.”
The appointment follows a public consultation on the five short-listed teams’ concept drawings which showed residents were keen to see heritage buildings brought back to life, improved transport connections, a wider range of retail, quality open space and public realm, a pedestrian friendly town centre and regeneration plans that deliver jobs.
Over the next six months the team will compile a detailed masterplan for Stoke Town incorporating the Spode site and connections to the University Quarter and Stoke Station. The designs, which will incorporate short-term uses as well as a longer term vision, will be worked up in consultation with the community and potential investors to make sure that it is community led.
Director of URBED David Rudlin commented: “As a team we are really excited about this new project and the opportunity to design the future plans for the historic town. This is an important heritage site and it is vital that the masterplan respects the past while creating something new and exciting. Our approach is based on the three R’s – first rediscovering what was there before, then repairing the tears in the urban fabric before renewing the area with a new and contemporary urban layer.”
The masterplan will guide investment in to the town over the coming 10 to 15 years. It will also show how the historic town centre pottery site, Spode Works, can be redeveloped to play a significant role in the regeneration of Stoke Town.
Spode is probably best known for its blue-printed pottery and Willow pattern. The company also invented bone china, which has been the standard British porcelain now for more than 200 years. Spode is still in production with Portmeirion Pottery continuing to produce many of the collections in the iconic make.
The site is now recognised as being of national importance and it’s hoped that a r sensitive redevelopment will lead regeneration of Stoke Town.
