A NEW railway station and 20-storey hotel form the centrepiece of a

masterplan for the area around North Cross in Plymouth City Centre.

The

existing North Cross roundabout will be replaced by a ground-level

square, with trees and grass, looking down Armada Way to the Hoe, if

the vision by architect Graham Lobb is turned into reality.

The

square will be a terminus for a new electric 'streetcar' system in the

ambitious concept commissioned by Plymouth Chamber of Commerce.

The

city's long-term strategy is to create 11,500 new jobs in business

services – jobs such as accountants, lawyers, civil servants and IT

experts. The new central business district at North Cross would have

about a million square feet of accommodation, much of it in office

space to house the new jobs, as well as giving the university room to

expand.

Mr Lobb, of Form Design Architects, envisages a

street-level station entrance linked by escalators to the concourse,

then down again to the platforms.

Visitors to the city would

emerge on one side of a new square, built above the existing North

Cross roundabout, with a view stretching out down Armada Way to the Hoe

memorial.

All parking would be underground.

The concepts,

which cost the Chamber of Commerce £25,000, have been handed over to

the council to became part of the draft masterplan for the city centre

and university area.

Mr Lobb said: "The area around the station

has an incredibly poor sense of arrival and that part of the city isn't

working properly at all.

"At present, you come out of the station and you don't know where you are. You're immediately disorientated."

He worked closely with the city council and the Plymouth Design Panel, originally led by Barcelona-based architect David Mackay.

Between

them they came up with 'a notion of how we can stitch the station back

into the city' and help Plymouth compete in the future.

"What

we don't have is a central business district," Mr Lobb said. The city

centre was too spread out, and considerably less densely-packed than at

the end of the 19th century.

Sir Patrick Abercrombie redesigned

the city after the German bombing of the Second World War destroyed

much of the ancient heart of the city.

"Abercrombie made it less

dense by taking people out to the peripheral estates," he said, "but

the Abercrombie plan has left parts of the city cut off."

The

200-bed hotel, complete with conference facilities, would be the only

really tall building in the development. Its roof would become the

highest point in the city and would make an ideal choice for an upscale

restaurant.

The modern office blocks, reaching to a maximum of

eight storeys, would divide the North Cross area into a network of new

streets around the new square and railway station. "It's what the

commercial surveyors are telling us Plymouth can't offer," Mr Lobb

said.

He said they had a choice of keeping Caprera Terrace, to

the east of North Cross, or demolishing it. "We did a scheme where it

could be saved but the Design Panel felt it was constraining

development," he said.

"The scheme is just a vision at the

moment. It's a concept of how to create an urban structure for that

area. In the end it's all about creating new jobs.

"The Area

Action Plan won't be that prescriptive, but we thought if you were

going to put a tall building anywhere, it ought to be at the city's

highest point."

Chamber chairman Mike Leece said the vision could form a basis for developers. The scheme would take 10 to 15 years to develop.

"This scheme doesn't take away green space – it makes better use of space that is mostly roads now," he said.

"This

was intended by the Chamber of Commerce as a spatial plan looking at a

new railway station, but the team from Form Design realised that to do

it properly a larger area was required.

"The private sector put

a lot more than the £25,000 fee into it, in terms of time and

experience. We hope Plymouth City Council and the City Development

Company take this forward with enthusiasm to help deliver the 11,500

business services jobs needed."

The council's draft Area Action

Plan for regenerating the city centre is driven by the growth in

population planned for in Plymouth by 2026 and growth in jobs,

particularly in business services.

It sees a new office district at North Cross as a key factor in bringing about changes in the city centre.

An

office district would attract investors and retailers, it says. A

redesigned North Cross could include a much clearer and more pleasant

route to the city centre. The North Cross proposals are incorporated in

outline in the Area Action Plan. The plan also calls for an improved

frontage on to Western Approach, which would involve redeveloping some

landmark sites.

"The existing buildings along Western Approach

provide a poor first impression of the city centre, particularly the

Armada Centre frontage and the Copthorne Hotel entrance," it says.

The Copthorne Hotel should stay as a hotel, but could be replaced with a new and more attractive building.

The Armada Centre should be redeveloped for non-retail use, possibly including student accommodation, homes and offices.

Proposals

already exist to redevelop the Salvation Army Hall and YMCA for

residential and office uses, including a tall building.

Mr

Lobb welcomed last Friday's comments from Ian Thompson, Devon area

director of the South West Regional Development Agency, identifying the

need to develop a 'string of pearls' from North Cross to Millbay.

"There's

a real opportunity to get people behind it early and drive it forward,"

he said. "This is a good time to get all the groundwork done so when we

come out of recession Plymouth has a ready-baked scheme to market to

inward investors."

To read the full Area Action Plan and comment online, visit www.plymouth. gov.uk and follow the links.