Plans have been drawn up to create a new plaza outside Plymouth’s main railway station and transform what is described as a “poor gateway” to the city into one which will entice growing numbers of visitors.
Architecture and building consultancy AHR has submitted a design and access statement outlining the vision for Brunel Plaza, the public realm space next to the station.
The Bristol-based consultancy has created images and plans as a pre-application before a more detailed submission but it contains a vision of how the currently shabby area can be gentrified as part of an estimated £80m project to revamp the station, and create a new university building, hotel and multi-storey car park.
READ MORE: {}
AHR, in its document said the idea is to deliver “a high quality gateway and arrival point to the city” and increase the capacity of the station to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers.
AHR, which has been appointed by US-based engineering giant Tetra Tech to develop the Brunel Plaza design on behalf of Plymouth City Council, said it is laying out an introduction to the proposed design, planning policy, constraints and opportunities for the site, and updating previous proposals drawn in 2018.
The document said the idea is to develop the public realm area outside Plymouth Station to create a mainly pedestrian area that will create an attractive place to welcome people to Plymouth.
It said Brunel Plaza will have “clear visual and movement links” to connect the area to Plymouth city centre and beyond. The document said: “The aspiration is to deliver a development that facilitates and encourages a sustainable, inclusive and modern community use.”
It stressed that Brunel Plaza should fit with and enhance surrounding current and future developments, including Plymouth Station concourse refurbishment/ development, a new multi-storey car park, the redevelopment of the rundown Intercity House office block into the Intercity Place medical campus by the University of Plymouth, a “potential hotel plot”, and further university, Network Rail and Great Western Rail developments.
Most Read
It said the upgrade is needed because “the railway station and its surrounding environment currently acts as a poor gateway and arrival point into Plymouth”.
It added: “The area is dominated by car traffic and a large multi-storey car park. Intercity House is prominent in the local landscape but is under-utilised and in need of modernisation and refurbishment. Routes to the city centre are not clear for pedestrians, cyclists or public transport users.”
It stressed: “The need to improve this first impression of the city when arriving by train is widely recognised, and most recently is identified as a ‘major intervention’ in the City Centre Masterplan (2016).”
And because the station is at the northern end of Armada Way, the city’s public realm centrepiece boulevard extending to the Hoe Park waterfront, it is “therefore crucial that the connectivity between the station and Armada Way is improved”.
This would help make the city centre look better and provide a direct link to the waterfront when people arrive in Plymouth. The designers said nearby Caprera Terrace offers the opportunity for “a landmark building” as well as providing accessibility to the lower levels and platforms.
It will also be important for the scheme to provide enhanced pedestrian and cycle connections towards Central Park, the document said.
Plymouth is the busiest station in the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership’s area and saw passenger footfall grow by 4% per annum since 2004 and stood at 2.5million per annum prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report concludes: “ As a regional hub, the station is an important gateway for visitors to the whole region. Sustainable access to the station as well as the visibility of public transport is of great importance.”