The Portsmouth Society - News
| News | Gunwharf | |
| Earlier news | We were invited to a meeting with Berkeleys and their architects Broadway
Malyan on 16 December about their revised proposals for the two developments
- East Side Plaza and Ariadne at the eastern end of Gunwharf Quays. Present
were Robin Shepherd, planning manager for Berkeley Homes and Mario Yacoub,
associate director and another director of Broadway Malyan. They had already
done a presentation to the councillors. East Side Plaza CABE have seen the applications twice and are happy at this stage. The Architects' Panel agree in principle and so do English Heritage. There has been a major redesign since the plans were first submitted for these two developments. The tower block of flats is now proposed to be 29 storeys, with six flats per floor. It is at the back of the site away from the waterfront and the shopping, that is at the front when approached from the city centre. In section the tower is now egg-shaped, the antithesis, the architect says of the 1960s square box. This shape is good in reducing the wind impact. Part of the building recedes and in effect disappears. It will be half the height of the Spinnaker, 300 metres away, which will still dominate. The proportions of the East Side Plaza tower are more elegant than before. It will be faced in slightly grey reflective glass with white metallic panels. The top is slashed through at an angle facing the harbour, rather than cut off square, giving it a different character from different viewpoints. Inside the cut-off there are four stepped terraces screened from the sides. Originally there was a residential crescent attached to the tower. In the new scheme it is detached and the west side now more elegantly detailed, clad in terracotta, brown like that used in the hotel, stepping down from the 29 floors of the tower to 12 and then to 8 and then to the 3-storey car park with basement which faces Gunwharf Road - a total of 306 flats with 301 car parking spaces and 9397 sq.ft of retail. We are please to see that they propose a car club - which may be run by 'Smart Move' - intended to be available not only to everybody in Gunwharf but to anybody else who wants to use it. In the main, we are happy with the design of the main block, but less so with the back of the lower flats which face Gunwharf Road and St. George's Road. They say that wind above 2.5 m doesn't matter. At lower levels they reckoned to be able to manage it by planting, landscaping, canopies, enclosure. They can identify problem areas and put a screen, e.g. a bandstand. Berkeleys have abandoned Adrian Fisher's sunburst design for the arena in front, preferring a flat circular space at the end of the canal - more adaptable for special events. There will be lighting in the paving and of the trees, and architectural lighting of the tower, with pools of lighting in the residential area. There will be a degree of symmetry. The space will be used for fire engines, for vintage cars, for street entertainment, skating in winter. There is a space reserved for a public work of art at the end of the canal, with a vertical emphasis. We welcomed this, but pointed out that art need not only be vertical. The design of the plaza should be a work of art too: using different colours, textures and patterns, which will be enjoyable close up and from above. Berkeleys have agreed that the public art finalists will be assessed by a public art panel with advice on the commission and judging by the Hampshire Sculpture Trust, which has key members living in Portsmouth. Ariadne We are less happy with Ariadne - the design has been improved but not to the same extent. The design claims to be more akin to the first phase of Gunwharf: residential, red brick, traditional feel, vertical bays picking up military buildings, but there is still a case for a sleeker, curved shape. There is still poor allocation of affordable housing, considering there is none on Gunwharf at present. There will be 126 keyworker flats with 50 private, totalling 176 in 7-8-10 storeys high; nursery 5640 sq.ft., 83 car parking spaces; 197 residents and nursery space + 20 visitors. There had been three objections to the original design for Ariadne: the bulky architectural character, the car parking and the materials. They have changed all three. The block is reduced by two floors because they have taken out the offices, so the height is reduced. The key workers' housing will have 'pods', manufactured off site, which enhances quality control. RJ agreed that the Peabody Trust has done this in at least one of their pioneering new buildings with apparent success. However, we are concerned that the outdoor space provided for the nursery is too limited, and too overshadowed, particularly in winter, when sun seems unlikely at all. Will the fees be affordable by people working in Gunwharf? We have asked the developers to reconsider childrens' play for the whole site, when the huge numbers of shoppers' and workers' children are taken into account. By this, we do not mean those plastic play structures which children rarely enjoy for long because they do not allow for any experiment. We suggested that experts' advice should be sought on making the whole of Gunwharf more child friendly: by things to climb and jump from, varied surfaces, textures and colours: which adults would enjoy too. They've decided against providing other amenities e.g. doctor, community centre, though there may be a food store in East Side Plaza. The applications still includes the demolition of Donegal Lodge. We are being sent the archaeological reports about the King's Mill and the East bastion, with recommendations about how the remains are to be treated. Pedestrians first We objected strongly to the current arrangements for pedestrians to leave the site from the Vernon gateway. At present they are forced to double back quite a long way along the outside of the site, instead of being allowed to cross at the traffic lights at the actual junction. The present arrangements are dangerous, because people walking always choose the shortest route. Here, they cross the road outside the railings if there is nothing coming- and we speak from experience! We have asked Berkeleys to redesign this junction - to conform to their stated policy of making the whole site permeable on foot. Overall, we are pleased at the improvements in design of the scheme, although we still have reservations about the lack of community facilities. These might be provided in the south wing of Vulcan. There is little soft landscaping, given the huge scale of the development. We have asked to be kept up to date with the progress of the Aspex Gallery. Berkeleys have agreed to an Open Day for the Vulcan at Easter - when people could see the interior and Aspex Gallery's plans. We offered to help supervise it, if required. |