I REMEMBER the first time we came to visit the site of Tribeca Belfast, a 12-acre regeneration scheme located beside St Anne’s Cathedral bounded by Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Lower Garfield Street and Rosemary Street.
Admittedly it was a shock to see such a large section of a city centre sitting in such a delapidated state, particularly when that area has played a strong role in the historical narrative of Belfast. As a team we realised that through our designs we have an opportunity to reintegrate this disconnected area by creating space where people will want to live, work and socialise.
When we joined the professional team supporting Castlebrooke Investments to deliver this £500 million urban regeneration there was already a lot of history from a design point of view. For an incoming architect, this can often make the job slightly easier. Sometimes a blank sheet makes it more difficult to see which direction to go in, but there were obvious issues with the original plans which had been blocking progress.
Through the recently revealed amended plans we have provided a scheme which we believe is more realigned with the original character of the area. The uses are much more balanced and it’s neither residentially or commercially dominant.
We always work with one eye on the past and one on the future. There are lots of really great Victorian properties in Belfast and we want to design contemporary buildings, which are influenced by their context. We were particularly interested in the smaller streets that exist in the city centre and we have managed to integrate one of these narrow alleys into the amended plans.
The mix of uses across the site – designed to attract a variety of retail, restaurant, cultural and workplace tenants – and the creation of new public realm, will ensure this part of Belfast will be active throughout the day and into the evening.
It’s important to realise that as architects we represent only one part of the equation and it has to be an economically viable scheme as well. We need people who will want to take space in the apartments, retail units and offices.
Every project we work on is slightly different, but what is common to the majority of them is that they are all sensitive sites which involve placing new buildings in the context of historical assets. At Stag Brewery in Mortlake, London, for example, we are fixing a part of the city which has been unoccupiable and closed off to the public. We are bringing forward plans to reconnect that area.
We want to reinforce the character of the Tribeca Belfast area. Everyone remembers North Street Arcade as a positive part of the city and it was obvious that we had to try to bring it back in a new format. A new focus for arts, culture and retail is provided within a colonnade of small units following the historic curve of the former North Street Arcade – with larger retail units and restaurants animating Writer’s Square and a newly created Assembly Square, adjacent to the listed Four Corners building.
We have made a series of other changes which have been received favourably. The height of the Grade A office block on the corner of Rosemary Street and North Street, which was initially intended to be 27 storeys, has now been reduced to 10 storeys. There is also an increased allowance for green spaces, courtyards and residential space in line with the Belfast Agenda. After careful review it has been determined that a greater number of historic features on original buildings in the area can also be retained.
Castlebrooke Investments has committed to a voluntary ten-week public consultation process ahead of the submission of the proposal in Autumn 2019. We encourage the city to get involved, to come to the public exhibitions and to provide feedback of what is important to you.
:: Murray Levinson is a partner at Squire & Partners, the newly appointed architectural design team for Tribeca Belfast. For more information on the dates of the public exhibition visit: https://www.tribeca-belfast.co.uk
