New railway station plan for Plymouth
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.
68 Comments
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by RemKoolhaas
Tuesday, January 17 2012, 10:38AM
“Just what Plymouth needs to drag it into the 1980's. - Go Plymouth and the grand ambition that made this great city!
Seriously - I want to cry after seeing this.
How many points for an Architect?”
by Peter20113
Monday, October 17 2011, 8:22PM
“What a brilliant idea”
by James, Plymouth
Friday, January 14 2011, 12:50AM
“This looks like a great idea. I only pursued this page after wondering when the city will be getting a new train station. I have been at university here for 2 years now and when ever I use the station I always think to myself how crowded it is trying to get a whole train full of people through the 4 (could be more,can't quite remember. But I know it isn't many for the size of the city.) barriers they have here.
With the city having an ever growing population, and more people using the station, this project is more necessity rather than anything else. I read that the station usage has increase by 97% in the past few years brining annual usage towards 3,000,000 persons.”
by Jet, Plymouth
Tuesday, September 15 2009, 10:51AM
“As a new property investor the the area, an regeneration is a good hing. My good god there are a lot of whiners in Plymouth... what is wrong with you all? If the city cannot attract investment, i.e allow regeneration, and new hotels etc, then it will just keep falling behind more and more. I was pleasantly surprised to find, actually, a rather pleasant, if a little bleak and characterless, city centre, but it needs to develop some feel and emotion. Has anyone has visited NZ lately... Wellington is a cracking little city - really very little to it, but so much buzz and life. Ok so, like Plymouth, it doesn't take long to get out of the nice parts and into the rough parts... 300 yards up Cuba street and there are more hookers than houses... but look beyond that, at what there already is. The council needs to grow a pair and stand up to the old school Janners, because Plymouth could be great. Ok so i'm biased; i'm new to the area, and as an investor, i want it to grow quickly so i can make a lot of money, but surely those of you complaining can see that if this 'procrastinating culture' persists, people will start to leave, and what you'll be left with is probably no more than a pit for immigrants to come to once they've lost work elsewhere. Crime will go through the roof. All the vandalism etc will continue to worsen... If you make more of the city 'nice'... everything else follows - security, street cleaning, general respect, and before long this yob culture that the city seems to have developed will be seriously outlawed, and will start to surpass!
Believe in development... it works - as someone said, look at Cardiff, Exeter, Liverpool, Manchester... All it takes is an open mind and investment and Plymouth will dropkick itself out of the depression (which is what this actually is), and really make a name for itself over the next few decades! And to any of you thinking that this is hardly the time to be thinking of development - are you kidding... there has never been a better time - borrowing is cheap and plentiful (if you know where to look and don't just believe the papers), entrpreneurs are also plentiful and more imaginative than ever before... just open up to it and enjoy the ride!!!”
by Brian, Plymouth
Thursday, September 10 2009, 10:45PM
“Reference Garys comments on the poor rail links between Plymouth and Exeter.Currently trains cover the 52 rail miles between the two cities in 60 minutes compared to 65 minutes to cover the 75 rail miles between Exeter and Bristol which highlights the slowness of the rail route between Plymouth and Exeter.”
by Paul, Plymouth
Wednesday, September 09 2009, 12:40PM
“I think this looks great and would be a welcome asset to the city. If the Millbay project ever gets completed and the Colin Campbell car park developments ever happen maybe Plymouthians will finally have a city to be proud of. Plymouth has so much potential and it would be nice to see some of these proposals actually happen.”
by Roy Simpson, Plympton St. Maurice
Thursday, September 03 2009, 8:10AM
“A very welcome plan and not before time. Has any thought been given to a railway station/bus station interchange at Marsh Mills. Perhaps a tram from there to city centre. The current bus station is diabolical!”
by Observer, Portsmouth
Wednesday, September 02 2009, 1:00PM
“I cannot believe the amount of moaning that comes with any new development in your city - I lived in Plymouth for a number of years and found it to be a great place in a challenging location - However after a recent visit as other cities have progressed including my own portsmouth Plymouth seems to have been left behind...and what a great shame that is: Embrace new ideas - All you have at the moment is a dirty poorly service station - Change it as a start - trust me whats on offer is a much better entry to the your city than what is currently offered.....Stop them moaning and catch up with the resy of us - Your city deserves it!!”
by Adrian, Torquay
Monday, August 31 2009, 5:01PM
“I travel to Plymouth by train every week, and these improvements look good, if they go ahead. Give Plymouth some style like Exeter has now. The entrance to the station looks very cool, sort of reminds me of canary wharf underground. I cant see it being finished for 10 years + though unfortunatly.”
by Brett, Plymouth UK
Friday, August 28 2009, 2:19PM
“mark for your information : 1 i am not a "fat chav " as you put it , but a registered disabled person - i have chronic arthritis that severely limits my mobility and requires me to use a scooter - 2 - it is a legal AND moral requirement for planners and builders to give due consideration to the needs of disabled people during building works as it is for them to consider parents with prams etc - if you READ my post THAT is ONE of my concerns - your remarks are disabalist - and as such have been reported - you want to have a bit more consideration for others and stop believing this myth that ALL disabled people are lazy and ride scooters because of this - you want to engage your brain - BEFORE opening your mouth on a subject you PLAINLY know nothing about !”