Public Art Commission Invitation Location: ‘Site J’ New England Quarter, Fleet Street, BN1 4FY Budget: Lift artwork: £20,000 Greenway artworks: £60,000 Release: 18 October 2013 Deadline: 25 November 2013 There are two opportunities offered for artists/ designers in the new landmark development in the New England Quarter in the North Laine, Brighton. • An artistic treatment of the new lift linking the new public space to the northern gateway of Brighton Railway Station. The proposal could incorporate designs for the glassexterior or use light, sound and sculptural additions to the lift and surrounds. The budget for design, management, manufacture and installation is £20,000. • A proposal for an intervention or a series of interventions for the new Greenway that will provide an attractive trail through the new space. This could incorporate structural elements, light, sound and/or influence the plans for planting. The budget for design, management, manufacture and installation is £60,000. The commission is being offered by Hyde Vale Limited and Denne Construction Limited through Brighton & Hove City Council’s Section 106 policy. 1. The Site The arts commissions are offered at the new development referred to as ‘Site J’ of the New England Quarter. The development is located to the east of Brighton Railway Station and is enclosed by Fleet Street to the east, Mangalore Way to the south and Stroudley Road to the north. The development comprises 147 residential units and 258m2 of commercial space, a new greenway and a new public square linking the northern gateway of the train station to Fleet Street and down to Ann Street and the London Road. The whole site falls within the defined city centre and lies on a strategically important route linking the station with the London Road area to the east. The site is owned by Hyde Vale Limited and is being construction by Denne Construction Limited. The southern end of the site is owned separately and is not part of this invitation. Although a planning application has been submitted for this site for the construction of a hotel and office space. Construction is due to start in 2014 subject to planning permission. The development is designed to provide: • New high quality and vibrant public realm (the public square, the northern gateway entrance and the new greenway). There should also be provision for informal open space in the plans. • Improved physical connectivity. The site has a critical role in facilitating the navigation across the city particularly from the station to the east and north and from the north of the city down into the North Laine and London Road. • Improved cultural connectivity through helping to create a sense of place by linking the surrounding contemporary and historical sites and features. • A new green space and the completion of a linear ecological corridor running through the centre of the New England Quarter. 1.1 The Greenway This development will include the final part of the Green Link, which runs north from the station entrance. This is proposed as a continuously rising ramp of 1:15 slope meandering through nature which would be convenient for cyclists, baby buggies and wheelchairs. The location and extent of this area is predetermined by the presence of the large retaining wall which accommodates the substantial level change across the site. This entire area is dedicated to the provision of a route with accompanying open space and improved biodiversity. As you will see from the Landscape Architect’s drawings the greenway shall have a variety of different planting bed types and styles including a wildflower meadow, which will all be graded to falls from Stroudley Road down the back of the existing retain wall. Generally hard landscaping will be constricted to the central path which shall be finished in resin bonded gravel with sliver grey 100 x 100 washed setts constructing the steps and rest areas. Either secured or built into the step will be a 100mm wide 1.2 The Lift One of the new pedestrian routes through the site will be the route from the London Road, via Ann Street up Fenchurch Walk past the new Sainsbury and terminating at the Station North Entrance. This will take pedestrians through the new public square which will be a narrowing plaza towards a striking and generous wide cascading set of steps rising 9 meters to the North East Entrance of the Station. The station will be seen looming at the top of the stairs. A glass lift tower will be located beside the stairs in order to afford step free access between the levels. At present the lift and the lift shaft structure will de designed, supplied and installed by Aurora Lifts and will be manufactured in Spain to be brought to site and erected in pieces. The lift car will be a glazed structure which will be suspended in a 14m high glazed tower with a steel frame. For the suitability of construction the rear wall of the shaft abutting the existing retaining wall and the wall abutting the stairs shall be constructed on reinforced concrete, which will help in supporting the bridge. These walls will be clad internally in a grey sheet metal, which shall help with future maintenance etc. At the top entrance of the lift shaft there will be Reinforced Concrete Bridge which shall have a paved deck and frameless glass balustrade. The glass balustrade shall continue down the steps to the lower public square area. Further Information Current plans for the development can be found on the BHCC planning register at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk. The planning case officer is Maria Seale [email protected] (01273 292232). The relevant reference numbers for planning applications are: Design & access statement for the site BH2010/03999 (approved 9/12/11) Hard and soft landscaping BH2013/01929 (pending) Greenway details BH2013/01927 (pending) Stairs and lift to station BH2013/03388 (pending) Note: The details of the exact layout and planting may be subject to change as part of the on-going negotiations on the planning applications. In particular, artistic proposals will need to be compatible with the measures sought by internal planning consultees such as the Ecologist, Arboriculturist and Access Officer, 2. Context 2.1 The surrounding area This site is the missing piece of the jigsaw relating to the strategically important area of the New England Quarter, connecting the north of the city to the North Laine, and the station to the London Road area. The majority of the masterplan for the area has been realised so the site sits adjacent to relatively new developments including new residential developments with Barratt Homes, Bio-regional Quintain and Crest. Commercial developments include a Sainsbury’s supermarket, a number of small shops and cafes around Fenchurch Walk, the Jurys Inn hotel,Bellerbys Language School and office space at QED on Stroudley Road. The site also sits next to beautiful architecture of exceptional historical interest including the Grade II* listed train station built in 1840 in the Italinete style and 100 feet above sea level. Its curved 3 storey brick archways form Mangalore Way. Nearby is the Grade 1 listed Victorian church St Bartholomews known as both Wagner’s Folly and the Ark. On the other end of the architectural spectrum but no less important, New England House is an iconic 1960s industrial towerblock in the brutalist style. It is a vibrant and thriving centre for the city’s creative and digital industries and a driver for the economic regeneration of the area. The site is nestled next to the North Laine: the city’s bohemian and cultural quarter renowned for its independent retailers and traders, offering an abundance of small shops, bars and restaurants. To the east is the London Road shopping area which through the Portas Pilot scheme and the redevelopment of the Open Market, the Level and the Co-op is undergoing huge regeneration. Both areas have highly engaged business and resident communities and a strong sense of local identity and heritage. More information on the North Laine can be found at http://northlaine.co.uk/ and on London Road at http://londonroadlat.wordpress.com/portas-pilot/portas-pilotupdate-26th- september-2013/ A useful resource for more context of the heritage and identity of the area can be found at http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk 2.2 Existing public art A vision for the site was originally commissioned for the New England development as part of the original public art programme. The artists Jon Mills, Steve Geliot and architect Fiona Atkinson worked together to create and deliver a vision for the site. The results of this collaboration can be seen and enjoyed in the current New England Quarter development. Their original vision was inspired by the surrounding landscape of sea and downs, the chalk landscape, rolling downs and the sea. The art-works were designed to soften the hard lines of the landscape with natural forms and also to reference and compliment the railway architecture and heritage. The vision based on a hierarchy of routes throughout the site, focusing on linkages to London Road, the Site of Nature Conservation Interest (the old Greenway) and the proposed New England Square. The work is sited throughout the site and includes: • Bespoke tree grills and glass blocks embedded in paving which form an intrinsic element of the hard landscape along New England Street • A series of enamel plaques providing a graphic representation of the site’s history in St Anne’s Square. • A 6 metre high wooden sculpture by the nationally renowned artist Walter Bailey on the corner of Cheapside. • A series of metallic ‘running men’ located along the guard rails within the Core Site • A series of oversized metal railway implements acting as a relic to the site’s railway heritage, • Concrete seats by the Landscape Architect Rachel Stocker (working with children at St Bart’s Primary School) also on the Greenway.