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26 Start with the park CASE STUDY Park Central, Attwood Green, Birmingham 21 hectares Start with the park Construction period 2002–10 Background A tight network of terraced housing, local shops and services dominated the area prior to the Second World War. Following extensive bomb damage, it was cleared and replaced by a series of modernist social housing blocks, isolated in large areas of formless public open space. Neither the buildings nor the open space did anything to make strong townscape. The steep slope that ran across the area included an under-used park. These areas were neither overlooked nor well enclosed, and they received minimal management. Birmingham City Council transferred the housing stock to the Optima Community Association, which formed a partnership to redevelop the site with the developers and housebuilders Crest Nicholson. The Park Central project shows how careful consideration of the relationship between the buildings and the green space of a run-down and deprived area can form the centrepiece for its regeneration. The design aims to create a place that meets Birmingham City Council’s wider ambitions to attract a wide range of people back to live in the inner city. Planning and design Gardner Stewart Architects won a competition to create a masterplan for the site. With Derek Lovejoy Partnership and the Landscape Practice Partnership at Birmingham City Council, they developed a mixed-use scheme that forges a union between the buildings and the green space to create strong townscape. The park now forms the core of the new masterplan. The buildings surrounding the park include living spaces with large windows and balconies, helping to overlook all areas. This is reinforced by measures such as all groundfloor units surrounding the park having individual front doors on to the parkside. The park is divided into a series of active and quiet areas that include a range of different planting zones. At the centre of the park will be the community hub, containing a range of local services with residential accommodation above and enjoying views across the park. The remainder of the site will be a mixed-use development with a range of residential tenures and types. Each house or flat has access to a private green space – either a back garden or a large balcony or patio. In most of the higher-density housing units there is access to a communal green courtyard in the centre of each perimeter block, with access limited to surrounding residents. Maintenance and management of the park will also be much improved. Birmingham City Council will continue to manage it and will provide a permanent on-site park warden.
Green spaces in areas undergoing major change 27 Design Gardner Stewart Architects, Derek Lovejoy Partnership and the Landscape Practice Partnership, Couch Perry & Wilkes Services Consultants, Bullens Highway Consultants, Curtins Structural Engineers Partners Birmingham City Council, Optima Housing Association, Crest Nicholson Lessons learnt • The physical relationship between buildings and an urban park is critical to its success. Public spaces should be well overlooked by surrounding development • Mixed-use developments can help to create different kinds of activity in the public realm throughout the day • It is important to provide homes with access to high-quality private spaces as well as public spaces. In areas of high-density development, semi-private communal spaces should also be considered. Design plays a large part in whether a space feels private, communal or public • It is important to provide many different activity zones within parks for both active and passive uses, in order to encourage use by as diverse a range of people as possible. References www.optima.org.uk www.crestnicholson.com www.parkcentral.co.uk/homeintro.htm www.gardnerstewartarchitects.com
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Page 61 and 62: Thinking about design 59 1. Sustain
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Thinking about design 79 Diverse us
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Thinking about design 81 Design LDA
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Appendix 97 Glossary A full range o
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Appendix 99 body for protecting and
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Appendix 101 derelict land, revital
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Appendix 103 Awards BRITISH ASSOCIA
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Appendix 105 Image credits p6 Dan B
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Appendix 107 References All CABE pu
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Commission for Architecture & the B
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