Bradford City Centre Design Guide
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Bradford City Centre Design Guide DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION Urban Design Framework The remainder of this document provides urban design guidance for Bradford City Centre in three parts. The first part is an Urban Design Framework that sets the context for the more detailed guidance in the second part – the Urban Design Code. The third part sets out a public realm strategy which will be elaborated through more detailed work. The urban design framework in the section that fol- lows is based on the City Centre Masterplan and includes the following sections: Repair and reinvention: In they meet a set of criteria set out in which we define areas of the city this section. centre where the quality of the built heritage requires a conserva- Building Line: In which we tion approach to repair the urban introduce the concept of a building fabric and areas where this fabric line on which much of the Urban is needs to be reinvented. These Design Code is based. We define areas are treated differently in the the concept and set out proposed subsequent parts of the framework building lines for the zones of repair and detailed guidance. and reinvention. Neighbourhoods: In which we Street hierarchy: In which we describe how the four neighbour- define a hierarchy of streets in hoods defined in the city centre Bradford as a basis for developing masterplan should develop distinct a distinctive character and form for characters and a process by which each level of the hierarchy as the this can happen. basis for more detailed in the Urban Design Code. Stars and supporting cast: In which we make a distinction be- Tall building policy: In which we tween ‘star’ buildings and support- set out a strategy for the location ing cast buildings. The latter make of tall buildings in the city centre as up 95% or more of new buildings the basis for more detailed guid- and will follow the Urban Design ance on the design of tall buildings Guide. ‘Star’ buildings are to be in the Urban Design Code. exempt from the rules provided that Repair and reinvention Bradford City Centre retains areas characterised by fine commercial consolidated into zones of repair and sons this character has been lost over of great architectural and heritage streets and 3-6 storey stone buildings reinvention as shown by the thick red time. In these cases the guide seeks value but also areas where the his- with ornate facades. lines on the plan. to re-establish the historic built form toric fabric of the city has been badly and building line so that over time damaged. These two types of area Victorian neighbourhoods: The Repair: In these areas the purpose of these areas can be reconstructed. require different approaches to design Victorian residential areas ranged the guide will be to repair the historic guidance. The plan on the facing page from tightly knit terraces to the well- fabric of the city. New buildings will be Reinvention: The area that flows therefore identifies areas where the to-do villas of Great Horton Road and required to follow the height, massing along the valley bottom and up built heritage should be repaired and Manningham Lane. Their character and siting of the buildings that for- Wakefield Road to the south east areas where it is so damaged that it is based on 2-3 storey buildings on merly stood on the site. This does not has lost its historic character. Rather needs to be reinvented. This is based a network of urban streets running mean historical pastiche - far from it, than reinstate a character that may on four components of Bradford’s along the valley sides. the guide encourages a contemporary never have existed in these areas, growth: approach to design provided that this they are seen as an opportunity to Industrial valley bottom: The happens within the historic building create something new as suggested Historic heart: In the centre of the industrial valley includes some fine envelop. This includes most of the ar- by the City Centre Masterplan. This city is the original core of the city. individual and groups of buildings. eas of solid colour on the plan where new character relates to the form of While few buildings remain the However generally it lacks structure historic character survives. It also buildings and the extent and character character of the core survives in the and form and is dominated by high- includes significant areas such as the of the public realm as set out in the historic street pattern - a tight irregular ways and low-density development. Education Campus and the Cathedral following sections. grid of narrow canyon-like streets. Precinct where, for very different rea- This exercise highlights the areas Victorian metropolis: The com- where Bradford’s heritage remains In the zones of repair new buildings will rec- mercial core of the city is Victorian intact (solid colour on the plan) reate the historic building form while in zones including stretching between Manor and areas where it has either been Row and Thornton Road and across severely damaged or never existed of reinvention they will create a new environ- the valley to Little Germany. This is (hatched areas). These have been ment based on the city centre masterplan This plan explores the historic origins of each The historic heart of the city where the historic Intact Victorian residential areas Images facing page: (from left to right) part of the city and the extent to which the historic character still exists Victorian housing on the edge to the centre show how character of these areas have survived. Former Victorian residential areas where the much of the surrounding neighbourhoods once looked. The historic city where the character has been character has been lost The conversion of the Wool Exchange remains faithful to lost Areas that have traditionally been industrial along the historic character without resorting to pastiche. The Victorian commercial city where the charac- the valley bottoms A similar approach can be seen in this apartment building by Peter Cook in Berlin and... ter remains Frank Gehry’s ‘Ginger and Fred’ office building in Prague Victorian commercial areas where character has been lost Integrity of built form X Neighbourhoods The role of this urban design guidance is to allow and promote the development of distinctive identities in each of the four neighbourhoods. The second element to the Urban and between a series of blocks. Design Framework are the four neigh- Each of the neighbourhoods bourhoods identified in the City Centre will develop its own distinctive iden- Masterplan. These are: tity. The Market lies within the Zone of Repair and its character will be based The Bowl: The area around the City on respect for the historic grain of the Hall which is to be the commercial area. The other three neighbourhoods heart of the city and a major public are within the Zone of Reinvention and The Bowl open space around a pool. will create distinctive identities based on the City Centre Masterplan. This The Valley: The area along the area will be unified by the treatment of Thornton Road which was originally the public realm, based on the idea of conceived as a park and which has a park flowing along the valley bottom now developed into a series of blocks through the Valley, Bowl and Chan- in a parkland setting. nel. The distinctive character of these areas will be further shaped by: The Channel The Market: The retail core of the city stretching from a garden around the The star buildings commissioned mosque at the top of the hill down to in each neighbourhood. the new shopping centre with new housing along Manor Row. The scale of the built form and public spaces as defined by the The Channel: The valley running building line. northwards including a linear park along the reopened canal, a new urban The design of the public realm as The Market village and the Broadway Shopping set out later in this document. Centre. These elements have been refined and The detailed proposals in each of these shaped by the NDFs which include areas have been developed through more detailed guidance about the the Neighbourhood Development character and design of each of the Frameworks. The main changes have neighbourhoods. The role of the guide affected The Valley where the oppor- is to provide a context for this and to tunity for new development meant that allow distinctive characters to emerge. The Valley the proposed park now runs around 0 1. The Bowl: The commercial heart of the city 2. The Channel: The valley to the north east of 3. The Market: The retail heart of the city 4. The Valley: A linear open space along the reo- around a major public open space with a pool. the city centre which will be developed as an stretching from a garden around the Mosque at pened Bradford Beck with blocks of development urban village around a park along the reopened the top of the hill to the Medieval core of the city within the space canal north of the new shopping centre. X Neighbourhoods Stars and supporting cast In developing this urban design height, massing, siting and means of buildings such as the mosque. There That this is done through a design/ guidance we have made a distinction access. The urban design guide in the is also the potential for a number of development competition between ‘star’ buildings and the following section sets out these basic new stars such as the new central ‘supporting cast’. rules for the supporting cast as well library and magistrates courts, as well That the scheme is subject to an The supporting cast as encouraging design excellence in as the redevelopment of the Odeon external design review process are perhaps the most important these supporting cast buildings.