Eastside City Park | Curzon Street | U/C

[feltip]

The park choice is fantastic and look at those glasshouses. Another fantastic attraction in its own right within the park.

Plus there is a lovely contrast with the rectangular Millennium point and the metal to the soft water and greenery of the park.

I cant wait

[Fusionist]

for once the right choice

cool classy park this one !!

[FLD]

No more concerts, New Years Eve parties, etc, outside Millennium Point then?! I think a hard surfaced piazza should have been left in front of this building, but that's just my opinion. I wonder how much it cost to create that open space in front of the Millennium Point building in the first place? .... But it was lottery money, so I suppose it doesn't really matter!

[zigmonster]

City Park plan unveiled

Dec 19 2006



Artist's impression of the city park plan at Eastside

Council leaders hit back yesterday at claims they were not interested in sustainability by unveiling this design for eight acres of water gardens and green space in the heart of Birmingham.

The £12 million City Park at Eastside promises to be the first development of its kind in the city centre since Joseph Chamberlain opened Highgate Park more than 100 years ago.

Eight hundred metres wide, the park will cut a green swathe south from the Bullring, past Curzon Street Station and Millennium Point and on to the Digbeth branch canal.

International architectural design practice Patel Taylor have been chosen from a shortlist of 11 teams to deliver the project by the end of 2010.

The firm's winning design depicts a series of streams, jets and watercourses running the length of the park to the canal.

Delivery of the project is dependent on the council winning a £25 million Big Lottery Fund Living Landmarks Scheme for the regeneration of Eastside. If the grant application is not successful, the park will be built in phases over a longer period of time.

Ken Hardeman, cabinet member for regeneration, said the park represented the perfect answer to the "knockers" who claimed Eastside was not living up to a declaration that it would be a leading example of sustainability.

A council scrutiny committee criticised Eastside earlier this month, claiming that sustainability principles were not being followed.

Coun Hardeman (Con Brandwood) said: "Eight acres of green space in the heart of Digbeth is, I would suggest, very much part of our commitment to sustainable development in this area.

"It will bring people through Eastside and into the city's historic heart and it will signal Birmingham's ambitions to the wider world."

Patel Taylor, founded in 1989, built the Thames Barrier Park in London. The practice will be assisted by acclaimed French designer Allain Provost, the creator of Parc Citroen in Paris.

Andrew Taylor, of Patel Taylor, said: "This is not just a landscape project but a key piece of the city's infrastructure."

[U475 Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by Ken Hardeman

Ken Hardeman, cabinet member for regeneration, said the park represented the perfect answer to the "knockers" who claimed Eastside was not living up to a declaration that it would be a leading example of sustainability.

A council scrutiny committee criticised Eastside earlier this month, claiming that sustainability principles were not being followed.

Coun Hardeman (Con Brandwood) said: "Eight acres of green space in the heart of Digbeth is, I would suggest, very much part of our commitment to sustainable development in this area.

"It will bring people through Eastside and into the city's historic heart and it will signal Birmingham's ambitions to the wider world."

Er, not really Ken. Can you stop taking us for fools? Some grass, pleasant planting and a few trees is not exactly sustainable development. I think people were regarding BCC’s approach to the buildings and their energy policy. OK, where is the power coming from for the lighting, filtration and pumping of the water? Are the mowers and bowsers running on Bio diesel?

Sorry, but just because the Park is green in colour it doesn’t mean that it’s sustainable. A meadow maybe, but this contemporary formal park? from what I can see at this stage, no.

And you haven’t helped yourself by insisting that every new building has an external lighting scheme. Yeah, let’s light Broad Street up like Piccadilly.

A large scale renewable power generation and waste reprocessing program or a target of BCC becoming Carbon Neutral would have been the perfect answer.

[blahblah]

Link to the pdf of the winning design from the council's website (i hope!)

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/Media/E...ntry%20Two.pdf

[El Paulo]

Originally Posted by U475 Foxtrot

Are the mowers running on Bio diesel?

Shall we ask Bio?

[El Paulo]

That pdf is absolutely fascinating by the way - it's totally unlike anything I could have imagined, and will therefore be quite an attraction, I think.

[U475 Foxtrot]

Appologies if anyone's on dial up but I think these need to be big to do it any justice

[Salif]

Will this development leave any room for the railway line to be widened at all and perhaps even have a small station serving the area?

[FLD]

City Park in Birmingham has been influenced by Parc Citroen in Paris, which was built on an old car factory. It's French designer has been involved with the creation of the Birmingham park.

[Erebus555]

The tombs at the Park Street Gardens are gunna have to be moved then so that the water channels can be installed properly but I fear their absorption from the water table may cause some problems with the tombs. I know a geologist who did a soil survey on the car park jsut behind the gardens and it is a very permeable soil. But I'm sure they will sort this out.

[Biosonic]

Originally Posted by El Paulo

Shall we ask Bio?

I have not yet branched out into energy, but I have trademarked the name now, just in case

[Biosonic]

Originally Posted by FLD

No more concerts, New Years Eve parties, etc, outside Millennium Point then?! I think a hard surfaced piazza should have been left in front of this building, but that's just my opinion. I wonder how much it cost to create that open space in front of the Millennium Point building in the first place? .... But it was lottery money, so I suppose it doesn't really matter!

Bah humbug!!

There isn't the space for a piazza there as the landowners (BCC & AWM) had to sell land for private development to pay for the public land. There is a section of hard landscaping toward Masshouse though, which is nearly, if not as big.

Small sacrifice for a great scheme, and who knows - it might mean we need another large square somewhere else.

On a general note - the creation of large public squares, parks and the like, will be what puts us a cut above any other British city

[Biosonic]

Originally Posted by U475 Foxtrot

Er, not really Ken. Can you stop taking us for fools? Some grass, pleasant planting and a few trees is not exactly sustainable development. I think people were regarding BCC’s approach to the buildings and their energy policy. OK, where is the power coming from for the lighting, filtration and pumping of the water? Are the mowers and bowsers running on Bio diesel?

Sorry, but just because the Park is green in colour it doesn’t mean that it’s sustainable. A meadow maybe, but this contemporary formal park? from what I can see at this stage, no.

And you haven’t helped yourself by insisting that every new building has an external lighting scheme. Yeah, let’s light Broad Street up like Piccadilly.

A large scale renewable power generation and waste reprocessing program or a target of BCC becoming Carbon Neutral would have been the perfect answer.

I thought that - the council were confusing the colour green with being environmentally friendly!

But: the park will offer the opportunity for stuff like storm water to be retained locally, and great habitat etc. It should be possible to install some local electricity generation.

And the council is pushing ahead with their CHP plants for Eastside and Westside to power Millennium Point, Children's Hospital, LLoyd House (if it remains ), the courts, Lancaster House and ICC, Symphony Hall etc, which is pretty good.

They are also promoting green/sedum roofs for wildlife.

But baby steps would be nice too - good recycling would be a start!

[FLD]

I'm trying to imagine standing in that big glass house looking up at those huge palm trees with the top of the Pinnacle Tower in the background ...... Viva Las Vegas!

[FLD]

Drat, it's disappeared! Dream over!

[U475 Foxtrot]

I completly agree. I'm a bit of a greeny and I like to recycle as much as possible but the way it works at the moment is a complete pain and coupled with my crap memory I'm always missing the collections. Household rubbish every Wednesday, paper every other Wednesday, Glass & plastics every other Thursday and green waste whenever!

I know this sounds radical but what about

Every Monday - Paper & Green
Every Wednesday - Household
Every Friday - Glass & Plastic

Make it simple and BCC may find more people using the recycling services

[brumthom]

cans?

[U475 Foxtrot]

I was sort of including that with plastic You get the idea though. It seems blindingly obvious to me and is how it works on the continent and Japan.

I've missed the glass / planstic / can collection again this morning