Southampton Station Quarter Vol Two: Appendices 1-6 Solent LTB Major Schemes / Final / May 2014
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Southampton Station Quarter Vol Two: Appendices 1-6 Solent LTB Major Schemes / Final / May 2014 Building a Brighter Future Consultation and Engagement Diary: April 2014 Consultation and Engagement Diary Contents 01 Introduction 02 Summary 2.1 Aims 2.2 Understanding the Site Context 2.3 Functional Requirements 03 Governance 04 Consultation & Engagement Diary 4.1 Consultation Event Diary 4.2 Creative Street Engagement 4.3 Public Consultation Display Panels 4.4 Public Exhibition Summary Consultation and Engagement Diary 01 Introduction Parose Projects were appointed to work under the Southampton City Council/Balfour Beatty Living Places Strategic Highways Partnership in 2012 to provide client-side project management services for the Station Quarter project. The brief included a requirement to carry out a full consultation and engagement programme. The main elements of the programme were: A three-day on-street community engagement exercise Three public exhibitions Formation of an active Champions Group that continues to meet regularly and has been responsible for the introduction to the area of a successful Farmers Market Creating a Project Board including representation from Network Rail and South West Trains Consultation meetings with stakeholders including cycle forums, taxi drivers, bus operators, station management, local businesses (ranging from large corporations to SME’s), land owners and developers An investigation into parking in the immediate vicinity of the Station This documents details the proceedings and outcomes of the consultation and engagement programme which included over 60 separate events. Consultation and Engagement Diary 02 Summary This section sets out the main elements of the final design for Station Quarter scheme. The designs were based on an extensive period of consultation and engagement, the proceedings of which appear in the next section. The project focuses on the Southampton Central Station Quarter interchange and surrounding areas of public realm and highway. Southampton Central Station and the immediate surrounding area currently offers a poor sense of arrival for visitors to the city. There is little sense of interchange with the bus network, weak connectivity with the city’s main cultural and shopping quarters and little sense of being a place in its own right. The Station Quarter project sets out to address these issues, while enabling a number of development sites to come forward. 2.1 Aims The overriding objective is to create an arrival experience fit for a major city, including much improved way finding, a better transport interchange and new public spaces to linger in as well as work. The proposed scheme will deliver the following objectives: An improved Bus Interchange A relocated and improved taxi rank A high quality station forecourt Rationalisation of short stay car paring Improved cycle links and cycle parking, particularly close to the station Improved pedestrian links and desire lines Improve legibility and create a sense of arrival for those travelling by train StreetScene improvements to adjacent roads Due to the size of the project it has always been the intention to split it into a number of deliverable phases. However, in order to have the phases ready as funding streams are realised, the overall scheme has been designed up front. 2.2 Understanding the Site Context The initial site investigation was carried out by a design team comprising Urban Movement and project artist Chris Tipping. The team carried out a detailed investigation into the neighbourhood’s social history, geography, ecology and culture to uncover contextual information, which inform the area’s current form, identity & reputation. This site-specific & research-led activity assisted in driving the creative concept & rationale which now underpins the general spatial layout, character and interpretation of the new public realm proposals. Consultation and Engagement Diary 02 Summary An understanding of the site’s past physical condition drives the overall theme and character of the landscape & public realm interventions: a wooded valley, a meandering stream, the curve of the historic shoreline & the ill fated Salisbury to Southampton Canal. The primary human activities on the site over time, as evidenced by residential, industrial & cultural histories have been influential in drawing individual & collective ‘voices’ from the locality which will serve to imbue any outcomes with a distinctive vernacular. 2.3 Functional Requirements At the heart of the site is the transportation hub where trains, buses, taxis, cycles, cars and pedestrians all meet. Consultation and feedback has been gathered from all these user groups and used to develop the proposals. Taxi Rank Through continuous consultation the taxi rank has been relocated to a position opposite the station entrance/exit. An uncontrolled pedestrian crossing point allows passengers to reach the front of the rank with ease. Taxis join the back of the rank adjacent to Southbrook Road car park before turning in the bell mouth of the exit to the car park. This manoeuvre takes place well away from the busy forecourt allowing taxis to queue before leaving the rank facing the correct way. A gap in the taxi rank has been retained to allow cyclists access to the road, I direct request from public consultation. Drop-off Zone A passenger drop off zone is retained on the station forecourt. It is positioned to avoid potential conflict between turning vehicles leaving the drop off zone, pedestrians crossing the road and taxis leaving the rank. Edged by a sloping kerb profile the drop off zone provides easy access for less able users. Cycle Links and Storage An advisory cycle lane is marked on both sides of the road along Blechynden Terrace contributing to the improved wider cycle route emanating from both sides of the station. The markings do not continue through the raised section as this area is considered to be more ‘shared’ than a single specific user. Cycle storage on the station forecourt has significantly increased. A covered facility utilising gas assisted two tier racks is located close to the station entrance, promoting sustainable travel and integration with public transport. In addition, free standing cycle racks are scattered throughout the project area located in key positions and aligned with other elements such as hedges, seats and low retaining walls. Consultation and Engagement Diary 02 Summary Highway Lighting Working with the PFI lighting contractor the existing columns are relocated and updated as required to suit kerb realignments and vehicular access points. Creative Place-Making Enhancements Influences from understanding the site context are manifest on site in many forms. Surface Materials The selection of materials and colour palettes are an outcome of this contextual research. The carriageway immediately in front of the station forecourt has been designed to have a completely different appearance. A surface of granite setts, raised levels and sloping kerb profiles combine to increase pedestrian priority and considerably improves the aesthetic. The ability for pedestrians to cross the carriageway anywhere along the raised section is made easy but designated uncontrolled crossings are also provided. A co-ordinating pallet of materials is applied to the station forecourt and the public space in front of Frobisher House in Wyndham Place. The ‘Canal Shore’ Kerb Detail The ‘Canal Shore’ artwork is a critical element within the scheme. Contextually it marks the high tide line of the historic north shoreline of the River Test Estuary, which, up until the 1930’s Western Docks expansion, ran along the Southern edge of Blechynden Terrace. This shoreline, since medieval times had provided the east to west transportation route out of Southampton along what was known as The Strand. The ill-fated Southampton to Salisbury Canal (1795–1808) had also run along this same route, its long filled-in canal basin now under Blechynden Terrace. The work marks a significant threshold for the confluence of transport routes, waterways, land & sea, both historic & contemporary. The Black Basalt kerb, itself an emphatic 700mm wide, is inlaid, throughout its 290m length with water jet cut text. The text further explores and narrates the events that have shaped this site for almost a thousand years. Its functionality is also critical to the scheme; its length articulated with elegant but robust dropped kerbs, transitions setts & crossing points, allowing for fluid & streamlined vehicular, cycle and pedestrian movement through the site, which further emphasizes its importance as a transport interchange. Consultation and Engagement Diary 02 Summary Bespoke Cast Concrete Seating, Retaining Structures and Paving Features The bespoke concrete works explore the historic & extant topography & geology of the site and more particularly, the movement of water through it. Several streams ran through here, one of which, the Rollesbrook marking the western boundary of the City. Medieval water conduits, amongst the first in the country, cross the site. These waterways have shaped the area and this natural & fluid impact is explored in the profiles, structures and finishes of the seats and retaining structures proposed, as well as embedded lighting. The positions and siting of the structures assist in navigating through the site, following the adage, ‘the path of least resistance – water always flows downhill’. The materials specified also reflect this exploration of the underlying