Results of Public Realm Surveys

4. Towards a Birmingham Road site design code

• Preferences for public realm were also surveyed, both online and at engagement event 3. The Create Communities platform asked for residents’ favourite spots in Lichfield. The top two public realms from online engagement were Bird Street and Minster Pool.

Fixed Point

Quotes

‘A variety of independent shops ‘Local food, local people - best place in Lichfield.’

‘The buildings have character. In keeping with the historical ‘feel’ of the place.’

‘Pedestrian friendly with flat surfaces for walking and cycling and welcoming alfresco dining.’

‘A beautiful green space, lined by trees. It is accessible by car and foot and provides seating.’

‘The brickwork pattern reflects other buildings in the area.’

‘Car park does not distract from the ‘historical heart’ of Lichfield.’

• The least popular spots on our online engagement platform were Birmingham Road and St John Street junction, and the area around the Premier Inn on Swan Road.

Fixed Point Quotes

‘First sight off the train’ with ‘eyesores’.

‘An empty, overgrown site across from the station that has been boarded up for several years.’

The Premier Inn and its associated car park as well as other surrounding buildings are ‘not in keeping with the rest of Lichfield.’

‘They present a wall of modernity that obscures the nature of the city.’

‘Could be anywhere in the UK.’

• At our third event, two masterplans were shown, one with a street-based ‘fine-grained’ layout and the other with a ‘coarse-grained’ ‘blocks in space’ layout.

Title

Masterplan Type A - ’fine-grained’

Masterplan Preferences Characteristics

Likes: 35

Dislikes: 8

81 per cent approval

• ‘Fine-grained’ street pattern based on series of well-defined urban blocks.

• Through routes defined by streets with widths ranging from 3.5m to 15m width.

• Smaller public spaces composed of series of more enclosed public spaces.

• Well-enclosed . Green and open spaces defined by buildings.

• Little and often green spaces.

Masterplan Type B – ‘blocks in space’

Likes: 22

Dislikes: 11

67 per cent approval

• ’Blocks in space/ coarse grained masterplan based on larger-scale block development connected by less enclosed, plaza-type public realm.

• Space not streets. No street pattern: through-routes defined by larger open spaces.

• Less-enclosed spaces with buildings defined by green/open space.

• Fewer but bigger green spaces.

Most respondents preferred the ‘fine-grained’, street-based indicative masterplan. 81 per cent of respondents to Masterplan A favoured the ‘fine-grained’ masterplan, compared to 67 per cent for Masterplan Type B.

• Respondents also preferred more enclosed, human-scaled public realm with vertically emphasised buildings. In visual preference surveys 80 per cent of respondents preferred a vertically arranged series of buildings (a ‘flotilla of ships), compared to large, horizontally arranged buildings (‘single cruise liner’).

• People want lively, active facades with friendly street furniture. Our surveys also showed 92 per cent of respondents preferred active facades and friendly furniture (stalls, planters, and parasols) over inactive facades and unfriendly furniture (bins, posts and bollards).

• Engagement event 3 presented stall visitors images of different public realms to gauge their preferences, with overall findings presented below.