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You'll need a lot of eggs to fill that box!

 

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I rather like the 80' sci-fi retro look.

Yeah, me too. I can see the Dr Who team back in Cov to use this - plus Warwick Uni as "Dalek City".

 

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Is this Gulson Road? Looks a lot like Bearwood.

Yes, that's Gulson road. It's very inner city in character, although if you go to the top there's the remains of Coventry's medieval city wall and a cloister of one of the abbeys that used to be inside the city walls (With the ruins of the chapel next to it).

Never heard of Bearwood.

 

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Good to see the Uni acting as "recession busters".

There's a actually still a lot going on in terms of high tech business parks in Cov - Ansty, Whitley, etc. A lot of out of town stuff.

 

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Stig, here's the planning app:

http://planning.coventry.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=692271

I took a fews images from the design statement:

Enjoy! It's a big one, isn't it?

 

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I don't really mind it that much, it's just a car park, though, so I wasn't expecting anything great. My low expectations have been met.

The problem, IMHO, is the dismal city scape down there - the view from Gosford Street is a complete mismatched mess, with all these different styles and heights of buildings - the old pub, the factory, the library, the car park, and the single storey tyre place and a surface level car park with nothing in it. The whole place lacks any real sense of being somewhere - just buildings thrown up where there's space.

The best thing that could happen down there is for the tyre place to move out, and for the site to be redeveloped in such a way that it fills in that big gap and continues the streetline properly. And at the same time hides the stuff behind it!

i.e from the peacock down to the river, a series of buildings that match the height of the pub and some stylish elements... These open spaces with little buildings surrounded by car parks just ruin the sense that you're on a street.

 

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Cheers.

I have to say I think it looks shit. Another uniform, grey cladded box devoid of feature.

I'm very disappointed by this. The Belgrade Plaza car park and the new Swanswell MSCP are both a lot more attractive with glass work and other features. The University's attempt here is laughable - how can they think this will look good between the ultra modern Computing and Engineering building and the old tax offices on the other side? Not to mention that it's a stone throw away from the Far Gosford Street Conservation Area and completely out of character!

hno:

Read the design statement - I'm sure there is some glasswork in it.

 

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Yea, theres going to be a disparity in the streetscape. Hopefully one day if that proposed hotel at the bottom of Gosford Street gets built, that might improve things.

That would be good. I really hope that happens. Along with the improvements to the streetscape down Skyblue way. All those lovely backsides of the buildings, eh. What a good impression of the city. What a bunch of retards who designed this thing.

 

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Its a shame that the old St. Marys school site by the traffic lights nearby has been left to rot. Its been empty for maybe 5-10 years now ( i think). That would be a superb site for some curvy appartments with a turret rising up on the corner, making a feature of the corner site (although they would need bloody good double glazing to sell them!) It could be home to an iconic building one day...but if the site missed the housing boom of a couple of years ago it will be a few more years until we see movement on it.

There was a planning app for some apartments there, but I don't know what happened to it.

 

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You know, all the times I've walked/driven past that site I've never once thought about what a good location it is for housing. It makes so much sense! On the verge of town, Far Gosford Street and Ball Hill; excellent transport links etc.

Why has there been no interest in this site?! They were certainly quick enough to build on the former Highfield Road Football Ground site when that was cleared 5 or so years ago.

There has been interest - a planning app was put through years ago for apartments. The first one was rejected as the building was awful. From what I recall the planned development was pretty awful.

 

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Ta-da, this masterplan shows (in white) the amount of "in filling" that is proposed for Far Gosford Street / Sky Blue Way to try and repair the damage done by the laying of SBW in the first place.

If it goes to plan it should make the eastern entrance into the city a lot more appealing and inviting.

Yeah, I've seen this image before. it looks impressive. Shame they can't do the same on the other side where you've got all the back yards!

 

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Now they need to complete the street scene to hide this!

 

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Like a giant meccano set.

 

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Yes, I noticed yesterday that more hoardings had gone up around the Jordan Well site, and there are also some diggers and other machinery sat there.

I have a friend in the construction industry who told me that a start day was imminent. Pretty soon the skyline will be filled with cranes along the eastern route in/out of the city. Severn Trent behind the courts, central campus building on Jordan Well and then down to the new car park at Gosford Street.

If they crack on with Far Gosford Street then there may be even more cranes on the skyline!

And let's hope Radisson Edwardian soon as well.

 

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Its looking great, thanks for putting up the pictures.

If only that pub was renovated! If it was marketed as a student pub I'm sure it would do really well as its virtually 'on campus'.

The Peacock was a great pub when I was a student. Used to drink there often. It turned into a very, very bad restaurants and then into some sort of club/bar thing. Then death.

In fact the Campbell, Oak, Courtyard were all great pubs when I was a student. The Campbell turned into some vile "It's a Scream" brand shortly after I finished and the Courtyard went through various names.

Where do students drink these days?

 

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I can't see it opening up as a pub again - bearing in mind how many other pubs have closed down over the last few years and are sitting empty in what used to be prime locations. It's a contracting industry.

It's a shame, really - Cov used to have a fairly decent pub scene when I was a student.

I just hope they fill in the ugly gap soon to a) hide the car park and b) the library that looks like a prison.

 

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Alot of Cov students go to the Campbell and the Oak. I like the Campbell, although when I was a student at Cov my fav pub was (and is) the Golden Cross.

I like the library too, its stylish.

True, the ridiculously cheap drink prices have to end. The Tories want to raise tax on alcohol, so when they get in next year that will probably do some good.

I used to drink in the Windmill, the Campbell, Peacock, Hand & Heart, Courtyard, Rising Sun when I was a student. Windmill had good beer. Student pubs tend to be poor on the beer stakes, mainly going for cheap lagers & bitters.

The SUPERMARKETS are the ones who should be stopped - they offer NOTHING culturally or socially, yet pubs always have done in the past - they are being killed off by supermarkets. When they're all gone we'll wonder why we let it happen - just like we'll wonder how we let supermarkets stamp over everything else.

The country will be nothing but supermarkets selling a narrow range of goods that they screw suppliers to get!

 

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Can someone tell me why all these old pubs are being demolished?? Surely they would serve as a mix in the new architecter of the University area, i mean what else are they gonna build in that small gap? Another square?

Ask Cov Uni..,.

Although is the Peacock being demolished in whole or just the back of it?

 

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Totally agree with you Scaz - it's a needless waste. Access to and exit from the new car park have been designed around the car park (this is very clear from the Design & Access Statement available via the Planning Portal) so it makes you wonder why on earth they now seem intent on demolishing it.

If anything, there should be an attempt to reconnect Far Gosford Street with Gosford Street and establish the streetline again, not puncture more holes in it! The other side of the street is already a complete mess with its set back, cheap and low level university buildings that look like they belong on an out of town commercial complex rather than in a city centre. Why do they seem set on ruining the decent other side?

The Coventry Society and the Victorian Society are involved trying to save the pub; if you have strong feelings about this then it'd be well worth dropping the Council/University a line.

Yeah, they should be rebuilding street frontages, and this is very much in the council's own documents along with stuff about height - they always seem to ignore, though.

Bearing in mind that we have a city centre IKEA and a city centre Gala Bingo in a dismal white box, nothing really surprises me anymore.

 

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Thanks for the photos Dr Pepper.

I've got a feeling that the open space that has been created by the pubs demolishion will be wasted! I hope I'm wrong.

It's been demolished to create an entrance to the car park. Yet another dreary open space for Cov and buildings set back from the road. Never mind. They can put some grass there to collect the litter and junk food wrappers.