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Due to the location of the Bank Buildings in the centre of Belfast’s retail district, the main civic core of Belfast was closed to traffic along Royal Avenue, Castle Place, Donegall Place and the lower end of Castle Street. These routes previously were located in a pedestrian precinct that only allowed public transport and permit holders to drive through the area. The cordon in place at the major junction between the 4 roads created a unintentional pedestrianised city core for the estimated 4 months the safety cordon would be in place. Outside of the businesses that have remained closed during this period, several other
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On August 28th a small fire began on the roof of The Bank Buildings in Belfast City Centre. Within a few hours the fire had spread it’s way down through the building floor to floor leaving the Grade B1 listed building internally destroyed, with uncertainty lying over whether the buildings facade could be saved. The Bank Buildings were designed by Sir Robert Taylor and built in 1785. Opening in 1787 under the name The Bank of the Four Johns due to the original four owners all sharing the same name, the building was later converted into a shop in 1805, with a major renovation being carried out in 1900 under the design of architect W. H.
Lynn. The Bank Buildings found their way into the ownership of Primark in 1979 after another major regeneration project after damage was caused by 3 bombs during the troubles. All customers and staff inside the building when the fire began during business hours were evacuated and a cordon was set in place around the neighbouring streets. The cordon designating the unsafe zone slightly reduced in the days after, however a permanent unsafe zone that included surrounding businesses was designated in the weeks after and was set to remain in the area for up to 4 months.
The blaze was finally fully extinguished 3 days later, with fire appliances remaining on site for days after. Internal damage within the listed building was so severe the collapsed steel beams inside were visible from the outside. The building remained too unsafe to enter at ground floor level in the weeks after for any form of inspection to be carried out to determine the feasibility of saving the external facade of the building. Public opinions varied on rather it was best to save the facade or to move faster to bring back jobs and income to the area, with the likes of The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society rallying behind the restoration of the facade.
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businesses on the edge of the cordon have suffered a reduction in footfall due to the reduced ease of access and uncertainty in regards to which businesses were still open. Shoppers, workers and tourists could no longer use the main route along Royal Avenue and onto Donegall Place, so instead found themselves having to divert into neighbouring side streets such as Rosemary Street, Lombard Street, Berry Street, Castle Lane and Castle Arcade. Many of these streets have seen a huge increase in footfall, with the likes of Castle Arcade (above), previously being an area
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This unintentional pedestrianisation and increased footfall on streets that had previously been underused offered up an opportunity out of the chaos of the fire. It begged the question of how this 4 month period of pedestrianisation could be used for short term responses to bring people off the footpath and onto the street and to revitalise areas that hadn’t seen this level of footfall in years. How could this then lead as an example to formally pedestrianise the area in years to come?
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that suffered from a large amount of anti social behaviour, now being used as a shortcut around the cordon.
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Pedestrian Traffic Before: Pedestrian movement within the city centre area used Royal Avenue/Donegall Place and Castle Street/Caslte Place as the main routes North/South and East/ West across the centre.
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Pedestrian Traffic After: With this main intersection of North/ South and East/West routes not being blocked, pedestrians have used side streets to travel around the area. A pedestrian ring road around the site has formed.
Belfast City Council quickly began to roll out short term responses in the area to help guide workers, shoppers and tourists around the diversion along with mapping out which businesses have had to close due to the fire and those that are still open. This is part of a wider marketing scheme known as Your Belfast, with a mixture of video campaigns advertising on TV showing local traders and personalities to give an overall sense of pride in Belfast to try bring people into the city to spend money in local businesses.
have used. Greater Belfast is known as a place built up of different communities where it is not uncommon for some residents of these communities to find no reason to adventure out into different neighbourhoods. Belfast City Centre has been seen as a neutral meeting place for these communities, however it is still true that parts of the centre identify with people from certain communities. For example, Castle Street is usually affiliated with residents of the Falls Road in West Belfast, whilst North Street would be associated with residents of the Shankill Road due to The Yellow Dot Trail was implemented in their direct linkages. From this affiliation the form of large yellow vinyl stickers on the with a particular community, people who ground to guide people around the cordon have frequently visited Belfast City Centre onto streets residents of Belfast may never may not have ever strayed far from the
Public Transport Before: A major issue when previously discussing the possibility of a pedestrianised Royal Avenue and Donegall Place was the use of the area by Metro Bus services. Services such as the 1/2/13/14 routes would use Royal Avenue as outlined in the Northbound Diagram (Right). Public Transport After: The fire has given rise to an opportunity to see how a revised bus route would work in the area, with all north bound/south bound buses having to divert around the cordon. Northbound routes currently divert along Chichester Street, to Victoria Street and onto North Street before leaving the centre as usual.
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neutral civic core down side streets like Berry Street to Bank Square or Rosemary Street. The yellow dot trail has aims to bring the city centres footfall around the cordon via these secondary streets with the hope that businesses along the way will see the benefit. The trail and map do move down towards the cordon where businesses remain open but have seen a lack of footfall. This is where the trail may not have as much success. Businesses such as those on Castle Street with no through routes have already began to suffer, so there is rationale for a design scheme that provides a destination down near these areas.
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With the cordon around The Bank Buildings blocking off normal traffic access for Royal Avenue, Donegall Place. Castle Place and Castle Street for 4 months minimum, Belfast has the unique opportunity to experience a fully realised pedestrianised city centre in the months leading up until Christmas. Outside of the main transport core of the North/South and East/West routes, Belfast already offers many pedestrianised retail areas that only allow access for loading and deliveries before 11am. Now with the closure of the main transport routes within the area, it is only the likes of Queen Street, Upper Castle Street and Donegall Square that will still have access to vehicles. The concept for this scheme is to reclaim the road space that is now vacant of traffic via the ROAD use of short term design responses that create a buffer between pedestrian footpaths into the PARKING road via the reclamation of parking spaces and bus stops that are no longer in use.
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Current: Royal Avenue currently has a traditional layout of pedestrian space, parking space then road space that changed ROADPlace. Currently, to one-way at Donegall FOOTPATH even without transport due to the cordon, pedestrians tend to stick to the footpath.
Short Term: By reclaiming the space that was used for parking or bus stops for the 4 month period, it can create a perception that the road is pedestrianised to a degree. Short term interventions such as parklets will achieve this.
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Long Term: Successful implementation during this 4 month period may lead to the FOOTPATH public perception of Royal Avenue changing, combined with a successful transport relocation period to allow the possibility of a permanent pedestrianisation of Royal Avenue to be feasible.
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Successful schemes known as parklets have been carried out in major cities across the world. The idea behind these schemes is to show the public how the vast amount of space we are dedicating to parking can be used to introduce rest stops and greenery in city centres. WMB Studios’ Parklet (left) in london is a good example of use of colour and vegetation whilst Sunset Parklet (below) by Interstice Architects in San Francisco shows out furnishings such as bike parking can be introduced to allow multifunction.
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Taking forward Belfast City Council’s idea of the Yellow Dot Trail, more eye catching and impressive art work could be implemented along the trail to better guide people around the area whilst also providing an art installation that can produce free marketing online via photos on social media. The precedent shown is by artists Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann (Lang/Baumann) who paint directly onto asphalt.
Markets focusing on local traders already exist in the area around Royal Avenue. Folktown Market in Bank Square has been affected by the fire itself and have stated how they would love to be able to branch out from their original home into the newly pedestrianised streets. Markets could bring life and increased footfall to the areas that have seen a decline in customers. Precedent from Folktown and Moore Street Dublin.
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The cordon currently prevents several businesses within the zone from opening up. With Christmas being the busiest period of the year and the cordon set to remain for 4 months, it is important that these businesses look at possibilities of short term rehousing. Pop up shops in low cost modified shipping containers could be a way to house certain businesses. Examples from Boxpark Shoreditch and Boxman Studios
Areas could be set aside for local musicians and buskers to perform throughout the day. Much like in London where painted areas within the London Underground System are designated for busking to provide life to the daily commute but to also prevent the over saturation that can come from too many musicians competing for space. Live performances provide a destination or stopping point along the trail. Precedent from London.
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Parklets use the concept of reclaiming space that was previously dedicated to car parking to be used as an extension of public realm via the creation of small parks that include benches, bike parking, tables, chairs and areas for flowers and trees to grow. The parklet scene has taken off in cities like San Francisco. Parklets lend themselves to a pop up nature. Precedent from Cyclehoop Modular Parklet and Logan CDC parklet.
Currently at the side of Donegall Place that is closest to the cordon there is several bays for car parking, either for permit holders or disabled parking. By relocating these disabled parking bays to neighbouring non-pedestrianised streets this space could be used for a parklet to be added. The idea behind the parklet is that it would take a short time to assemble and a short time to disassemble so that the scheme would have a small footprint on the area. The parklet on Donegall Place would include a large amount of space for planting flowers and small trees to create a green corridor within the area. The parklet would also provide space to rest with seats and sheffield stands for bike parking due to the cordon currently rendering many seats and bike parking in the area inaccessible. On the west side of Donegall Place there is an already existing large footpath due to the road being converted to a one way system in recent years. On this large space
it is possible to introduce low impact market stalls that would help to bring footfall down towards the cordon. This would bring business to local traders using the stalls but also the businesses surrounding them that have suffered from reduced footfall. In the lead up to Christmas these pockets of market stalls placed along Belfast City Council’s Yellow Dot Trail could bring footfall from those visiting the International Christmas Market along a market trail outside of City Halls grounds that promotes local businesses as well as the usual Christmas Market businesses. Due to the Bank Buildings site still needing access from construction crew, security, safety inspectors and local authorities, it is important that these facilities still face towards the pedestrian level as this stage as the road may require constant use into the site. This could possibly be limited to one or two of the three main roads that have direct access to the site.
Base Platform: The base platform for the parklet aims to create a seamless transition between the already existing pedestrian footpath and the newly built public realm on top of road space. By creating a platform with an identical height as the footpath, the movement between the permanent and the semi permanent is flush. Materials: The material of the base platform should fit it’s short term approach by not using materials that was a large footprint on the ground beneath. To allow for an easy setup the base platform should be made of sustainable wood (recycled where possible) and a steel frame. This allows for the base to be built insitu and also be taken apart and transported away if needed. Drainage: Where the parklet will cover existing drainage infrastructure it is important that a semi permeable material is maintained above to allow water to pass through. The layer of wood on top of the base layer that gets the focus of rainfall should have slight gaps in between each wooden strip to allow water to pass through. Underneath a semipermeable membrane should be placed to allow for rainfall to pass through onto the ground and into the drainage. The semipermeable membrane exists to allow water to pass through but to stop items or rubbish falling underneath the platform.
Berry Street (below) will act as an extension of Folktown Market out from Bank Square and into Royal Avenue. For too long the market has felt hidden from the huge footfall of Royal Avenue, so added sight lines down Berry Street will increase footfall. The reclaimed area on Royal Avenue will have a mix between parklet designs and market areas for independent traders. If we were to close off one road from access to the Bank Buildings site then Royal Avenue could be used as an example of moving even further into the road space for markets. The parklets have several breaks in them to allow for access through to each side and a large amount of green space provided.
Main Structure: The main structure of all the parklets design is carried out in the secondary layer made up of varying levels of seat height platforms. The height for each layer is that of a large step or small seat allowing for the ability to walk up to the top or stop and sit on one of the levels. Some of the parklets have sections made up of 3 levels allowing for a large section of seating area for those working in the area or shopping. Other sections are a single leveling offering a basic bench with areas behind or between for greenery. Edge of Public Realm: As the scheme is designed to extend the public realm whilst still providing reduced access for some vehicles in the area, each of the parklets secondary levels act as a barrier between the road and the end of the public realm. Usually the levels will build up to provide a hard edge against the road, but not to too high a level where it is unsafe or where the parklet is not visible from the other side of the road. For each of these raised areas there is either a slight wall behind to provide added safety or a buffer zone made of green space. Angles: The overall shape of the parklets was dictated by the parking space that was being converted, this mainly allowed for a familiar shape to be created with similar walking lines as before, with broken up sections in between to allow for routes through the parklets areas.
Space has been providing on Castle Place for the introduction of single length shipping containers to be introduced. This idea is based on precedent of several pop up schemes in the likes of Manchester and Christchurch, New Zealand where shipping containers were used to house businesses in the wake of an earthquake. The containers could be adapted to have large windows and doors and used by traders that are unable to open their business as a pop up store to regain some loss of income. To the north and south are parklets with varying degrees of seating levels and green space.
Planting: City Centre environments are not known for their good use of green spaces. With a mostly concrete and brick environment, parklets are a good means of introducing areas of grass, flowers and trees in combination with sustainable materials to promote a healthier lifestyle and city centre environment. Each of the parklets has space for green spaces, usually offering itself as a buffer between the public realm space and the road. Seating: Permanent seating offered by the levels outline previously offer a more permanent style of furniture, though the parklets will also provide area for movable tables and seats so that local businesses can dictate how the parklets outside is used and allows the area to be changed accordingly. With this there is also the chance to add tables that will work in combination with the leveled seating to provide an environment that can be used to relax, eat lunch or even to do work at outside. The parklets focus on a more permanent approach to seating via the stepped levels due to the area not owning itself to personal ownership for each business. This means that even at night when the businesses are closed it is still possible for the parklets to be utilised with good exterior lighting. Bike Parking: The area around the Bank Buildings hosted several areas of sheffield stands used for bike parking right in the centre of town. Due to the cordon these are now off access so it is important to incorporate integrated bicycle parking as outlined on the Royal Avenue and Donegall Place parklets. Safe bike parking in open areas promotes a healthier lifestyle by providing facilities for more active transport.