Gloucester Regeneration
A design which brings public place back into the centre of Gloucester. The design is rooted in Gloucester's history and adds an italianate piazza space with restaurants and cafe's. A secondary public area features an amphitheatre styles area with a large public TV.
Gloucester is a sporting city. Oxtalls campus – the local university sports campus, along with Hertpury College, Gloucester College and Gloucester Rugby team are situated in and around Gloucester. The design makes use of this and provides recreational areas integrated into the public spaces.
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Kings Square
Kings Quarter Area
Kings Quarter
Masterplan
Kings Quarter
Precident Studies
Walkthrough
You get out of the train station aching to stretch your legs. The footpath arcs down towards a small park on a roundabout? Thats odd. Chrome walls surround a fountain splashing away in the centre. You stop briefly as the traffic lights allow you to pass. The roundabout feels like another world as the water reverberates off the chrome walls. You pass over the next road which presents you with an uphill climb drawing you into the space. A stream surrounded by reeds and small trees flows openly through the middle of the path whilst the bus station roof feels like a wave pulling you up through the channel.
A sculture of sorts marks the way out while the space opens up before you. Square trees with benches and reed beds frame the piazza space which is full of people playing, eating and sitting. The light bounces of the colourful building fronts as though you’re in Tuscany and the cathedral is just visible through a break in the buildings. The whole atmosphere feels light and playful as some children play swingball with one-another, others play basketball and a few attempt to scale the bouldering wall.
Towards the centre you spot a fountain surrounded by tall mediteranian looking trees. You walk towards it and suddenly a few jets stop working directly in front of you. One step forward and few more blink out. Eventually you realise that the fountains are pressure senstive and literally draw you through the fountain itself. You stop to play for a moment. To your right office workers play tennis on their lunch break and beyond that the church top of St. Pauls church rests above the archways.
The next sculpture pulls you towards a concave set of arches and beyond into Kings Square itself. A huge slide constructed from roughly hewn logs, surrounded by rocks and trees, stands before you. Children clamber up pretending it’s a fort as though their lives depend upon it. To your right are steps leading up to a another cafe area and parents sit here sipping on coffee whilst their children play. Further to your right sits a very long rusted steel beam with forty or more people swinging away to their hearts content.
There are so many trees here it feels like woodland. Yet the canopy sits relatively high so it’s still open. You walk towards the centre of the square with couples lounging on the grass watching the Wimbledon quarter finals groaning as Murray misses another point. The fountain at the centre looks odd, but then you realise it’s sat on astroturf so it blends in with the grass. Olive trees around the amphitheatre make it feel as though you’re in Verona, especially in this summers heat.
A large area towards the west is filled with tall white wooden boards and now as you move close it becomes apparent a local art show is displaying final year pieces from the college. You see movement out of the corner of your eye as a red taxi makes a u-turn. Your eye is drawn up to the refurbished Debenhams fascia and you spot a huge photograph of the Gloucester rugby team hanging behind the windows. You turn back to the taxi rank and remember the place you actually need to get to is round the corner. You make a mental note to return later to bask in the summer sun and for a coffee. Gloucester might just be better to shop in the Cheltenham after all.
