introduction - northampton...connecting to abington street to the south. gillespies ave een inted o...

INTRODUCTIONNORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

The parish church of all sainTs

Town cenTre ring road

The guildhall

MarKeT sQuare

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sTraTegic conTexT

Northampton is the largest market town in the UK. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and is the area’s main retail, cultural and employment centre, drawing in a large catchment of workers.

Northampton Town Centre is contained by the town centre ring road and is over 60 hectares in size. It has a historic core and some significant listed buildings, heritage sites and conservation areas, including the Guildhall, The Parish Church of All Saints and the Market Square which is one of the UK’s largest and most historic, dating back to the 12th century.

The Market Square is located in the centre of the town and is approximately 2 acres in size. It is a well contained space, with buildings on all four sides with two primary access points, one from Drapery to the west and the second from Mercers Row, connecting to Abington Street to the south.

Gillespies have been appointed to prepare design proposals for Northampton’s Market Square by Northampton Borough Council on behalf of the Northampton Forward Board. Gillespies and Northampton Borough Council have been working closely with the Northampton Forward Board and a vision and number of options have been developed.

The boards presented set out the site analysis, the vision and the design proposals for the square. Please bear in mind that the following boards are a visual, illustrated representation for consultation of what the square might look like. They are not final proposals, but they have been developed to reflect the public consultation that was carried out in May 2019.

Throughout this process we want to engage with the local community to understand your views on the ideas and contribute to the design of the new Market Square. We would welcome your ideas and are happy to be challenged on the proposals.

https://survey.websurveycreator.com/s/nmsc1

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consTrainTs opporTuniTies

Key view

change in level

good QualiTy building facade

cafe, pub or resTauranT

area priMarily in sunshine

connecTion To adjoining space

exisTing naTural sTone cobbles

exisTing MaTure Trees

priMary vehicular rouTe

secondary vehicular rouTe

priMary pedesTrian desire line

pedesTrian rouTes

poor QualiTy building façade

fraMe of sTreeT cluTTer

high polluTion zone

area priMarily in shade

pedesTrian / vehicle conflicT

exisTing concreTe blocK paving

1. Church tower 2. Strong architectural variation 3. Vibrant market stalls 4. Large scale traders market 5. Summer beach 6. Evening sun trap in north east corner 7. Christmas tree 8. Historic buildings

fuTure poTenTial pedesTrian linK

Today the square is dominated by its market trading function. Half of the square contains permanently in place market stalls, with an additional smaller area providing semi-permanent structures to be used on a seasonal basis. The square has an existing events programme throughout the year including Christmas lights switch-on, a parade at Easter and Diwali, a summer ‘beach’ with fairground amusements and other smaller scale events across the seasonal calendar.

SITE ANALYSISNORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

The proposals for the square will consider a diverse and flexible programme of potential events to take place within the space alongside more day to day activities such as the permanent traders market. The existing events programme will develop and expand over time and could include the following:

• Local food and produce market (temporary/ pop up)

• Music, theatre or art performance

• Concerts

• Christmas market and Christmas tree

• Amusements and fairground including summer beach

• Exhibitions or art installations

• Parade and festivals

• Vintage or craft fairs

• Seasonal Ice rink

• Outdoor cinema / sports screening

• Night-time leisure destination (eating / drinking)

A revived ‘heArt’ of the townEnabling the market square to be the beating heart where people meet, gather and stay. It should be the primary space that provides the life and soul of Northampton.

An iconic And AttrActive spAceThe Square should be identifiable and unique, picking up Northampton’s important heritage and emphasising the positive qualities, such as historic existing architecture.

A flexible cAnvAs for eventsThe proposed square should enable a diversity of different uses across the seasons, including markets, festivals, performance and installations.

A condensed, improved quAlity mArketThe existing traders market should be reduced in size and upgraded with a mixture of permanent and temporary stalls. This should enable a smaller number of higher quality stalls.

A spAce for everybodyThe square should provide a space attractive, accessible and exciting for all of the community, including families, tourists, young professionals and the elderly.

A cAtAlyst for trAnsformAtion of the townThe square is critical to the wider regeneration of the town, providing the centre-point for the transformational change, and setting the precedent for the future vision of Northampton.

A new leisure destinAtion The Square should be diversifying its appeal to the wider community, providing opportunities to visit more frequently and to stay longer, including places to eat and drink both in the day and evening.

A trigger for the regenerAtion of buildingsAn improved public realm for the Square would also trigger important positive change to existing buildings and their associated ground floor uses and activation and spill out into the square.

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design objecTives proposed evenTs and acTivaTion

local MarKeT

arT insTallaTion inTeracTive waTer feaTure

concerT parade

open-air cineMa

perforMance

seasonal evenTs

THE VISIONNORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

a flexible space for TeMporary uses

MaxiMising QualiTy archiTecTurecreaTing The hearT

enabling connecTiviTy responding To Micro-cliMaTe

reaching ouT To wider Town fraMing The space

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design principlesdesign consideraTions

The Market Square has a very strong architectural frame which provides a strong sense of enclosure. This relationship with the buildings, their current and future uses, and the potential creation of spill-out space is critical to the success of an active and engaging public square.

The design considerations set up the baseline for the design proposals and help inform and create the key design principles as illustrated opposite.

DESIGN APPROACHNORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

perforMance & evenT space

cafe spill ouT spaceTrees and green aMeniTy

seaTing

Market Square

perManenT & TeMporary MarKeT sTallsinTeracTive waTer feaTure

The proposed design of the new Market Square will be made up of a number of ‘items’. These should include a variety of hard landscape elements such as seating and a water feature, soft landscape components such as trees, and spaces and surfaces that are designed for specific uses such as markets or events.

These components could be varied in size and location depending on how the square could be used. The following options propose a variety of layouts with the components bigger or smaller and located and distributed differently.

COMPONENT ELEMENTSNORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

D R A P E R Y

MERCERS R

OW

ABI N

GTON STREET

MA R K E T W

A L K

G R O S V E N O R C E N T R E

G R O V S N E R S H O P P I N G C E N T R E

Z A P A T O L O U N G E

I N T E R A C T I V E W A T E R F E A T U R E

axonoMeTric view

L I N E A R T R E E A V E N U E

M A R K E T W A L K S H O P P I N G C E N T R E

S T A R B U C K S

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linear Tree avenue

waTer feaTure

MarKeT sTalls

seaTing feaTure

evenT space

spill ouT space

A

A

secTion a-a

illusTraTive view

OPTION ONENORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

D R A P E R Y

MERCERS R

OW

ABI N

GTON STREET

MA R K E T W

A L K


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T R E E G R O V E L I N E A R M A R K E T S T R E E T


S T A R B U C K S

Tree grove

linear waTer feaTure

linear MarKeT sTalls

seaTing feaTure

evenT space

spill ouT space

B

B

OPTION TWONORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

axonoMeTric view

secTion b-b

illusTraTive view

D R A P E R Y

MERCERS R

OW

ABI N

GTON STREET

MA R K E T W

A L K


N

Tree planTing

waTer feaTure

MarKeT sTalls

seaTing sTeps

evenT space

spill ouT space

C

C



S E A T I N G S T E P S L I N E A R M A R K E T S T R E E T

L I N E A R T R E E A V E N U E


S T A R B U C K S

OPTION THREENORTHAMPTON MARKET SQUARE

axonoMeTric view

secTion c-c

illusTraTive view

introduction - northampton...connecting to abington street to the south. gillespies ave een inted o...

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