Apparently there is an application to build a large apartment complex in the Friar's Road area of Coventry City centre - this will involve most of the street's existing Edwardian housing being demolished. The building will be five floors at its lowest point, and 14 at it highest.

There's also a plan to build "twin towers" of 14 storey apartments and retail near the "City Arcade" part of the precinct. Further round the city centre, there's belgrade Plaza which has a 16 storey tower as its highest point.

All these are modern designs with plenty of glass.

Bishop Street area of the city centre has been designated as a "High Rise" area.

what are the presnet edwardian buildings like? Worth keeping?

Sounds like good news generally

As long as it's not boring brown crap i'm happy with it.

There are a few roads in Coventry with period houses, that end at the Ring Road. It's a very strange situation. I'm undecided on this matter of demolition. I mean the council wouldn't dare demolish Spon St (Mediaevel) would they? Why can't they choose another location or try to integrate the designs?

what are the presnet edwardian buildings like? Worth keeping?

Sounds like good news generally

I haven't been down that street for some time, but from what I recall they're pretty unremarkable redbrick terraced houses & I think some large semis. Nothing listed.

Most of the houses are being used as bedsits & a few are run down & boarded up. At the end of the street is a bridge over the ringroad to the station. I think eleven houses will go. I did have a friend who lived in one, once.

It's next to an existing apartment block, and overlooking the ringroad.

I've got my bearings now MartinN! Isn't there a blue tower at the end of the st too?

There are a few roads in Coventry with period houses, that end at the Ring Road. It's a very strange situation. I'm undecided on this matter of demolition. I mean the council wouldn't dare demolish Spon St (Mediaevel) would they? Why can't they choose another location or try to integrate the designs?

Believe me, Coventry has hundreds and hundreds of streets of inconsequential Edwardian houses that were built around the factories. Most of them are poorly built. I know. I lived in one for four years!

A couple of the "Lower" streets that have been chopped off by the ringroad have some interesting stuff on them - Lower Holyhead road has some Victorian Houses (They may actually be Edwardian) & some lovely old 17th century weaver's cottages. The road next to it has a row of 16th century cottages and some Edwardian stuff. Then BLAM. The monolithic ringroad cuts it all off (One of the streets may also be having a large apartment block on it - a local business wants to demolish his business and build a large block - which will have a "tower" feature overlooking the ringroad. I'm seeing a theme here.)

Spon Street - not a great success. Again, a road that goes nowhere - to a dirty subway that goes to a council estate (Which itself has some medieval buildings stuck in the middle of it.) Most of Spon Street consists of buildings that were demolished after the war, but put into storage and reconstructed (This is valid - medieval homeowners _did_ move their houses, as they were timber framed). Now it's got a few nice restaurants, but has been ruined by - hard to believe this - kebab houses and Fish & Chip shops. Let me be blunt. These places attract riff-raff and drunks & have driven a few people away from the area (Including at least one restaurant).

The Medieval Church at the base of Spon Street adds to the area, as does the medieval almshouse, but it's all dominated by the bottom of the Lower Precinct - Four Storeys of GREY WALL. Pure, square, Grey Wall slap bang next to an incredible sandstone church with an unique crossing tower. To make it even more annoying, they recently renovated the lower precinct and made the wall even more greyer and even more drab.

The other "famous" street is Starley Road - two solid rows of Edwardian Houses that were scheduled to be demolished. The residents fought against it, and ended up buying the houses and turning it into a housing assocation.

Shame about the ringroad - some of the roads would have continued outwards with some interesting continuity of frontages and lead to the "villages" (Hillfields, Earsldon, Chapelfields) built outside the medieval common land area during the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries. These areas all had distinctive architecture due to their roles as Weaving communities or watchmaking areas. Most of it has long gone - replaced by concrete boxes that are mainly being demolished these days. After being cut off by the ringroad, a lot of these areas died.

Pevsner wrote that some of this stuff was a reminder of Coventry's origins as a small, rural town that grew quickly - having small houses like that close to the centre of the city is quite rare. There used to be a lot more of them after the war, but they have mostly been demolished.

Sorry, I'm rambling - just waiting for Newsnight to start!

Whoopeee..... yet more Mid Rise Spectaculars! I can hardly contain my excitement. After all, we're seeing plenty enough of these happening right now in Birmingham (instead of the usual 30-40+ storey projects that have been mooted), so what is there to get so pantee-wettingly ecstatic about?
Granted, Coventry still has a bit of its mediaeval history to cling on to in parts of its city centre, but the truth is everything that's modern about the place is just godawful..... So tall buildings are probably out of the question.

West Midlands = Mid Rise Capital of Europe. It's official.

[Spoken from a cynic who has seen the future and it sure as hell ain't Arena Central circa 1998 that's for certain.]

Whoopeee..... yet more Mid Rise Spectaculars! I can hardly contain my excitement. After all, we're seeing plenty enough of these happening right now in Birmingham (instead of the usual 30-40+ storey projects that have been mooted), so what is there to get so pantee-wettingly ecstatic about?
Granted, Coventry still has a bit of its mediaeval history to cling on to in parts of its city centre, but the truth is everything that's modern about the place is just godawful..... So tall buildings are probably out of the question.

West Midlands = Mid Rise Capital of Europe. It's official.

[Spoken from a cynic who has seen the future and it sure as hell ain't Arena Central circa 1998 that's for certain.]

Who's getting ecstatic? After years of no investment in Coventry, there's heaps of investment coming in and some interesting new projects - so they're not all "High Rise", but who cares? I don't see the general public clamouring for tall buildings, and in some cities - Bristol, for instance - they have been ruled out.

As for your comment about "modern" - depends what you mean by modern. If you mean 20th century, then the new Cathedral is widely considered to be one of the most important buildings in the UK of that era, and Broadgate House, the Belgrade Theatre and the station are listed. Oh, so is the Swimming Pool. They may not be to your taste, but some people like them.

If you mean more recent, then there's the Stirling award nominated "Phoenix Initiative", finished last year.

The towers you mention probably never happened because there's no demand for the space.

I've got my bearings now MartinN! Isn't there a blue tower at the end of the st too?

Yeah, I think so - Friar's House. Next to the new Tax offices.

Martin,

What exactly is happening around the City Arcade area of the city ? It's always been a bit dingy and desolate around there, and what they did with the old C&A area was abysmal (looks like some kind of hi-tech fortress). I remember when they built the Argos superstore on the corner, yet another abomination on the city. Moreover, what's happening with the former BT tower (190 ft) near City College ? Answers on a postcard, my old son....

Hi,

Well, the arcade itself is still pretty grotty - but the car park opposite has a new apartment block going up, and the car park next to it (At the back of Argos) has an apartment complex going up. Downwards there are two (Whispers)14 storey(Whisper off) towers going up with retail and apartments.

Frankly, they keep "tarting up" bits of the City Arcade & Sheldon square, but it still looks rubbish.

Good news about Ricoh sponsoring the Arena AND opening up an office in the city, apparently to spearhead their UK expansion.

i happen to live in starley road and i can tell you that the building in the car park opposite argos is a £5.2 million project in a bid to make starley road bigger and to create more houses and flats nearer the town centre to rent. I would also like to add the fact that starley road is only standing today because of my parents, my friends parents,and thier childhood friends.

P.S there is no point in submiting a reply to my post because i will probably never visit this site again, i jus found it while browsing the net and wanted to have my say. bye :runaway:

Did anyone see the plans for a fourth glass spire in the middle of Coventry?
A bit like Renzo Piano's glass shard, cov-style.

would be a good boost for the city if they win the 25million for this lottery grant.

I came across this website a while ago http://www.coventryinspires.com/ideas/
showcasing ideas that would improve the city. Some really good ideas on it. Idea no. 1 is having a forth spire. - which is the idea put forward for this lottery grant.

Should go well with the vast expansion of the city centre regarding the swanswell initiative - they say its the biggest expansion of the city centre since the redevelopment after the war and will break free from the collar of the ring road.

I came across this site http://www.covcollege.ac.uk/swanswell/
showing the plans in detail. Looks very good. I hope it goes ahead.

P.s the flats in hillfields are being demolished - looks like this will go ahead.

Did anyone see the plans for a fourth glass spire in the middle of Coventry?
A bit like Renzo Piano's glass shard, cov-style.

Did you _read_ the article? It clearly stated that NO design had been done yet, and the picture shown was a "Evening Telegraph Artists Impression". The original idea for the tower is quite old, and was rumoured to feature a huge Lady Godiva on it... I kid you not.

It's all a bit crap - a centre for "reconcilliation" - oh yes, what's that's going to do, then? It'll never happen. Even though there seems to be the ambition to build up, I suspect the hightest we'll get are 20 storeys. Most of the current planned "talls" are 14-20 storeys. Not that I'm complaining.

Coventry needs to re-invent itself [At the moment it looks likely that the city will become a centre for the medical industries] but pointless centres for pointless, religious based causes are hollow - if they want to build a tower make it at least relevant - 1000 years of history, mentions in the Anglo Saxon chronicle, and the best they an come up with is something that just won't mean much to anyone...

would be a good boost for the city if they win the 25million for this lottery grant.

I came across this website a while ago http://www.coventryinspires.com/ideas/
showcasing ideas that would improve the city. Some really good ideas on it. Idea no. 1 is having a forth spire. - which is the idea put forward for this lottery grant.

Should go well with the vast expansion of the city centre regarding the swanswell initiative - they say its the biggest expansion of the city centre since the redevelopment after the war and will break free from the collar of the ring road.

I came across this site http://www.covcollege.ac.uk/swanswell/
showing the plans in detail. Looks very good. I hope it goes ahead.

P.s the flats in hillfields are being demolished - looks like this will go ahead.

Last I heard the new Tory council wanted to do the Swanswell project but KEEP the ugly flyover. Which is a shame, as the plan looks marvellous with the long boulevard and blocks of buildings.

The flats are being demolished to make way for the new college. The swanswell project is much larger, but has been defined with 3 options, and the 1st option is the "do least" option that involves pretty much keeping all the manky ringroad and roundabouts.

MartinN

Can you help me again? Opposite Argos (City arcade) there used to be a small car-park. It's now being built upon, looks like more apartments? Do you have any info or pics? I don't remember reading anything in the Cov Evening Telegraph.


*EDIT* Bugger! I've just read the posts above. Ignore me Martin :)

Moreover, what's happening with the former BT tower (190 ft) near City College ?

Not 100% sure but I think that tower has been converted into a hotel.

whats the coventry 4th spire project, tallest glass structure or something, sounds fantastic ? anyone know ?

ignore me, i've just read the thread, dope x

Not 100% sure but I think that tower has been converted into a hotel.

that is correct - it is a ramada hotel. opens shortly.

MartinN

Can you help me again? Opposite Argos (City arcade) there used to be a small car-park. It's now being built upon, looks like more apartments? Do you have any info or pics? I don't remember reading anything in the Cov Evening Telegraph.


*EDIT* Bugger! I've just read the posts above. Ignore me Martin :)

Yes.
That area is going to be rather built up soon - what with the two 14 storey blocks on Albert & Victoria buildings site & the 7 storey IKEA opposite.

that is correct - it is a ramada hotel. opens shortly.

It's already open, tentatively, I think. Half the old car park has been demolished and a new gym/pool is being built on the site.

whats the coventry 4th spire project, tallest glass structure or something, sounds fantastic ? anyone know ?

www.coventryinspires.co.uk

Or something like that.

It's a "proposal" to augment the 3 spires with a fourth, modern spire.

anyone know whats going on the 'park court' site next to the train station?

and any news on the millenium view building opp the transport museam?

anyone know whats going on the 'park court' site next to the train station?

and any news on the millenium view building opp the transport museam?

Park court - apartments, offices, bars, restaurants, retail space plus a hotel. From what I've seen, the main part is about 16-20 storeys high.

Millennium View is going ahead - the council approved it some time ago. CDP, who are doing Electric Wharf, are doing that one.

As this is almost Cov's Project's thread, thought I'd add in a very interesting link. This looks fantastic:

http://www.covcollege.ac.uk/swanswell/downloads/

i heard recently that planners at the Arena Shopping Centre want to build upto 8 new units. Do you all think this will get the thumbs up?
Also at the Arena, i heard that there was going to be a hotel development there. Is this still going to happen?

Unrelated to the above....
i heard once there were plans for phoenix initiative phase 2 (upto to bishops st) and phase 3 (corporation street), not heard any thing about these recently.

They're campaigning to have a railway station there aren't they?

There is a petition to get a railway station built at the new Arena. I can go and find it if you want to sign it? The hotel at the Arena should be open soon (some rooms have a view over the pitch).

------
There is a Coventry developments thread in the "Projects and Construction" section. It might be better placed in the "Birmingham metro area" section, if anyone knows how to move threads? :)

heres the petition to get the new railway station for the arena. You can sign it online
http://www.labourincoventry.org.uk/cutenews/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1131531120&archive=&template=lpnews

I also had a look at the other coventry thread in the "Projects and Construction" section. Some good pics on that. Can you post them up here.

heres the petition to get the new railway station for the arena. You can sign it online
http://www.labourincoventry.org.uk/cutenews/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1131531120&archive=&template=lpnews

I also had a look at the other coventry thread in the "Projects and Construction" section. Some good pics on that. Can you post them up here.

It's a waste of time - why invest in something that's going to be used a handful of days a year? I doubt it'll be useful for commuters as Coventry's public transport is woefully inadequete. They may be able to get folks to the "central" station, but what then? An hour's bus trip out to the business areas? There are no suburban stations along that line (There used to be about five) and therefore it's of no use to anyone actually living in Coventry itself unless they make the trip to the central station and attempt to park! (Attempt being a good choice, as there's no parking there anyway).

The rail people have said they don't want to waste the money on upgrading lines and the logistics of getting rolling stock on the line itself is an issue - and I also believe it's used as a freight line, and they don't want passenger trains getting in the way!

the line used to run regular central train services from coventry-via bedworth and nuneaton- to lincoln central. I used to catch it on a weekly basis. Not sure if the lines still does run commuter service, but it used to some years ago.
so i dont see why they cant run the same service and adding the new arena station as another stop.
Im sure the SRA have a good reason for not doing this but it would be a shame not to, and only if its going to be part of a larger intergrated transport system. The arena car parks could then be used as a park and ride scheme using the train service.

the line used to run regular central train services from coventry-via bedworth and nuneaton- to lincoln central. I used to catch it on a weekly basis. Not sure if the lines still does run commuter service, but it used to some years ago.
so i dont see why they cant run the same service and adding the new arena station as another stop.
Im sure the SRA have a good reason for not doing this but it would be a shame not to, and only if its going to be part of a larger intergrated transport system. The arena car parks could then be used as a park and ride scheme using the train service.

I think they changed the line and signals at Nuneaton. I believe there's maybe one train an hour on that line now, and it _was_ labelled for closure last year.

The SRA don't want to do it because they'll be subsidising a station that's only used for a fraction of the time. And if they do build a station, how useful will it be given the lousy local network? Will away fans be able to use it? (Coventry station also suffers from capacity problems as well.)

The obsession with that stadium is ridiculous - not only did the council spend a fortune on it, but the team that uses it are now trying to get a rent rebate because they're short of money. It's a joke.

right...the plans to build a '4th spire' are ridiculous...

what will it achieve? surely a little place promotion in the short term, but long term, coventry will quickly become forgotten due to it hardly being an original idea...with, at a glance, four other cities proposing such plans..we will instantly be overshadowed when london builds their 'breathing' tower...and when ground zero builds the worlds tallest glass tower...well...

i know i shouldnt complain, as there was a right to vote..with only a 2 vote margin from the sports centre!! but i live away from the city in term time..so..yeah...but surely city redevelopers can see we will be entering into a world of international aesthetics, meaning every city will have some unique art work which we can use as an icon..we just need to keep simple!

gee...im sorry for the rant, but i just wanted to express my view on this situation, as i feel myself that this idea for a 4th tower is wrong...we could even end up 'over-arting' ourselves, and producing too much unique architecture...we should again, just keep it simple...

i agree with some of what Mr.Bic had said. I think it should have been a world class sports centre that they are proposing to do in a very unique and eye-catching building. The City's sporting facilties are still poor even though there has been alot of investment in the current sports centres.

On another note : Whats happening to millenium view - is it still going to be build as this has appeared on the councils' website http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/content/city-development-directorate/property-%26-projects/development-projects/millennium-view/invitation-to-developers.en

On another note : Whats happening to millenium view - is it still going to be build as this has appeared on the councils' website http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/content/city-development-directorate/property-%26-projects/development-projects/millennium-view/invitation-to-developers.en

i hope they set it up with the same way theyve set up priory place and priory gardens, because those are real good areas..
im also pretty intregued by the conversion of the old firestation into a fancy resturant..i think that bar this 4th spire stuff...the regeneration has got/gone through some pretty cool ideas..

the old fire station is going to be a new resturant going to serve a fusion of indian/thai/chinese food and have a training area run in conjunction with henley college. The guy thats building it owns and runs the indian rupali resturant in tile hill which has had numerous amounts of national awards for its food. Should be a cood addition to this area.

If the swanswell thing goes ahead then this area in 10 yrs will be more central to the city centre.

i hope they set it up with the same way theyve set up priory place and priory gardens, because those are real good areas..
im also pretty intregued by the conversion of the old firestation into a fancy resturant..i think that bar this 4th spire stuff...the regeneration has got/gone through some pretty cool ideas..

The original plan was to develop the old alleys behind the Burges into a sort of "arty" shop area, but I notice that's been quietly dropped.

Coventry has problems with its population's makeup. Despite two universities - one of them world class - and plenty of high-tech R&D firms employing highly skilled people, folk don't want to live here - not unless it's Earlsdon. That's a small area and expensive. The vast majority of Coventry's suburbs are huge sprawls of terrible post-war estates and terraced housing. Unappealing, stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no local centres.

They can do all this cool stuff, but they still won't get the population of the city diverse enough to actually warrant investing in anything that isn't a cheapo shop, a 2nd rate chain bar...

i think coventry needs to develop better transport links with its local town/villages, as a start, to get more people into the city centre. I know there are excellent links from bedworth/nuneaton but what about the other local areas. As MartinN has said coventrys long term policy should be to attract a new standard/class/skill level of people who want to live in the city centre. Maybe they should develop a new housing area with its own ammenities and shopping like in earlsdon. There are other areas in the city that have a 'local' feel to them e.g. Foleshill, but its not seen as a very attractive area to pull in the class of citizen that coventry needs more of.

i think coventry needs to develop better transport links with its local town/villages, as a start, to get more people into the city centre. I know there are excellent links from bedworth/nuneaton but what about the other local areas. As MartinN has said coventrys long term policy should be to attract a new standard/class/skill level of people who want to live in the city centre. Maybe they should develop a new housing area with its own ammenities and shopping like in earlsdon. There are other areas in the city that have a 'local' feel to them e.g. Foleshill, but its not seen as a very attractive area to pull in the class of citizen that coventry needs more of.

The council only seem interested in making transport links to the football arena. Not the hospital, not the business parks in Walsgrave, Binley, or near the Airport. Nope. The football stadium. At the same time they're busy destroying the road system to make it harder to drive anywhere by sticking bus lanes everywhere.

I believe they are attempting to "Create" Earlsdons (The Peugot Plant in Stoke & Foleshill). However, places like Earlsdon grow organically - it was originally a settlement of watch makers that grew as Coventry expanded in the Victorian age. Trying to create these sorts of urban centres failed after the war (Tile Hill, Bell Green, and all the rest of the dismal suburbs) but I don't think you'd class that a success. :)

lol the general plan of the mini towers soung great, hope to hear more on it:)