start of content

City Centre - final masterplan unveiled

Release date: Feb 27, 2009

Coventry City Centre - final Masterplan

Coventry City Centre - final Masterplan
It's been a year in the making, is valued at more than a billion pounds and  the design has been inspired by the views of thousands of  local people.  Now the finished masterplan that will guide development and transformation of the city centre over the next 15 to 20 years has been unveiled.

Designers from international architecture and urban design firm The Jerde Partnership have been working with  the Council and its partners for the past year to create a new heart for Coventry.  Local people have been  involved from the very start and last January thousands of people were asked what they liked, didn't like and wanted to keep or see more of in the city centre. Their views and ideas  -  including  green spaces, an understanding of  the city's history  and a pleasant environment that's easy to walk around  -  formed the basis of the brief for Jerde; putting local people firmly in the driving seat from the very start.

In September last year the first draft of the masterplan was launched and local people were asked for their views on the initial designs. Over a six week period, more than 3,000 people visited the city centre shop to look at the designs in detail and talk to designers, senior managers, city development officers and councillors about the plans.

Leader of Coventry City Council, Cllr Ken Taylor, who helped staff the city centre shop where the plans were on display, said,

"I have been overwhelmed and delighted by how passionate people feel about the plans for the city centre.  Almost everyone agrees that we have to act, and act fast,  in order to transform our city centre into a place where people want to live, work and play. This is the biggest regeneration project  in Coventry  for more than 50 years and it will only be successful if we work with local people and our private sector partners to make it happen.  

"The  people who took the time to look at the draft plans last year agreed that the main elements were right, but they also had some really good ideas and suggestions which we have included in the final plan. One of the biggest issues, for instance, was the market . Traders and shoppers liked its new location as an anchor store and on the prime walkway around the city, but everyone thought it should be round.  So now in the final plan it is round with inside and outside space.

"The egg also provoked strong debate.  It was a bit like marmite - people either loved it or hated it.  It has stayed in the final plan but we are still clear that it is symbolic of a new iconic building for the city which will be subject to an international design competition  - the final design is unlikely to be an egg, but it will be a real talking point and shows how important such iconic architecture would be to Coventry.  

"Clearly we are only a short way into the process - but agreeing a masterplan is a massive step  forward for the city, helping us to guide the development over the coming years.  It sets the standard and binds all partners into working together to create one coherent city centre that works for its people and its businesses .  This will be a very exciting journey and local people will be involved every step of the way  to  create something unique with its own special character.  We know how special our city and its people are - now's the chance to show the world what we're capable of."
 
Local people also had good ideas for other parts of the masterplan  which has been changed to reflect what people had to say,  including:

  • Breaking the roof top green spaces in to smaller parcels - making them feel more like small parks and gardens.  This means they will feel safer and more accessible
  • Making the Coventry Arena more compact - so it has a better balance of public space and commercial space.  The designers have brought the main event space back down to the precinct level and it now feels more intimate - but still with enough room for performances, street theatre and events
  • Making the residential apartments lower in height and spreading them more evenly across the city centre.  This means that we will be able to better protect the impressive views of the city's three historic spires, it moves away from high rise towers that were shown before and integrates the residential accommodation far better within the city centre
  • Breaking some of the bigger chunks of development down into smaller parcels so they can be built in a more organic and phased way.  This means that over time it will be easier for them to adapt to changes in demand for city centres and will help us to avoid being where we are now with everything needing to be done at the same time
The overall amount of office space has been reduced - this is so there is no clash with the development planned at Friargate
 
Key elements that remain unchanged from the first draft include:
  • The Sherbourne River Walk
  • The city wall gateway at Bull Yard
  • Lower Precinct
  • The buildings at the top of the upper precinct that wrap around on to Broadgate and were part of Donald Gibson's original plan
  • The redevelopment of Cathedral Lanes and the improved Broadgate
Martin Yardley Deputy Director of City Development has worked on the plan every step of the way.  He said,

"The masterplan has been funded by the Council and our partners and despite these difficult economic times everyone is still committed to making it happen.  The timing could well be just right for us.  Once this final masterplan is approved we have a lot of work to do such as developing detailed plans and working with retailers on ways of ensuring that the city stays open for business during construction work.

"We will also be working on how we link the Jerde masterplan into the regeneration that is already going on in the city centre.  This means we will ensure that the Belgrade Plaza, Severn Trent, Friargate at the railway station and Coventry University's developments, for example, are fully integrated into the retail plan - that walkways and routes are right and that they do not turn their backs to each other - as happens a lot now.   

"In order to maintain the right levels of involvement we aim to set up a special panel.  Not only will it help us to ensure that people remain fully involved every step of the way, it will also mean we have a group that we can run things past and seek advice from.   It will be a real mix of local people who care about their city and professional experts."

David Sheldon and Stuart Berriman from Jerde will be in Coventry next month to help present the final plan to the Council's Cabinet.

David Sheldon, Regional Manager at Jerde's European office in Amsterdam said,

"This has been a tremendous project and the response from the stakeholders and the people of Coventry has been astonishing, and in our experience, unique.  Our company has a combined experience of over 30 years and this is the best public consultation we have experienced in all that time.  The people of this city really want to see the Council take Coventry forward with a big scheme and we have felt real passion for the masterplan. "
 
Stuart Berriman, Design Principal said,

"Coventry has a very proud history but this is perhaps the perfect opportunity to shape the city for a long time into its future.   We believe the passion and commitment of the partners and the people will ensure that this exciting scheme does not disappoint.
 
"We have enjoyed working on it this masterplan - it has presented us with a lot of interesting challenges.  But thanks to the detailed comments from local people, the quality and scale of which we have never had before, has made it really rewarding to work on.  We are enormously pleased with the result and hope everyone in Coventry will be too."
 

Back to News Summary

Get in touch

Contact us quickly and easily using our online contact form.

Also in City Centre Regeneration