Urban Riverside Regeneration, Trent River Park, Nottingham
Project Objectives:
To build a scheme of luxury apartments, as part of the Riverside regeneration
strategy, that incorporates many of the best, well-proven eco-technologies.
History of Concept
The success of Nottingham City’s economy during the most recent decades
has led to the transformation of many of its parts, particularly in the City
Centre; however, not all parts have fared equally well. The 100-hectare Riverside
area, which currently serves industrial and commercial uses, has suffered
from being essentially isolated from its surrounding urban areas by the heavily
trafficked roads, the rail and canal networks and the River Trent. This has
led to a reduced quality and high level of vacancy in many of the existing
buildings, and an environment that is very much poorer than appropriate for
this potentially prestigious location.
In 1999, the British Waterways Board and Nottingham Regeneration Ltd established
Nottingham Waterside Limited (NWL) as a joint venture with the aims of:
§ developing a detailed masterplan and regeneration strategy to bring
about the redevelopment of the Riverside area;
§ formulating the strategic framework that would establish the long-term
regeneration of the wider Trent River Park region.
A series of consultations with local businesses, residents and landowners were held in July 2000, with the purpose of identifying the issues of greatest importance to them, and the “Nottingham Riverside Masterplan” was published in March 2001.
The vision contained within the masterplan is one of a mixed-use, waterfront urban quarter that will provide an exceptional living and working urban environment in a desirable riverside setting. One objective is to link the City Centre back to the River Trent in a way that encourages its use as a destination for waterfront and water-based activities, as it was until the latter half of the 1900s. It is recognised that the extensive mix of residential, commercial, office and leisure facilities proposed should fit around the major land uses that the Riverside is home to at present, such as the Notts County Football Club stadium, the Lady Bay Retail Park and the Eastcroft waste-to-energy incinerator.
A number of new waterside neighbourhoods are suggested, comprising over 4,000 homes in total, each with the facilities required to support a sustainable community and with good links to its neighbours, the river front and the City Centre. One such neighbourhood will be in the Trent Basin area, which includes the existing Park Yacht Club site at the end of Trent Lane. The masterplan suggests that residential development in this area should consist predominantly of apartments at a minimum of 4 storeys high and a density of 200 units per hectare. The developers, Trent Park Developments, are hopeful that construction of “River Crescent” will commence in March/April 2005, with a 20-month build program.
Summary
River Crescent will be an important first step towards the regeneration of
the Riverside area as a major waterfront urban quarter for the city.
Trent Park Developments have proposed a 128-luxury apartment scheme that incorporates a number of well-proven eco-technologies. A solar photovoltaic roofing system and vertical axis wind turbines will generate electricity to heat and light all the communal areas. The River Trent is to be used as a heat source for a heat pump system that will provide the warm water for the swimming pool of the complex. Landscaped terraces will reduce the rainwater runoff from the rooftop. Most unique of the sustainable proposals however, is a fleet of compressed air powered cars that are to be provided for residents to either hire or buy. The air compressors will be powered using electricity generated by the PV roof, making this a true fleet of eco-friendly vehicles.
The proposal followed consultation with Nottingham University’s School of the Built Environment and is seen by Trent Park Developments as the most effective means of illustrating how seriously they accept the responsibility of tackling both global warming and the UK’s increasing dependence on imported energy. Their intention is to embrace the best of the proven eco-technologies, in a way that will make the Riverside regeneration one of real international prominence.
Project Partners:
Trent Park Developments; Franklin Ellis Architects; Nottingham University,
School of the Built Environment; Royal Bank of Scotland; Taylor Woodrow; Sony.
(To be concluded)
Richard Holland,
School of the Built Environment,
University of Nottingham
John Rhodes TPD
January 2005
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