4.5 Heart of the City Quarter

Principles

Degree of Intervention
A large part of the quarter is contained in the City Centre Conservation Area and new development should be introduced sensitively. Outwith this are the degree of intervention will be Reinvention and Reconfiguration.

Activity
Active frontages lining all major pedestrian routes will ensure engagement with the street, and increase the perception of safety throughout the city centre. Introduce a coordinated public art scheme as an integral component of public space and street design.

Encourage a residential population to the city centre with high quality apartments in new development schemes and on the upper levels of existing shops or offices.

Architectural style and materials
Within the conservation area, natural materials such as stone, brick or slate will be preferred, as set out in the Council’s guidelines. The remainder of the quarter could support more contemporary influences. This could include traditional materials used in modern forms or more contemporary materials such as glass, stainless steel or coloured enamelled panels.

Ensure locally significant heritage sites and precincts, as identified within the City Centre Conservation Area, are conserved and enhanced in accordance with existing Council policy. Bring under-utilised historic buildings back to life with innovative adaptive reuse schemes.

Detailed guidance on building design, orientation and materials is set out in Part 3.2 Guidance - Architectural Quality.

Building height
Within the Conservation Area, the height of new buildings should reflect the height of adjoining buildings which is mostly 2-5 stories. There may be scope for taller buildings to the south of the Conservation Area, providing it can be demonstrated that there will be no visual or amenity impact on the streetscape and that view corridors to important landmarks are not impeded. Refer ‘Creating a sense of Enclosure’ in architectural guidance.

There are many important city centre landmarks within the Conservation Area such as the Town Hall, City Hall and St. Marie’s Cathedral, and view to these buildings should be protected.

Gateways
The Heart of the City comprises a number of important pedestrian gateway sites and spaces, such as Furnival Square, Charter Square and Division Street. There are also the important pedestrian links from the railway station to the city centre via Charles Street or Surrey Street. These should be designed to emphasise the sense of arrival into the city centre and enhance the pedestrian experience.

Furnival Square and Charter Square are also key vehicular gateways into the city centre which should be reflected in the built form and details of roadway and public realm design.

Public realm
Build on existing public realm improvements, using the Peace Gardens as an exemplar project. The outstanding design quality and craftsmanship of the Peace Gardens should be used as a benchmark throughout the Heart of the City. The Heart of the City quarter will adhere to material palette and street furniture suite for Primary Zones as set out in table 5.1 and 5.2 respectively (part 5.1).

When creating a strong pedestrian connection to the station, the Heart of the City materials palette should be rolled out toward Sheaf Square to develop this route. The Heart of the City Project should incorporate a pedestrian link to the west of the Novotel.

Introduce an innovate lighting strategy to the Heart of the City, to extend the hours of use and highlight landmark buildings. Develop a consistent range of elegant lighting columns to illuminate all major pedestrian routes through the city and encourage imaginative lighting schemes for individual shop fronts.

Vehicular access into the Heart of the City should be minimised. Carparks should be of high quality and have positive pedestrian connection into the main retail area.

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