Ravenscraig announce second phase expansion plans
September 24 2010
This sees Cooper Cromar appointed as masterplanner for the development with Keppie Design handling landscape architecture. They will join a consultancy team which includes URS Corporation, Grontmij, DSSR, Colin Buchanan, Gleeds, Muir Smith Evans and Heritage Environmental.
The second phase works constitute the central component of the masterplan which includes construction of the new town centre, which will comprise around 1m sq/ft of retail, leisure, restaurant and community facilities.
The town is expected to house 10,000 people when fully complete and will be served by a new railway station, bus interchange ad dual carriageway access from both the M8 and M74.
Jim Fitzsimons, project director at Ravenscraig Ltd, said: “With everyone now in place, we hope to start design work later this month, and this thorough and detailed process is expected to take up to two years to complete.
“It has always been our ambition to create a vibrant destination with a distinct identity and real sense of place and community where people will want to live and work, and these plans are the next step in helping us realise that goal.”
8 Comments
#1 Posted by pj on 25 Sep 2010 at 13:57 PM
Commercial architect who will deliver large scale but no urban identity what so ever. A real chance missed to do something of real social importance. Should have been a homes of the future type design team with variety at the heart
#2 Posted by Shop Steward on 25 Sep 2010 at 21:20 PM
Keeping architects in work as we're about to go into the double-dip, it doesn't really matter a jot right now what your idea of "urban identity" is. These consultants have a reputation for delivering the goods and that sorts out the men from the boys when times are tough.
And anyway, "urban identity" in a "new town"? Shouldn't the identity be the fact that it is indeed "new" and not pastiche? Do you just open your mouth and let your belly rumble, or do you have any positive ideas to back them up? I don't know your background, but if you haven't already done so, maybe you need to try a dose of redundancy for yourself to make you see that architectural criticism is completely irrelevant at a time when jobs and livelihoods are at stake.
And anyway, "urban identity" in a "new town"? Shouldn't the identity be the fact that it is indeed "new" and not pastiche? Do you just open your mouth and let your belly rumble, or do you have any positive ideas to back them up? I don't know your background, but if you haven't already done so, maybe you need to try a dose of redundancy for yourself to make you see that architectural criticism is completely irrelevant at a time when jobs and livelihoods are at stake.
#3 Posted by pj on 26 Sep 2010 at 10:29 AM
Sure...but tough times dont mean that you abandon all principles of good design and spend the next ten years building crap - and i was talking about a sustainable identity....not 'oh thats new' and then forgotten. Recessions are times where we take stock and re-assess not continue doing what we always have.....
#4 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 27 Sep 2010 at 14:27 PM
Well said pj. You only have to look south of the border at the Kickstart debacle where sub-standard schemes are being greenlit purely in the interests of keeping the money flowing. The legacy of the recession years will be that people will look back and say "Oh that must have been built during the recession when you could build any old shit and get away with it". There's nothing wrong with a bit of ambition, even during difficult times.
#5 Posted by DD on 28 Sep 2010 at 22:36 PM
Distinctly disappointing team to deliver such an important 'place'
#6 Posted by Shop Steward on 29 Sep 2010 at 10:13 AM
There is criticism that is useful and there is criticism for criticism's sake. The criticism here is most definitely the latter and in no way constructive. Ours is a profession that is extremely low on confidence and it would maybe be better served to show a bit of humility to your fellow professional rather than subscribe to the view of the inane green-eyed monster that architecture schools seem so hell-bent on creating. The ink is barely dry on the commission yet you feel compelled to decide that it is a "chance missed", without any evidence of what the masterplan will suggest. And remember, it is just a masterplan (scale, density, massing, sightlines etc), not fully-designed buildings - you think Cooper Cromar are going to design 10,000 homes? These will no doubt be parcelled off into developments more likely to your own ideas of the "architectural darlings" of the west coast.
Why not simply have a bit of positivity that there is a large-scale new development in the pipeline and that Ravenscraig is showing a little bit of optimism here during very difficult times? The benefits will trickle down to other designers, wait and see. Until that happens, save your criticism for those who deserve it, and make it constructive when it comes.
Why not simply have a bit of positivity that there is a large-scale new development in the pipeline and that Ravenscraig is showing a little bit of optimism here during very difficult times? The benefits will trickle down to other designers, wait and see. Until that happens, save your criticism for those who deserve it, and make it constructive when it comes.
#7 Posted by DD on 1 Oct 2010 at 18:23 PM
Design Team + North Lanarkshire Council + Commercial Developer = Average Development.
Where is the ambition?
Where is the ambition?
#8 Posted by sean g on 1 Oct 2010 at 18:55 PM
I wonder if there is any driving ambition behind the scheme? Maybe there is but this press release and the imagery on the website looks like a round about town. Would it not be more interesting and beneficial for the masterplanning team to push for a walkable townscape and integrated public amenities. The birdseye views on the ravenscraig website look as though you need a car to get by in the place. What are the real strategies behind the planning?
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