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WEST END AREA DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALURBAN DESIGN STUDIO I

P32072GROUP 1

HARISH KUMARCHRIS LIN

MINAL MHATREDESPOINA PLETSA

ROBERT TSANG

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CONTENTS03 Introduction

Site analysis 05 Site Context Regional Local06 Street Types 07 Inactive Edges 08 Physical Attributes Vegetation Hydrology09 Connectivity Pedestrian Pattern Traffic Pattern10 Built Form Landmarks Land UsesSWOT12-14 SWOT Analysis

Vision16 Activity Nodes

Design Actions 18 Design Actions & Areas19 Design Actions Explanations

Masterplan21 Proposed Master Layout Plan

Proposed Site Analysis 23 Built Form Demolition Plan Building Heights24 Built Form Land Uses25 Connectivity Pedestrian Pattern26 Connectivity Space Syntax27 Connectivity Network Pattern28 Street types29 Public Realm Public vs. Private30 Physical Attributes Sunpath

Key Areas32-35 Key Area 1 Oxpens Site 36-37 Key Area 2 Cherwell College38-39 Key Area 3 Public Corridor40-42 Key Area 4 Westgate Shopping Centre 43-46 Key Area 5 Frideswide Square & Park End Street47-48 Key Area 6 Train Station & Student Accommodation

Financial Feasibility50-51

Conclusions53 Presentation Feedback 54 Conclusion

Bibliography 56

Appendices58 Appendix A & B59-61 Appendix C

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RETROFITTING WEST OXFORDSite: The site is the west end part of Oxford, it includes the Westgate shopping centre at one end, while Oxford train station on the other. The edge of the site is encircled by the River Thames, with Castle Mill Stream canal moving through the heart of it. A good mix of underutilized and unused area is part of the site with scattered distribution of uses.There are many action plans which have been proposed earlier by local authorities, making the project challenging for architects and students.

Aims and Objectives:-To respond to the opportunities and needs of the West End of Oxford from the economic, social, environmental and urban design realities point of view.-To create a framework for development where we articulate our ideas clearly.-Produce a masterplan, a rationale and a feasibility strategy, which is intended to be presented to the local authorities of Oxford.

Methodology:The first stage of forming an Action Plan with a clear vision, has been discussed with the tutors and with their further recommendations, we are moving on to Studio II project, with individual selected ‘site pocket’ areas.The area of our proposed masterplan includes 7 main sites, namely Park End Street, Oxford Train Station, Car Park at Beckett Street, Oxpen’s Road, Cherwell College, West Gate Shopping Centre and Paradise Square. After the initial SWOT analysis of the site, we proceeded with the formation of a Vision for the site. It helped us form Design Actions and finalize our design strategy of the master plan, which we then formulized considering the demands and requirements of the above men-tioned areas. This process and phases of design will be explained further in the report.

The key objectives of the master plan are:1. To respond to site context and conditions 2. To make it economically viable 3. To incorporate existing uses and schedule of accommodation 4. To acknowledge and conform with local and national planning policy requirements 5. To make the area socially and environmentally sustainable

INTRODUCTION

FIG 01 SITE BOUNDARY

ConceptOxford is located at the heart of the UK, just the same as the proposal for the West End Area aims to provide another ‘heart’ for the cityThe graphic demonstrates the ‘heart’ and the available connections to & from it.

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SITE ANALYSIS

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Observations:

The West End part of Oxford is a gateway to the city for many tourists and travellers, as the Oxford City Train Station resides in it. This historic city lacks a warm welcoming gateway. The site is also home of some of the listed and heritage buildings, the West Gate shopping centre at the end of High Street and Ice Rink. Being in proximity to High Street, one expects it to be at a benifit from the point of view of a balanced and sustainable development. But we observed that due to underutilization of the land and scattered mix of uses, the potential of site is not trapped properly. Considering the well developed and more live surroundings, the West End part of Oxford should be developed, keeping the balance between East and West part of the city.

Observations:

The West End part of Oxford, has a good mix of uses, although they are scattered. The residential areas, are more with inward planning, giving one the impression of more pri-vatized areas, creating more private shared spaces, thus less approchable.The retails sector, eg. Staples at Park End Street is located alongside the restaurants and cafes, which we felt would serve better if placed remote, than in the current publicly active area. SAID Buisness School is a new landmark we have in West End part of Oxford, which due to its planning does not paricipate actively as a public node.The Oxford Royal Hotel, which is one of the first things which one notices, after getting inside the Oxford from Train station, needs a relift, along with the other uses in the same sector.Friedswide square, though it has a great potential, needs to be remodelled to fit in and be-come welcoming to the public for the intoduction of more activities, rather than only occassional commercial activities.

We think, the West End part of Oxford can be remodelled at parts which will draw attenion to such an important location at the city of Oxford.

R E G I O N A L L O C A LSITE CONTEXT

FIG 01 REGIONAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT

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Street and Building Relationship

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FIG O1 KEY PLAN OF STREET SECTION CUT LINES

While producing the site analysis, we did the volumetric study of the areas by analysing the built forms in relationship with the roads and streets. The present activities, uses and influential factors were noted and it helped us determine the patterns or types of spaces that we want to include in our scheme.

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T Y P E SS T R E E T

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After the first site visit, we spotted many inactive edges at site, as shown in the left. The inactive edges are mainly due to:- Large block sizes - The distribution and intensity of the uses in the particular area- Discontinuity of street frontages- No proper separation between private and public areas

This helped us in Do’s and Don’ts for design process.

FIG 02 Westgate Shopping Centre Car Park: Carpark as primary useNo activities on Ground floor level of car park

FIG 03 Paradise Street:Underutilized internal streetsinactive edges of residential de-velopment

FIG 04 Paradise Square:Inactive EdgesUnderutilised Streets

FIG 05 Park End Stree:Main traffic road with retail use on both sides of the block

I N A C T I V E E D G E S

FIG O1 INACTIVE EDGES

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V E G E T A T I O NPHYSICAL ATTRIBUTESH Y D R O L O G Y

Oxford as many cities, is dominated by waterscape and green lands. By marking and analysing the water areas on the map, we could mark the areas with the possibility flooding. The map below illustrates the potential flood risk area, which we have to consider while proposing the new scheme, in order to avoid future natural calamities.

The vegetation map illustrates the current green coverage of and around the site. The huge green coverage at the Oxpens road side is an area of potential development in our design scheme. Our design scheme was influenced by the existing natural resources, so in our proposal we have a public plaza and leisure centre that overlook at the rdeveloped Oxpens Recreational area, that includes pathways and cycle paths.

Flood Zone 3b

FLood Zone 3a

Flood Zone 2

River

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FIG O1 VEGETATION SPACES FIG O2 FLOOD ZONES

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Existing traffic pattern:As shown in the map, the High Street which continues to New Road and further joins Park End Street, is the highest traffic road. This road leads to the Oxford Train Station and further to Botley Road, marking it an important gateway road to city.

Oxpens Road along with Becket Street which bifurcates the traffic from Oxford train station, lead the traffic towards the South of Oxford and then back to he city centre.Though these two are medium traffic roads, the distribution of uses along them is not proper and as a result they are inactive.

NETWORK STUDY:

The maps alongside explain the pedestrian connectivity network analysis, explaining the current uses of the roads and streets.It helped us understand the current street network and the requirements of the area for future planning.

FIG 01EXISTING CONNECTIVITY NETWORK: Tourists

FIG 02 EXISTING CONNECTIVITY NETWORK: Local

FIG 03 EXISTING CONNECTIVITY NETWORK: Students FIG 04 EXISTING CONNECTIVITY NETWORK

FIG EXISTING TRAFFIC PATTERN

C O N N E C T I V I T YT R A F F I CP E D E S T R I A N P A T T E R NP A T T E R N

HighMediumLow

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FIG 03 Royal Oxford Hotel

FIG 02 Nuffield CollegeFIG 01 SAID Business School

FIG 06 Oxford Castle PublicFront

B U I L T F O R ML A N D M A R K SThe site houses some heritage landmarks, as well as the locally known landmarks, which are mentioned in the map below.

FIG 05 Ice Rink at Oxpens Road

The map below explains the current land uses, showing the various concentrations of uses at the areas throughout the site.

L A N D U S E S

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01 Key

FIG 02 LAND USES

Residential Student Accom

Commercial Retail

Hotel Offices

Educational Civic

Transit Services

Leisure Health Services

Cark Park Open Spaces

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FIG 01 EXISTING L LANDMARKS

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S W O T

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VISION

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A C T I V I T YN O D E S

FIG O1 MIND MAP OF VISION ACTIVITY NODES

FIG O2 DIAGRAM EXPLANATION OF DESIGN PROCESSFIG O3 PROPOSED ACTIVITY/ COMMUNITY NODES

After the first site visit, when we had a group discussion; we came up with a mind map suggesting the require-ment of the new nodes at the site.

We took this idea further by aiming to connect the North part of the city to South part by introduction of different uses, along and around the natural resources, the Canal. We proposed this with the in-tention of better connectiv-ity of space, enhancing the potential of the site further.

During the design process, we introduced new activity and community nodes to the site, which along with the existing nodes will connect the areas of the site better, eg. Introduction of the Lei-sure centre with more ac-tivities at Oxpens Road and redesigning the West Gate shopping centre, which will create new nodes for public activity.

VISIONThese proposed activity nodes will act as a magnet, to attract the tourists as well as locals, re lifting the spirit of the site and along with the new distribution of uses, creating a new ‘heart’, especially for the younger generation.

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DESIGN ACTIONS

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1. Oxpens area

2. Cherwell College

3. Canal

4. Westgate shoppin centre

5. Frideswide sq. & Park End st.

6. Gateway to west Oxford

D E S I G NACTIONS A R E A S

FIG O1 DESIGN ACTION AREAS

FIG O1 DESIGN ACTION AREAS

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D E S I G N ACTIONS

FIG 01 DESIGN SOLUTION 1

FIG 02 DESIGN SOLUTION 2

FIG 03 DESIGN SOLUTION 3FIG 04 DESIGN SOLUTION 4

FIG 05 & 06 DESIGN SOLUTION 5

FIG 07 DESIGN SOLUTION 6

E X P L A N A T I O N S

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MASTERPLAN

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FIG 01 PROPOSED MASTER LAYOUT PLAN SCALE 1:2500 AT A2 (SEE APPENDIX A FOR SCALED DRAWING

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PROPOSED SITE ANALYSIS

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FIG 02 PROPOSED BUILDING HEIGHTS

Current and the proposed various height patterns, giving us an approximate idea of the volumes to work on.Further volumetric studies can be referred in street sections.

5 Floors

4 Floors

3 Floors

2 Floors

1 Floor

B U I L D I N G

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FIG 01 EXISTING BUILDING HEIGHT

B U I L T F O R M

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FIG 01 PROPOSED DEMOLITION PLAN FIG 01 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PLAN

D E M O L I T I O N P L A NExisting demolition plan and new proposed built forms, as per the proposed design scheme by Group 01.

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H E I G H T S

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Floor wise distribution of various proposed uses. This gives a clear idea of the arrangement of uses within the site and helped us analyse our economic feasibility study. Our aim for the proposed masterplan was to achive a mixed character thoughout the West End area instead of the currentfragment-ed arragement.

FIG 01 PROPOSED USES: Ground Floor FIG 02 PROPOSED USES: First Floor FIG 03 PROPOSED USES: Second Floor FIG 04 PROPOSED USES: Third Floor

L A N D U S E S

Residential

Commercial

Hotel

Educational

Transit

Leisure

Cark Park

Student Accom

Retail

Offices

Open Spaces

Key

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C O N N E C T I V I T YP E D E S T R I A N P A T T E R N

FIG 01 EXISTING PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY FIG 02 PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY

The diagrams compare the existing and proposed pedestrian movement, which is an essential criteria in achieving active edges, along the West End site.

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FIG 01 EXISTING SPACE SYNTAX FIG 02 PROPOSED SPACE SYNTAX

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EXISTING SPACE SYNTAX: The space syntax analysis shows that Park End Street moving towards Botley Road is a highly connected, high moving traffic street, which was also noted during the site analysis. Also, Oxpens Road carries medium traffic, but it is not highly connected to the are-as of the site.

PROPOSED SPACE SYNTAX: The proposed space syntax shows the result of the design actions and the effect of the proposed roads on the existing ones. It is clear from the image that the road starting from Park End Street to Botley Road is expected to remain highly connected and with moving traffic, while also having the Oxford Train Station next to it. The new activities pro-vision along Oxpens Road and the redesign of West Gate Shopping Centre provide us evenly connected areas with moving pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

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C O N N E C T I V I T Y

OLD v/s PROPOSED PATTERNS: Bus RouteAs illustrated in the maps alongside, we have proposed a new bus route while maintaining the existing route.As seen, during design process, we have developed Oxpens Road into mixed uses sector, thus Oxpens Road is expected to have a heavy traffic pattern. There are few bus routes on the internal side of the Oxpens site, as well as few along the Oxpens Road itself.

OLD v/s PROPOSED TYPES OF ROADS:Another comparision between the maps shows the existing primary, secondary, tertiary roads along with the resultant public nodes and the proposed roads and public nodes.It also illustrates the proposed pedestrian friedly road on Paradise St.

FIG 03 EXISTING BUS ROUTE

FIG 01 IDENTIFYING TYPES OF ROADS: EXISTING FIG 02 IDENTIFYING TYPES OF ROADS: PROPOSED

FIG 05 PROPOSED CYCLE ROUTEFIG 04 PROPOSED BUS ROUTE

N E T W O R K P A T T E R N

Primary RoadsSeconday RoadsTeriary RoadsRailway LineExhibition RoadExisting Public NodesProposed Public Nodes

Existing Bus RouteAdditional Bus RouteBus StopsDistribution of UsersPathway alongNew Nodes

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PROPOSED CYCLE ROUTE:The map illustrates the proposed cycle route for our design scheme, with routes inside the Oxpens development and special cycle route next to the leisure centre at the Oxpens Recreational area.

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C O N N E C T I V I T Y

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T Y P E SS T R E E TAlong with the study of existing roads and street patterns, the relation of the built forms with the streets and the analysis of the role of streets in activities outside the built form, we tried to improve the existing streets, by introducing proper distribution of uses, open spaces at appro-priate places and refined streetscapes and we tried to achieve more active streetsthat will be pedestrian friendly but will manage at the same time to allow proper vehicular movement.

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FIG 01 PROPOSED SCHEME PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACE

P U B L I CP U B L I C vs

R E A L MP R I V A T E

Public, semi public and private areas identified on the site. At map,there is also illustrated the proposed public realm along the canal, which will act as the green corridor, the opening of the Castle Mill Stream,a key Design Action in our scheme, which will generate a open public place for people to walk in and for activities to take place.

At the Oxpens development, the areas in the proposed residential blocks are private whereas at the proposed Cher-well College has a semi-private nature, like most educational buildings. The main open space public realms within our pro-posed masterplan are the Oxpens Plaza which is locatd next to the Leisure centre and along with the Oxpens Recreaional area they are parts of the green public corridor, the redeveloped Frideswide Square, the Castle exising development, the pedestrian friendly redeveloped Para-dise St., where pedestrians and cars share surfaces, and the Conference Centre, situated next to he canal, anoher part of the public corridor.

Public space

Semi Public space Private space

Built mass

Green Corridor

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The images alongside illustrate the sun path analysis of the proposed scheme, at different times of the day. This will help us to analyse the details and propose further changes in Stu-dio II.

S U N P A T H

FIG 01 PROPOSED SCHEME MORNING

FIG 02 PROPOSED SCHEME AFTERNOON

FIG 03 PROPOSED SCHEME LATE AFTERNOON

FIG 04 PROPOSED SCHEME SUNPATH

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

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KEY AREAS

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O X P E N S S I T EK E Y A R E A 1

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01 BUSINESS CENTRE (COURTYARD)

02 RESTURANT/ CAFE G/F RESIDENTIAL ABOVE

03 GREEN PLAZA

04 5* HOTEL

05 LEISURE CENTRE WITH ICE RINK

06 RESIDENTIAL COURTYARD

FIG 01 referring 01 Terry Thomas Building, Seattle

FIG 02 referring to 02 Parc, Ritten-house Square USA

FIG 03 referring TO 03 Library Green, New York

OXPENS SITE

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FIG 04 referring TO 03 Library Green, New York

FIG 05 referring TO 03 City in the Build-ing, Aarhus

FIG 06 referring TO 03 City in the Building, Aarhus

A NEW MIXED USED DEVELOPMENT HUB

Oxpens site will be redeveloped into a mixed uses space creating an activity and community node which will draw people in, from the rest of Oxford and from outside it as well. This development will create many residential housing, office space, restaurants and cafes, leisure centre, hotel and an open landscaped green plaza along with the existing Oxpens Recreational area.

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FIG 02: SECTION B OXPENS RESIDENTIAL/ LEISURE CENTRE SCALE 1:500 AT A1 (SEE APENDIX B FOR SCALED DRAWING)

FIG 01: SECTION A OXPENS RESIDENTIAL SCALE 1:500 AT A1 (SEE APENDIX B FOR SCALED DRAWING)

Residential block

Office block College block

Residential block

Leisure Centre

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FIG 01 OXPENS PLAZA SCALE 1:1000

0 25 50 100M

O X P E N S P L A Z A

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C H E R W E L L C O L L E G EK E Y A R E A 2

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01 VOCATIONAL SHOPS

02 LANDSCAPED SEATING AREA

03 COLLEGE MAIN ATRIUM

04 BIKE PARKING STORAGE

FIG 01 referring to 02 New Chu Hai College Cam-pus, Hong Kong

FIG 03 referring to 03 City of Westminster College, London

FIG 04: SECTION C COLLEGE SCALE 1:500 AT A1 (SEE APENDIX B FOR SCALED DRAWING)

FIG 02 referring to 04 Perspective view of proposed college on oxpen road

REDEVELOPMENT CHERWELL COLLEGE

Cherwell College will also be redeveloped to create a more aesthetic pleasing look to match the new development of Oxpens site. The college will become more efficiently laid out, in high density form block, with access routes for both cars and bicycles. Vocations shops will also added along the side of Oxpens road to incease active edges and compliment the newly developed Oxpens site and Oxpens Rd.Also the area is part of the redevelopment and opening up of the green public corridor.

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P U B L I C C O R R I D O R K E Y A R E A 3

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02 Pedestrian friendly street

03 Public space

04 Leisure Centre

FIG 01 referring to 01 Levinson Plaza, Boston

FIG 02, 03, referring to 02 Exhibition Road, London

01 Pedestrian friendly street

FIG 05: SECTION D PARADISE SCALE 1:500

FIG 04 referring to 03 South Pointe Park, Florida

OPENING OUT THE CANAL FOR PEDESTRIAN ACCESS

1.Canal will be opened out with more green spaces and pedestrian walk paths to allow easy connectivity routes from Hythe Bridge Street to Ox-pens Road-creation pf green public coridor.

2.Thames street site will developed into a Conference Centre, where meetings and exhibitions will be held, this will draw visitors to the city for conferences which will facilitate them to the new Hotel located on Oxpens site.

3.Housing around Paradise Square will be developed into high-end residential apartments and family houses, this was decided due to the opening of the canal, the redevelopment of Paradise Street and Square, that will create great view for the housing development site and will make the area much more active.

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W E S T G A T E S H O P P I N G K E Y A R E A 4

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01 Covered shopping corridor

03 Carpark

02 Sky Birdge

FIG 04 referring to 03 Selfridges bridge connecting tocarpark, Birmingham

FIG 05: SECTION E WESTGATE SCALE 1:500

RESIDENTIAL CARPARKRESIDENTIAL

RETAIL RETAIL CARPARK

RESIDENTIAL CARPARKRESIDENTIAL

RETAIL RETAIL CARPARK

FIG 01 & 02 referring to Mailbox centre, Birmingham

FIG 03 referring to Cabot Circus Shopping Centre, Bristol

REDEVELOPMENT OF WESTGATE TO IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY TO OXPEN ROAD

Westgate shopping centre will be redeveloped to a modern infrastructure that would be welcoming compared to the existing inactive edge façade along Castle Street. Additional entrance will be implemented to castle streets to the shops to create an active edge road down towards Norfolk street to the conference centre and Oxpen Road aswell as the new re-tail corridor trough the middle of the shopping centre. The reason for this development action plan was to introduce a new primary connectivity route from north to south. High end residential apartments will be located at the top of the shopping centre, along with a car park at he sout block of the development.

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FIG 01 PARADISE SQAURE AND WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTRE SCALE 1:1000

P A R A D I S E S Q U A R E

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F R I D E S W I D E S Q U A R E K E Y A R E A 5

& P A R K S T R E E T E N D

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FIG 01 referring to 05/6 Mailbox canal basin, Birmingham

FIG 03 referring to 05 Bancroft Basin, Stratford upon Avon

FIG 05: SECTION F FRIDESWIDE SQ/ PARKEND ST SCALE 1:500 AT A1 (SEE APENDIX 1 FOR SCALED DRAWING)

03 040201 05 06

01 Blackwells Office02Archway walkway03 Resturant/ cafe courtyard 04 Canal basin05 Public green space06 Resturants/ cafe

FIG 02 referring to 04 Edge Park Brooklyn

FIG 04 referring to 03 The courtyard resturant, Ottawa

IMPROVING PEDESTRIAN ACCESS TO CITY CENTRERoyal Oxford hotel will be extended and icreased. Blackwells Beaver house will be redeveloped.Existing office spaces will be located on sec-ond and third floor. Retails and offices located in between Park end Street and Hythe Bridge Street will be redesigned. A central court yard will be implemented in-between the building block to allow restaurants and cafes on the ground level to spill out into the court yard to allow more of a social activity space. This will open out to the view of the open space around the canal. Retail and office units on Park End Street and Hythe Bridge Street will be redesigned to create a more public environment. A central court yard will be implemented in-between the building block to allow restaurants and cafes on the ground level to spill out, to allow more of a social activity public space. The existing Worchester street car park will be removed and the implementation of the old canal basin will be brought back. This will allow a new node to be introduced to the site. The decision for this was because there are many access routes to this area. A tourist information centre and cafes will also be introduced to this area wih residences at the flloors above.

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FIG 01 Proposed canal basin perspective render

FIG 02 Proposed canal basin, perspective render from outside city council office

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FIG 01 FRIDESWIDE SQAURE SCALE 1:500

F R I D E S W I D E S Q U A R E

0 10 20 50M

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T R A I N S T A T I O N K E Y A R E A 6

&ACCOMMODATIONS T U D E N T

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01 Redesigned bus/ taxi station

02 Redesigned train station

03 Student accommodation

FIG 02 referring to Napoli-Afragola High Speed Train Station in Naples

FIG 01 referring to 02 Proposed train station

A NEW GATEWAY TO WEST OXFORD

Additional entrance will be implemented to the west of Roger Dudman Way, to allow easy access and exit to train users.

Station will be redesigned with an overhang structure from old station to Roger Dudman Way, this will facilitate a comfortable track cross-ing from one end to the other, along with new retail units and waiting area within.

Frideswide Square will be redeveloped to break down congestion and to create more open pubic space, this will give visitors more of memory entrance than its original congested site.

FIG 02 Plan of train station and student accomodation

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F I N A N C I A L F E A S I B I L I T Y

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F I N A N C I A LF E A S I B I L I T Y

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FIG 01 PART SECTION OF FEASILBILITY REPORT (FOR FULL COPY OF REPORT PLEASE REFER TO APPENDIX C)

F I N A N C I A LF E A S I B I L I T Y

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C O N C L U S I O N S

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The Studio I Project masterplan is the outcome that complements our Design and Vision for the West End Area. Moving on to Studio II, the proposed masterplan will be the basis for individual projects that will focus on smaller sections of the area, in to the micro-scale, and will lead to a more detailed design.

Accepted Suggestions & Potential Changes,after receiving the feedback from our presentation, that may occur on to Studio II are:

Accepted Suggestions

i.Introducing commercial activity on the ground floor of the Car Park & Student Accommodation block in order to create a more diverse character to this block.ii.Adding 3 floors with residences on top of the commercial ground floor with a tourist centre at the Canal Basin Area.

Potential Changes

i.Introducing Student Accommodation, probably at the north-west building of the Cherwell College, this is one of the potential changes for the person that will carry on to Studio II with the college area.

ii.Demonstrate the relationship of the courtyards at the housing blocks at Oxpens Area, the rail-ings-train station property and the public open space.We intended to maintain the privacy of the courtyards for the residents of the housing blocks and then have a landscape stripe of land between them and the railings, in order to avoid direct vision of the tracks and to diffuse noise(aesthetic & psychological purposes).As a result, the person who will work on this area for Studio II, will need to provide an actual solution, design explanation and final design.

iii.Shifting the hotel, plaza, leisure centre and conference centre.Do they look fragmented instead of connected?The access to the Oxpens Plaza is easy, through Oxpens Rd so because of its location at the centre of the new development area, it acts as a major public activity space, as an open market and it serves the new 5star hotel, the leisure centre, the neighbourhood & its commercial activities and the Cherwell College, in terms of the vocation shops at the ground floor of the college .Other reasons for choosing this location for the plaza are to avoid densification, to maintain views within the new development area and allow the Leisure Centre to be situated next to the Oxpens Recreational Area.Moving on to Studio II the person who will work at this part of Oxpens Area will have to reconsider their location. A way of shifting might be the relocation of the Conference Centre next to the Hotel and the Oxpens Plaza next to the Oxpens Recreational Area.The shifting of these blocks requires careful consideration and it requires the agreement of the rest of members of the group, because any possible changes within the site might affect the study areas we take up at Studio II.

PRESENTAT IONF E E D B A C K

FIG 01 SKETCH DIAGRAM OF THE POTENTIAL CHANGES FOR STUDIO II

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The Layering Method we used for Studio I was a helpful tool for us. We managed to design the masterplan by using this ‘step by step’ approach.

Starting first with Layer 1:Getting to know the Place-Analysis and Concept, we carried out a site analysis and then moved on to a swot analysis which helps us to identify the issues we had take into consideration at the Design Actions and finally address to the proposed masterplan, along with our Vision for the area. It was a main theme of our vision and key Design Action to use the natural resources of the site, which are the Castle Mill Stream canal, River Thames and the open Recreational Area at Oxpens. We addressed it, by opening up the canal for public activities to take place and to make it acces-sible for pedestrians, by maintaining the existing pathway along Thames River, by creating a new pathway that will link the green public corridor of the Castle Mill Stream canal with the Oxpens Reacreational Area as well as a cycle path for the new Oxpens Area and by locating the Leisure Centre next to the open green area of Oxpens.

Then Layer 2:Connection and Movement, we aimed according to our issues and the swot analysis, to identify the connections we want to maintain and enhance their use and importance. So in terms of Legibility and Integration of the movement framework within the site:i.Hythe Bridge St. and Park End St-connection to & from the city centre-Train Station(gateway to the city)ii.Beckett St.-connection to & from Frideswide Squre/Train Station-new Oxpens Areaiii.Oxpens Rd-connection to & from the city centre but also to the new Oxpens Areaiv.Norfolk St. , Castle St. and Old Greyfriars St. –connection to & from the city centre-new Oxpens Area,and the introduction of new streets that would serve the new uses we propose at Oxpens.We had to outline the quality and nature of the proposed networks and check how these would affect the existing networks, because those decisions formed our key design actions.We explored how to refine the blocks at Oxpens area, at Westgate Shopping Centre and Car Park and at the redevelopment of the new gateway to city, the Train Station..

In Layer 3:Street types and Blocks, we used our Design Action along with space syntax in order to define the street types we proposed and refined the block sizes.The quality of the public realms of streets has been improved, as the proposal includes refined pavements that allow pedestrians to move easily throughout the West End Area, especially on Paradise St. where the surface of the street is shared between pedestrians and vehicles.As far as the new open spaces are concerned, the proposed masterplan includes the opening of the canal to pedestrians, the redevelopment on Frideswide Square and Paradise Square, the new Oxpens Plaza, the open Recreational Area at Oxpens and the Canal Basin-redevelopment of the blocks between Hythe Bridge St. and Park End St. into a major community node.

Finally, for Layer 4:Large Scale Variety and legibility we refined the layout according to the mixed environment we wanted to create andwe distributed the uses evenly throughout the West End Area. That means that we tried to have a range of uses and create a mixed uses character. The intensity and density of the building blocks is related to the uses that take place and the proximity to main, distributor or neighbourhood streets (e.g redevelopment of Westgate Shopping Centre, Canal Basin Area & Commercial block, Car Park & Student Accommodation block).

The following graphic shows the indvidual selected areas for Studio II.

Oxpens Area(Mixed Uses Block-Housing Block-Car Park & Student Accomodation Block)Despoina Pletsa

Oxpens Area(Oxpens Pla-za-Hotel-Housing Blocks-Leisure Cen-tre-Oxpens Recrea-tional Area)Harish Kumar

Cherwell Col-lege-Conference CentreMinal Mhatre

Westgate Devel-opment-Paradise SquareRobert Tsang

Park End St. Com-mercial Develop-ment-Oxford Train StationChris Lin

C O N C L U S I O N

FIG 02 INDIVIDUAL DESIGN AREAS FOR STUDIO II

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IMAGES

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P39, Fig4,

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DOCUMENTS

Oxford City Council, (2008) West End Area Action Plan. Oxford: Oxford City Council.

Oxford City Council, (2011) Oxford Core Strategy 2026. Oxford: Oxford City Council.

BOOK REFERENCES:

Gehl, J. (2000). Cities for People. Washington: Island PressCarmona M, and Tiesdell S (2006) The Urban Design ReaderDavies, L. (2000). Urban Design Compendium, English Partnerships and The Housing Corporation

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