A fun exercise imagining what might take the place of a former city centre car dealership has led to a satirical response about design standards in Chester.
A workshop was organised as part of Heritage Week (September 5-15) with members of the public invited to sketch a design showing their replacement for the vacant building in Lower Bridge Street previously occupied by the Quick’s Ford dealers.
Entrants were invited to go along to a venue above the Pound Bakery on Saturday (September 5) in a leaflet backed by organisations including Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC), Chester Civic Trust and Cheshire Society of Architects with serious entries received along with the not-so-serious.
Harrow Estates, whose client is interested in developing the site, have not commented on the design exercise or revealed their actual intentions for the plot amid rumours it may end up as more student accommodation.
‘Architects Anonymous’ created their own humorously annotated fantastical design, which was submitted and also sent to The Chronicle.
Under ‘our vision’, the satirical design reads: “Our potpourri of proposals celebrates the city’s history and heritage – protecting, promoting and utilising its assets to maximise their full potential. A bland business offer that replicates every other second tier city in the UK offers no differentiation.”
Split into quarters, the brief for the ‘heritage quarter’ says: “Incorporate a liberal scattering of scaffolding to protect sensitive structures from tourist hordes and to provide advertising space for local scaffolding businesses.”
The ‘eating and drinking quarter’ section, a reference to Chester’s new dining quarter, suggests changing the conservation area policy in order to use ‘copious illuminated signage’.
The brief for the ‘iconic quarter’, believed to be a reference to the proposed replacement for the Crowne Plaza hotel, says building form “to be unique, preferably amorphous blobs or monolithic boxes with no discernible windows and must be totally unreflective of anything Cestrian”.
The blurb for the ‘student and bedsit quarter’ says: “Flexibility is the key. Minimum of eight storeys.”
The ‘key’ also cocks a snook at CWaC by stating ‘Buildings designed to blend in with ubiquitous Big Belly ‘heritage’ litter bin vernacular. Referencing a proposed anti-social behaviour initiative, it says: “While proudly opening the 15th 99p store in Chester, the mayor and mayoress get distracted as several buskers are arrested”.
However, some residents did make genuine design submissions including Michael Bartlett, of Albion Street, who said: “I suggested a Viking heritage centre similar the Yorvik Centre in York and one of my friends, Ola Rug, drew up the design. It would be linked into the Viking church of St Olave’s next door.
“My wife Michi wanted an ice skating rink because of the lack of leisure facilities for children and families so that the Chester offer was more than just heritage and they would be more likely to spend money in the city.”
