Context - Southampton west quay_tcm63-367841.pdf · fully picked up on warehouse type motifs to produce two tall buildings which give the loose impression of being converted warehousing

33 West Quay

ContextThe area known as West Quay is on the western edge ofthe study area and borders the Town Walls in part andthe commercial core (West Quay II) of the City to theeast, the station and railway line to the north and theport area and waterfront (Mayflower Park) to the westand south. The operational port area stretches acrossthe southern boundary (CA34) and impedes any directphysical connection to the waterfront at this point. Thewestern boundary to the port area is loose and unde-fined in townscape terms with the Solent Mills somedistance away forming an important part of views to thewaterfront.

Prior to rising sea levels drowning the Solent River andits tributaries this area was dry land occupied byMesolithic hunter-gatherers whose implements andsettlement sites have been discovered in the submergedlandscapes of the Solent. The area was largelyreclaimed in the late 1920s and 1930s although thearea closest to the historic shoreline was subject togradual reclamation from the eighteenth century. Thearea at the foot of the town wall was historically a busyquayside. In the eighteenth century this area becamethe focal point of the spa phase of development of thetown with the public baths and the Long Rooms built outfrom the quayside. In the early twentieth century a powerstation and the Pirelli factory were built on reclaimedland. The reclamation has resulted in the creation of alarge flat area except where the land rises to the northon the line of the historic shoreline. The higher ground tothe east and north provides views across the area andto key landmarks.

GrainThere is a coarse grain to the built form with widemodern roads with feeder roads to sequences andgroups of large footprint buildings set in hard land-scaped car parks. There is a low density of developmentand limited enclosure throughout with much of the areagiven over to infrastructure – roads or roundabouts orlarge surface car parks. Building lines are consistent inplaces but often provide dead frontages to main routesdue to the nature and scale of the uses.

ScaleBuilt form varies in scale and massing with buildings tothe edges, notably the hotel group to the western edgeand car parks and West Quay II being eight to ten storeysor the equivalent height. The hotels sit comfortablywithin their context on the western fringes, howeverWest Quay II is dominant in terms of its bulk andmassing and robustly expressed ground floor plinth inviews to the east. The remaining buildings, oftenreferred to as ‘The Sheds’ comprise a series of largerectangular flat roofed structures, often linked and

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sometimes staggered in plan. These are generally theequivalent of two to two and a half storey buildings withsome exceptions such as the cinema complex (LeisureWorld) to south of West Quay Road on the southernboundary. Given the relatively low level of these struc-tures views across the character area towards thecampanile and St Michaels spire are uninterrupted andhelp place this area in its context.

UsesThere is a mix of uses across this large character areacomprising retail warehouses and a public house (A1and A3), leisure – cinemas and casino, sports facilities,hotels (C1) and storage (D1) and car sales showrooms(sui-generis) and light engineering. The National Expressbus station is also located within this character area.However, these uses are not well-integrated and sit invery separate and sometimes isolated pockets of devel-opment with very limited connectivity.

Public RealmThe public realm for the pedestrian is very poor withlimited soft landscaping to the large expanses of carpark and areas set over for highways provision. This isrelieved to a degree by the welcome presence of streettrees to the south side of West Quay Road and treesalso line the Western Esplanade approach to the City tothe northern fringes of the character area which providessome relief from the dead frontages of the retail ware-houses which line this important approach.

ConnectivityThis area is separated from the waterfront except for itsborder with Mayflower Park to the south-east corner. Thisis due to the restricted operational area occupied byAssociated British Ports which runs along the water’sedge (CA34). Visually the waterfront is connected to thischaracter area and is seen as an active and interestingedge to the south as cranes and ships can be seen andglimpsed from a number of points. The physical barriersto the port area and water are however a significantnegative factor.

The road network is the most effective form of naviga-tion through the character area though the roads arevery busy and signing and junctions are focused on portand commercial (West Quay II) traffic. Junctions arehighly engineered and signs, traffic lights, barriers androad markings make for a very visually cluttered publicrealm.

There is poor pedestrian linkage to Central Station whichcould be significantly improved through redevelopmentand reorientation of built form to respond to the stationbuilding’s southern entrance.

ViewsThere is a strategic view from the character area towards



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01 The retail sheds of the area characterised by flat or shallowpitched roofs and a setting of large surface level car parking

02 Highway infrastructure and the public realm is poorly designedand favours the car or lorry.

03 Distance views to the cruise terminals characterised by craneson the skyline

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St Michael’s spire which is clearly seen in its Old Townsetting protruding above the walls and modern buildingsin the foreground. A number of strategic views, focusedon the landmarks of the waterfront (ships and cranes)pass across the character area from the high groundaround the Civic Centre. A number of views and glimpsesof the waterfront features can be had from within thecharacter area and link the area to the waterfront.

Views to the west are dominated by the Solent Millsbuilding (a locally listed building of potentially listablequality) just to the edge of the study area and thecontainer stacks to the operational port area beyond.The Post House Hotel to the south-east corner of thecharacter area is a poor landmark.

Building typesBuildings are highly functional within the character areaand focus on their internal environment rather than thatpresented to the street. These buildings are generallylarge floorplate simple shed-like structures. One of themain characteristics of this built form is the signagewhich is invariably in proportion to the building and aliento the human scale. This is particularly apparent to thepedestrian on travelling through the character area.

The hotels and commercial buildings to the edges havemore defining features which identify their use andprovide more articulation and invitation to furtherenquiry. A good example of this is the De Vere Hotel tothe south-east corner with its striking full height atrium.This building is a key landmark from the waterfront(particularly on arrival from the local ferries – Hythe andIsle of Wight) (CA35).

Architectural qualitiesThe majority of buildings in this character area were builtin the late twentieth century. Most are functional archi-tecture and visually uninspiring. West Quay II (John LewisStore) makes some attempt to address this characterarea with some larger areas of glazing. The building isset on a concrete base with knapped flint inset panelspresumably to reflect the solidity of the town walls it nowobscures in distant views. The Ibis Hotel has success-fully picked up on warehouse type motifs to produce twotall buildings which give the loose impression of beingconverted warehousing and this is quite successful. TheDe Vere Hotel is a striking waterfront building whichalthough dated is of high quality materials and makes avery strong statement from the waterfront with its fullheight glazed sloping atrium.

Heritage AssetsDespite largely being reclaimed land there are nationallyimportant historic environment considerations within thearea. The principal area of importance is along theeastern edge of the area where the character area formsthe setting of the scheduled medieval town walls. The

medieval West Quay and Castle Quay lay within the areaand represent a significant archaeological consideration.The area is also considered to possess a high degree ofevidential value given there is potential for maritimearchaeological features such as the remains of vesselsthat were abandoned within the former ‘bay’ andsubmerged peat deposits which will contain importantenvironmental evidence. The eastern and northern fringeof the area lies within a Local Area of ArchaeologicalImportance to reflect this potential to yield significantevidence for past activity in the area.

As well as evidential significance, the area has a highdegree of associative value due to its close relationshipto historic events such as the departure of Henry V onhis French campaign which was to lead to the battle ofAgincourt, and the Pilgrim Fathers leaving for America in1620.

The scale and context of the medieval walls is bestappreciated from the character area and in this respectas well as other values recognised in this and other char-acter area analysis the walls have aesthetic value giventhey are the most intact amount of medieval city wallsseen nationally.

MaterialsBuilding are mostly steel framed with various claddingsand curtain walling to include profiled metal, glass,stone and pre-cast concrete panels, knapped flintpanels, marble and brick. Roofs are largely flat and soobscured from view. There are some notable exceptionsfor example the local-authority-run swimming and divingcomplex known as The Quays to the rear of the De VereHotel with its highly sculptural and expressive roof insteel and profiled metal. Most of ‘The Sheds’ continuethe wall cladding to the roof where these are pitchedadding to their rather bland exteriors.

ConditionThis character area is generally in good condition with ahigh degree of investment and maintenance to thebuilding stock and well-maintained roads and infrastruc-ture.

OwnershipThe land has a number of buildings and spaces inmultiple ownership and other areas such as the largeelectricity sub-station which are the responsibility of util-ities companies.

Interventionn Future development should have regard to improving

the pedestrian experience within this character area.n The station should form a defining axis for sustainable

development and linkages to the station (acrossWestern Esplanade) should be strongly promoted infuture major development plans.



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n Increasing active frontage to the Western Esplanadeand West Quay Road.

n Removing unnecessary over-engineering to junctionsto include barriers, signage, traffic lights and roadmarkings.

n Define and reinforce important view corridors tohistoric assets; St Michael’s spire, Town walls and thecampanile, Civic Centre.

n Encourage redevelopment to the west side of PortlandTerrace to mask the multi-storey car park and provideactive frontages to the street.

n Consider (with partners) the repositioning of the elec-tricity sub-station to the centre of the character area,it could prove to be a significant barrier to majorinvestment in the holistic masterplanning of the area.

Key design principlesn Create active frontage to key routes through character

area.n Simplify infrastructure.n High quality materials for public realm. n Improve pedestrian experience.n Improve linkage and legibility through character area.n Have regard to views to waterfront from the character

area and strategic views from surrounding characterareas.

n Potential for reintroducing water adjacent to the townwalls to recreate their historic context.

n Relocation of electricity sub-station to facilitateholistic redevelopment.



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Heritage Assets



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Townscape



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Documents

Context - Southampton west quay_tcm63-367841.pdf · fully picked up on warehouse type motifs to produce two tall buildings which give the loose impression of being converted warehousing