COVENTRY | Full Summary of Projects

[skybluecity]

owing to the refusal of coventrians to accept that they are in any way part of a birmingham metro area, thought i'd repost the thread here...

forthcoming developments:

the belgrade plaza:




park court (next to coventry station)







apartments on st patricks road







development on upper york st:



development at the butts (images are poor quality and dont really do it justice - worth checking out council site to view brochure)





development on london road on ringroad roundabout (image not the best, but gives you an idea)



development of flats on lower ford st just outside ring-road



the massive swanswell development







the new city centre ikea (poor image)



lots of other stuff happening but no images im afraid.

[gothicform]

is this a reclad? why not link to the actual council document?

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by gothicform

is this a reclad? why not link to the actual council document?

No, it's not a reclad. The building to the Left is Ramada Coventry, and the tower to the Right will sit on top of the proposed leisure centre that will include bar area, swimming pool and a fitness centre.

This is in the Butts area - just outside the city centre, and has recently seen somewhat of a renaissance with a modern apartment block conversion from an office block, and another block round the corner going up. Funnily enough, the area has seen a growth in restaurants as well, and it's also near the old Technology college building, which is going to redeveloped alongside the rugby ground (Manhattan Apartments were looking at this, I think, at some point.) I think the Butts - which is between affluent Earlsdon and the City centre - may be what they call an "Up and coming area".

Here's the planning application:

http://planning.coventry.gov.uk/port...et?PKID=656714

If you click on design statement, the full brochure loads up.

If you get an SQL error, it means the website isn't up. It spends more time down than Spike Milligan.

[gothicform]

do we have ramada coventry on this?
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/bdbsea...&so=roofheight

[skybluecity]

Originally Posted by gothicform

do we have ramada coventry on this?
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/bdbsea...&so=roofheight

yes, i think its down as 'telecom house'. the building used to be owned by BT but was recently converted to a ramada hotel.

[rottersclub]

Belgrade Plaza seems to be filling up with clients nicely -

Radisson Hotels (4 star?)
Travel Lodge (Budget)
Metro Bar & Grill (Who have two Michelin rated restaurants in the Midlands already - Brum & Solihull)
Gala Casino

I've always suspected that Coventry was too planned, and now they are building generic "apartment blocks with commercial units" they seem to be able to fill them nicely.

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by inspired

driving down foleshill road i can see a top of a building thats getting extended up-wards. Its on the canal front i think abit behind magnet & kiwk fit. Looks like an old warehouse having a make-over down .... anyone got any info on this

...also any news on the swanswell intiative>?

Could be Electric Wharf? Although directly behind Magnet is the Cash's offices, and next to that a derelict factory.

[rottersclub]

Looks like the Medical Research centre - employing up to 5000 people - may be getting closer. A delegate of local MPs, and important folk from the University hospital and Warwick Uni have managed to get the full support from the government, who are going to put pressure on the so-called "development" agency to stop stalling progress.

The project has General Electric Medical interested in the project already, and if it goes ahead would make Coventry a UK centre for medical based industries.

[rottersclub]

Did anyone else see the article about the council looking at building a business quarter where the current council/civic buildings are? The plan would be to demolish all the existing council/civic buildings and replace it with a new "office quarter" that the council would use - the rest would be office space(!?!?) They have appointed some firm to investigate/masterplan a scheme.

Apparently, Cov council is also rather rich due to the huge amount of land/buildings it owns - a by-product of its buying land after the war - and it makes a pretty decent profit on the income generated by it. They apparently want to build on this and make even more cash. It's apparently a unique position.

The Location of the council tower was mooted as being a possible spot to construct the tallest building in the UK by some bunch of local bigwigs called the "Ambassadors".

[gothicform]

no but i did read the planning apps to find out how tall a couple of proposals are.

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by gothicform

no but i did read the planning apps to find out how tall a couple of proposals are.

LOL. Not very, I think is the answer. The council seem to like "up to 20 storeys".

One of the planning apps. has a huge diagram showing all the protected views in which tall buildings aren't allowed as they'll obscure views of the Cathedral tower!

[inspired]

Originally Posted by MartinN

Could be Electric Wharf? Although directly behind Magnet is the Cash's offices, and next to that a derelict factory.

its further down from Electric Wharf, as you travel down foleshill road you'll see it appear over the top of some buildings. It seems to be the derelict factory on the same side as cash's business centre

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by inspired

its further down from Electric Wharf, as you travel down foleshill road you'll see it appear over the top of some buildings. It seems to be the derelict factory on the same side as cash's business centre

I know the building you mean. I'm not surprised someone's finally doing something with it...

I notice the cranes are up on Far Gosford Street - Astleys is being turned into a hall of residence.

Recommend the Aqua Lebanese restaurant, by the way - excellent Lebanese food.

[skybluecity]

looks like things are finally moving forward with millenium place:

proposal

[inspired]

cant wait to see the detailed plans for the development. I wonder what types of retail outlets they will try and get in as they would have to compete with belgrade plaza which is much more of an attractive development and is far better in terms of accessibilty.

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by inspired

cant wait to see the detailed plans for the development. I wonder what types of retail outlets they will try and get in as they would have to compete with belgrade plaza which is much more of an attractive development and is far better in terms of accessibilty.

Here's hoping the city centre gets a bit more "joined up".

Remember, there will be a lot more people living in the centre when the various developments are over, and Priory Place does seem to be attracting business now.

[inspired]

They just need to knock-down the rest of the precinct and cathedral lanes now and develop the area which is easier on the eye...

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by inspired

They just need to knock-down the rest of the precinct and cathedral lanes now and develop the area which is easier on the eye...

I wouldn't say Demolish all the precinct - some bits of it are OK, but it needs a bit more variety and somehow needs to be less enclosed and more "street" like. I think they could improve it no end if the built more "arcades" that lead outwards - rather similar to Cardiff - and at least tried to make them nice. Maybe by looking at the old city's layout and trying to capture some of the atmosphere (But not the style.) Dunno. If they did it all again, it'd no doubt end up hated in a few years time.

Interesting to read in the (Nationwide) Daily Telegraph today about massive house building planned - it commented that "Coventry and Warwickshire" are eager to sacrifice green space for more houses, and may well take advantage of government plans to provide financial incentives for councils who rush through permission for houses on green land. Indeed, the A45 corridor between Coventry -> Rugby seems to be filled with new developments, and Coventry council seem intent on increasing the population of "the city" by 100,000 people (Although 30,000 new homes are planned for Coventry, 16,000 for Rugby and 12,000 for Leamington/Warwick - and one area designated as being possible for the expansion of Coventry's population is the area between Bedworth and Nuneaton)

Perhaps some interesting times ahead for the city (And Warwickshire) - what with Warwick University planning to double its campus in size (In green land between Coventry and Kenilworth) and some big industrial developments on the horizon, not to mention the Station masterplan [They are pushing very hard the train links with London] aimed at being the base for a large government department as well as other offices.

[inspired]

i was listening the bbc coventry and warwickshire this morning, and they had a piece on the fall in footfall on the burges and that companies are feeling this since they took the bus-stops out and moved the services to pool meadow. This has also effected the businesses in the market as the buses are now stopping in pool meadow. ITs too far for people to fall. Some businesses have seen a 30% + fall in sales.

Cllr Arrowsmith was on the radio saying that there are plans to redevelop the burges and hales st/bishop street to tie it in with the belgrade developments and last development within the pheonix area.

I think the council made a terrible mistake in keeping pool meadow open!

On another note..i was in manchester for the past cpl of days, and theres so much development going on there...Some really interestingly designed skyscrapers, it does the 'big city' feel really well, much better than birmingham does. It definantly should be classed as the second city rather than brum!

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by inspired

i was listening the bbc coventry and warwickshire this morning, and they had a piece on the fall in footfall on the burges and that companies are feeling this since they took the bus-stops out and moved the services to pool meadow. This has also effected the businesses in the market as the buses are now stopping in pool meadow. ITs too far for people to fall. Some businesses have seen a 30% + fall in sales.

Cllr Arrowsmith was on the radio saying that there are plans to redevelop the burges and hales st/bishop street to tie it in with the belgrade developments and last development within the pheonix area.

I think the council made a terrible mistake in keeping pool meadow open!

On another note..i was in manchester for the past cpl of days, and theres so much development going on there...Some really interestingly designed skyscrapers, it does the 'big city' feel really well, much better than birmingham does. It definantly should be classed as the second city rather than brum!

Pool Meadow is a huge mistake. The _only_ reason it's there is because they used the land after the war for buses. There's absolutely no reason for it to be a bus station. On the other hand, with the buses all gone, it means the street and area can be redeveloped - and remember the row of buildings opposite MacDonalds are infilled medieval timber buildings - with a good development, it could be made very attractive indeed.

I was brought up outside Manchester, and always felt it had a buzz about it - and a great "city" feel. I don't really much about who/what is the 2nd city. I'd prefer to be somewhere mid sized like Bristol, Notts, Leicester or even Coventry where I currently am. Urban sprawl is over-rated, and only liked by people here who seem so insecure they argue about population figures. Most Brits would off down to the coast if they could, living in sea front cottages. People only live in depressing urban sprawls because they either like it or can't afford to get out!