Huddersfield Town Center - A Regeneration Masterplan

BUILDING THE LIVE - WORK - PL AY ENVIRONMENT A STRATEGIC MASTERPLAN

Development of a Workplace Quarter for bigger office buildings - Priority to office buildings.

Secondary priority to commercial on GF to serve employees around their working hours

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University Campus designated quarter: teaching and amenity related buildings.

Possible redirection of student residential to this quarter.

Low priority to supporting businesses on ground floor level

Huddersfield Heritage Trail - the most central quarter, most culturally significant to accommodate the majority of smaller independent businesses working towards creating a unique characteristic to attract tourists and revenue.

Existing listed buildings and monuments. Not all listed buildings are being marked rather than ones which have had impact on the strategy.

The leisure heart of town Priority to commercial use mostly on ground floor level Low priority to office space and residential on upper levels.

High priority to a variety of residential units to appeal to different demographics.

Lower priority to amenity commercial properties to serve the residents (GF spaces: newsagents, grocery shops, beauty salons, gyms) Green Pockets - opportunity for small scale education facilities to serve the local residents - elementary schools, kinder-gardens, middle school etc Pedestrian bridge to accommodate the existing level difference and connect the residential area and the town center over the ring-road Boulevard - a reduced number of narrow vehicular lanes to allow space for on street parking, a cyclist lane to create a natural boundary between vehicles and pedestrians. Aiming at a 1:1 ratio of area for pedestrians and vehicles Major vehicular artery - controlled pedestrian movement across Slow speed vehicular road - cobbled to mark higher priority to pedestrians and cyclists Water Front Alley

Node - Soft Landscape

Node - Hard Landscape

Refurbish an existing listed building to create a new signature landmark to celebrate the Huddersfield heritage and history in textiles, rugby, water-travel

Movement of employees between the town center and the Office Waterfront Quarter

Movement of university students between campus and the inner part of the town center

Movement of residents between their homes and the inner part of the town center.

STRATEGIC MASTERPL AN SCALE 1:2000 @ A1

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Create a LIVE - WORK - PLAY environment by creating a community core where residents don’t feel the necessity to commute to work or travel to distant locations for leisure. This would reduce the carbon footprint and create revenue within the town center, preserve the local culture and encourage a stronger sense of belonging within the residents.

2. Improve the connectivity through the ring road by working towards a 1:1 ratio of pedestrian to vehicular movement. Redeveloping the Huddersfield ring road and the pedestrian permeability - encourage on-foot movement into the town center .

3. Reduce the number of empty commercial units within the town center by creating bigger opportunity for smaller businesses to gain access to larger properties at accessible price in stead of looking for rental units in bigger cities.

4. Increase the number of residential units within the ring road to attract the missing demographic of young families and young professionals - such intervention can increase/ create the necessity for various businesses to serve the local community which would instantly boost the town center economy and thus benefit the area in various ways: such as safety, reduction of commuting, increase quality of life and attract new visitors and residents.

A P P L I E D ST R AT E G Y

- NEW STREET

ACCESS AND MOVEMENT Pedestrians are to be prioritised through various interventions. The ring road lanes are

A m i xtu re of soft and h ard urban landscape w o ul d in v ite a l l d e m o g ra p hics by a cco m m o d at i n g va r i o u s n eeds - i t wi l l c reate a n en c l o s ed, wel l l i t s a fe s pa ce fo r peo pl e to m eet , s h o p, rest and work’ for kids to pl ay and for u niversit y and col l ege st u dents to s h are the ir w ork to th e locals and encoura ge s o c ia l in te ra ct io n in o rd e r to br in g t he co m mu n i t y to get h er a n d en h a n ce t h e l o ca l c h a ra cter. ‘A s o c i a l c i t y i s a h a p py c i t y.’ - Ch a r l es M o n tg omer y

to be narrowed and reduced in numbers to allow for on street parking (reducing car park sites) cyclist lanes and give way to pedestrians. A bus lane is to be introduced within the ring-road and connect to the existing crossings.

Pedestrianisation within the ring-road is to be accentuated through merging the pedestrian and vehicular space which would automatically give way to those on foot or bicycles

Civic Quarter

Buxton Way Market

Civic Square

Town Hall

Pedestrianised Streets Within

Queensgate Music Venue and Workshops

Improved pedestrian and cycling access through the ring road

Huddersfield University Campus

- this can be induced by a change of road materials to cobbles and reducing the speed to 20/30mph

BUILT FORM The main aim under this category is to preserve the Huddersfield architectural character and strive to reuse existing buildings in various ways and adapt them to the community’s needs (Qeensgate Market, The Co-Operative Building, Buxton Way Building). The only proposed demolition is of a single storey building from the 70’s currently housing several small commercial units but which is largely unoccupied.

OPEN SPACE AND PERMEABILITY Th e s e ction follow s a ne w visual axis bridg in g t he ea ste r n s id e o f t he r in g roa d to t he to w n cen ter - i m pro vi n g pedest r i a n a cces s a n d e n ab l i n g mov e me nt , and allowing a visual co n n e ct io n bet w e e n t he co re a n d t he o uts k ir ts.

The reasoning behind the demolition is to create a quality soft and hard open space, increase the light in the area and return the focus to the Town Hall building which is currently SECTION AA SCALE 1:500 @ A1

underwhealmingly ‘squeezed‘ behind - a large open public space looking onto the civic heart of the town can increase the transparency and connection between the local authority and its community .

B uxton Way M arket to welcome various me rcha n ts o f fe r in g a hig hl y f l e xibl e o p e n p l a n s pace i n c l u di n g exter n a l a n d i n ter n a l s pots a s w el l as vast storage area and veh icular acce s s f ro m Al bio n St re et .

t h e C i vi c Sq u are to cel eb rate and reinvent t h e interest into t h e H u ddersf iel d Town H al l b y c reat ing a qu al it y u rban space for t h e l ocal commu nit y to gat h er.

I t cel eb rates t h e ex ist ing arc h itect u re and reinvents t h e connect ion b et ween t h e l ocal au t h orit y and t h e residents.

Another approach to increase permeability is used by the rehabilitation of Queensgate Market and Buxton Way by turning them into sheltered open spaces for the community to gather. This is to be executed by creating open plan spaces and preserving the existing shell of the buildings.

Visual permeability is to be improved by puncturing opening from the ring road to the town center to create axis which celebrate the town and improve its ‘image‘ from outside

USE The characteristic Huddersfield can focus on to attract interest and revenue is the saturation of small independent businesses in order to put money back into the local economy.

The proposal aims to appoint new uses to the existing built form to match the demand.

Various uses such as residential, flexible spaces to rent, hire and purchase, leisure and office units all intertwined together to allow a comfortable movement through the environment and create a local center where all needs are met at the same place.

FOCUS 1a. STREET FOOD HALL 1b. NEW MARKET 2. THE CIVIC SQUARE 3. QUEENSGATE MUSIC VENUE AND WORKSHOP 4. THE BABYLON APARTMENTS 5. PRIMARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL 6. COMMERCIAL UNITS AND OFFICES - SIGNATURE SKY BAR 7. THE SUN DIAL URBAN PLAYGROUND 8. REFURBISHED MILLS TO RESIDENTIAL UNITS AND OFFICES 9. REFURBISHED PICTURE THEATRE INTO ART WORKSHOPS FOR KIRKLEES COLLEGE 10. THE COLLEGE ART PARK

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DESIGN PROPOSAL SCALE 1:500 @ A1