Coventry Society Newsletter - August 2014

Next meeting

Visit to Lower Coundon including St Osburg’s Church and the Arts Exchange with Pru Poretta (Coventry’s Lady Godiva)

Monday, August 11 Meeting at St Osburg’s, Upper Hill Street At 6.30pm

High Rise: The three towers that pay little or no regard to historic Bishop Street

Family housing: like this modern London mews would provide individual character

Once again the Society provides an opportunity for the public to see the Hans Feibusch mural at St Mark’s Church on Stoney Stanton Road.

Feibusch was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish parentage who lived and worked in Britain from 1933 until his death in 1998.

After the Nazi party came to power, his life in Germany became impossible, and he emigrated to England. He first exhibited work at the Royal Academy in 1944.

The church will open over Heritage Weekend on Saturday and Sunday September 13-14 (10am to 4pm)

August 2014

Speaking recently about plans for a new high-rise development at Bishop Street, Councillor Kevin Maton, cabinet member for business, enterprise and employment said: “The plan to create new apartments at Bishop Gate fits perfectly with our plans for the city centre as a whole.” A sweeping statement to say the least.

As a Society we have concerns about the limited residential offering being put forward as well as the design and scale of the proposed development.

In an open letter to Councillor Maton we said: “The Bishop Gate proposals in their current form are said to target the rental market only. Whilst apartments and flats are proposed, it appears that traditional housing and dwellings that would be suitable for families are not. The risk with this approach is that the scheme will create a limited and transient community which comes and goes with the expiry of each rental agreement. The city centre needs to provide quality homes for purchase by couples and families that can become established and create a true community within the city centre that will support ancillary land uses.

It could be argued that traditional family homes have no place in the city centre.

The Coventry Society disagrees. In market towns like Leamington and Stratford, and in large urban cities like Birmingham, quality homes exist in the central urban areas in the form of 2-3 storey town houses and mews style developments.

In Coventry, such a development is currently taking place at Far Gosford Street, where a range of 1 to 4 bedroom properties are being built to accommodate a variety of residences suitable for single persons, young couples and families.

The Coventry Society believes this precedent should be followed at Bishop Gate.

If we do not achieve a mix of residential units in this location and move instead towards a series of high rise towers for rent, are we not risking a repetition of some of the problems caused by the 1960s high rise developments like those which took place in Hillfields, many of which have since been demolished? ►More Bishop Gate details from the open letter are described overpage

It’s hard to understand why The Sports Centre Trust didn’t apply for lottery grants to rehabilitate Coventry’s iconic Central Swimming Baths years ago. Not only has it been valued as the only Olympic standard pool in the West Midlands, but is Grade II Listed.

While the City Council promised openness over the future of providing suitable swimming facilities it would appear there is an unwillingness to disclose figures behind the decision to scrap the 50m pool.

According to a spokesperson from Coventry Swimming Club the City Council is claiming 1.3 million visitors to the new site. That’s an unlikely 3,500 per day on every day in the calendar year. On the face of it these figures are estimated to counter any opposition to the Council’s preferred option.

As we go to press a meeting of the City Council is considering plans for the New Build Leisure Centre with Water Park in New Union Street. They are based on a Sports Strategy document published in February 2014.

In response to concerns raised over the non provision of a 50m pool, consultants Appleyard & Trew are costing a number of further options. Hopefully the authority will properly share the financial modelling before pursuing its preferred option.

More news and views on our website: www.coventrysociety.org.uk

Scale and Design of Development The development area dubbed Bishop Gate comprises the Bishop Street, Silver Street, Cook Street and Tower Street areas. Historically the north arterial route in and out of the city centre Bishop Street was a prominent, thriving and densely built up area with a mix of characterful residential and commercial premises facing the street on both sides (pictured left). This character remained for centuries until the destruction of World War II and the redevelopment of the city centre in its aftermath. The street is now one of the most tired and run down in the city centre featuring vacant commercial units of no or little architectural value, a surface level car park, and the large vacant red bunker that was the Royal Mail Sorting Office. Yet the area has great potential. From the top of Bishop Street some of the finest views of the Cathedral Spire and Holy Trinity Church can be enjoyed. The development area sits next to historic gems like the Grade I listed Old Grammar School, the Canal Basin with its listed warehouses, the best surviving section of Coventry’s medieval city wall including Swanswell and Cook Street Gates and the site of the original Bishop Gate, and Lady Herbert’s Garden. The area is deserving of a quality scheme that respects and compliments the unique features that survive and surround the site.

Large expanses of walls and glazed panels Sadly, from the visuals published which depict high rise residential towers in a uniform style and choice of materials, there has been little or no regard to Bishop Street’s heritage and the unique features of this urban area that survive today. The high towers would dwarf and overshadow the surrounding structures. They do not appear to contain much if any of an active frontage to the key streets including Bishop Street and Tower Street. Instead, large expanses of walls and glazed panels are presented.

By means of proposing a number of high rise blocks of flats built at 90 degrees to Bishop Street, the opportunity to create a visual link from the Burges through Bishop Street up to the Canal Basin would be lost. Legibility and connectivity around the city centre would be worsened.

Little variety, character or feature at street level.

The indicative design and choice of materials selected for the high rise towers makes no reference to the locally distinct pattern of development and the surrounding structures.

There is, for instance, no reference to the industrial qualities of the Canal Basin with its rich blue and dark bricks, tiled roofs, and use of timber. Similarly there is no reference to the warm sandstone of the city wall and gates. Rather than attempt to create a varied streetscape along Bishop Street such as that which existed for centuries it is proposed that there be a uniform block development with little variety, character or feature at street level.

A mix of architectural styles to add interest and appeal There is a real opportunity at Bishop Gate to create a commercially successful and visually stunning scheme. Large scale residential accommodation could be provided at Bishop Gate without reliance upon a series of scattered and oversized high rise towers.

Instead, there could be a dense development with apartment blocks at the core and more traditional housing units on the perimeters fronting Bishop Street, Tower Street, Silver Street, etc. Family housing could be provided in the form of 2-3 storey townhouses and mews style developments. Such buildings could be built with individual character so as to break up the scale and massing of the overall development.

There could be a mix of architectural styles to add interest and appeal.

Jerde Masterplan The Coventry Society’s suggestions are not without basis. Largely now forgotten, the Jerde Masterplan of 2008 put forward the concept of a largely residential based development on the site covered by the Bishop Gate proposals. The Jerde scheme proposed a series of residential blocks with some mixed uses also, of differing scales and designs, which followed the existing street lines of Bishop Street, Tower Street and Silver Street. That concept would appear more appropriate than that of scattered high rise tower blocks. To the north of the development site, the Jerde scheme proposed a development that followed the line of the city wall. It even proposed an aqueduct feature to run along Bishop Street and link with the Canal Basin. Whether those features would appeal to the majority or not, they do demonstrate that some thought was given to the unique character of the Bishop Street area.

The proposals now advanced by Barberry, sadly, do not.

In this month’s newsletter from Coventry Action for Neighbourhoods, Cllr Jim O’Boyle is quoted as saying, Coventry University should do more to stop student homes becoming filthy.

People living near students had complained about rubbish being left outside homes for years—but recent issues in one street had taken it to a new level. He sent pictures of litter believed to be left outside homes by students in Monks Road near the city centre.

A university spokesman branded Cllr O’Boyle’s claims “as unreasonable” and said “the responsibility for private properties lay with landlords and letting agents.

Derek Rawle at the Koco Building writes: We are developing a heritage project focusing on the Renold Chain.

Having done some research we are holding an open day for ex-employees to share their memories. In the meantime we are looking for further information about the company.

Contact Derek on: derek@kococommunity.org.uk

Have you noticed a large grey metal tank appear at the side of the Ring Road near Junction 3?

This Thermal Store tank is part of the Heatline project bringing heat from The Whitley Waste to Energy Plant into the City Centre. The highly insulated metal tank will be able to store 143,000 gallons of very hot water (95 degrees Celsius) for use as part of the Heatline district energy network. When completed, it will stand 22m high and 7.3m wide, with a red digital carbon counter at the top to record how many kilogrammes of carbon dioxide have been saved by reusing heat from the waste to energy plant.

We understand the finished tank will have cladding on it to hide the unsightly rusty finish that can be seen while construction works take place.

Contacts Postal address: 77 Craven Street, Coventry CV5 8DT Chairman’s tel: 024 7640 2030 Email: info@coventrysociety.org.uk If Twitter is your thing, you can follow us at https://twitter.com/#!/CovSoc We also have our own page on Facebook.

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