Market Square
Known as the Old Market
Square, the square sits in the heart of Nottingham and has always been the centre of this ever-growing city. The square plays host to many events throughout
the year and also houses various businesses’ bringing life to this space. In
2004, a competition to the redevelopment of the area was planned and the scheme
chosen was designed by one Gustafson Porter (Nottingham City Council, 2014).
When the competition was launched, the
council laid out guidelines to what they wanted from the refurbished urban
space which included; creating a space which would be worthy of a leading
European city and accommodating a range of uses and roles of the Square (BBC,
2003). First of all, the space itself is very unique; the square is an open area
with the Council House at one end and a large spanning water feature at the
other. To my knowledge there is no urban space similar to this in major
European Cities, therefore I would agree this part of the brief has been
achieved and is worthy of its own recognition. Also, due its open design, the
square allows for different events to be hosted within the centre. The client wanted this space to be open to all
members of the public to use openly, where disability access has been thought
of with the incorporation of both steps and ramps to gain access to the square;
see fig. 1 & 2).
Market Square is a central location
through the city with millions of people passing through, however I personally
believe that there is something missing to the square. What I mean by this is
that the square only attracts large crowds of people when events are on, when
events aren’t on then the square is just a concrete field. The water feature is
a nice touch, however it isn’t always turned on (taking away the water
feature), and I feel that the square lacks colour as it is all concrete, the
addition of a green area would be a vast improvement.
Fig 1. Steps in Market Square (Bagnall, 2014) |
Fig 2. Handrail down slope into Square (Bagnall, 2014) |
Lace Market Square
The Lace Market Square hidden in the
Lace Market was designed by Wolfgang & Heron in 2005 as a space to be used
in a mixture of ways such as dining and public art displays (CQ, 2013). The square sits upon the back of the NCN and
provides a courtyard for the students there. Surrounding the square there has
been the construction of 46 apartments, penthouse suites, and finally office
spaces. Like Market Square, the Lace Market Square is used to hold events,
housing pop-up stalls throughout the year and the famous Nottingham ‘Light
Night’ (TM, 2014).
As of today, I would say that the space
is only being used to half of its potential; the square is much underused as it
is and requires more facilities to lure the public that short walk out of town.
As mentioned previously, the Square accommodates different events in the hope
to bring the public to the square. As a target audience, there housing and
accommodation is very highly priced (no student accommodation), but with the
NCN situated in the Adam’s Building, there is a mixture of residents and
students using the Square. In the last couples of months, the NCN has
accommodated the parallel building to Adam’s where students run a café. Even
though that this is a step in the right direct, I still believe that the Square
for one does not have enough publicity about it (betting that a good proportion
of people who live in the Nottingham area do not know about this square), there
needs to be more of a pull towards the Square to a broader range of the public.
Fig 3. Entrance to Adam's Building From Lace Market Square (Bagnall, 2014) |
Looking closely within the space, the
designers have used tress and hedges (greenery) to boarder off the space and
make it its own, which when it comes to the summer time would create lush
greenery with the sun overhead. The designers have included sculptural, metal
trees around the space to increase the sense of landscaping art, however I personal
do now understand the incorporation of these! Yes the Square is of a very
modern style, trying to marge the historical value of the Lace Market
surrounding and the evolving generation, however when visiting the square these
metal trees stand out like a sore thumb, I don’t think they are fitting for
what the scheme is trying to achieve.
Fig 4. Metal Tree Sculpture (Bagnall, 2014) |
Fig 6. Square Boundary (Bagnall, 2014) |
Royal Standard Place
Up until this year I had realised that this
urban space was here, I have been to the Castle gates on many occasions,
however this area is very hidden. Situated off Maid Marians Way, the space is
out of the way of the City Centre (further than Lace Market Square), therefore I
believe this area to of been built around the purpose of a courtyard/staging
area for entertainment for the surrounding residents. This is backed up by the
layout of the space itself; the curved like nature of the design reminded me of
that of roman theatres. The design is only of a ¾ circle with a segment cut
away, here the ground is flat and would be used for entertainment purposes.
Fig 6. Layout of Space (Bagnall, 2014) |
Fig 7. Stairs (Bagnall, 2014) |
As seen by my sketches, the main
feature of this space is its used of varying stone sizes; smaller stones have
been used to create the flights of stairs situated around, whereas in between
these stairs, larger bricks have been used creating seating areas. The seating
area could be accessed by the stairs and would provide an area to watch the
entertainment in the middle of the square.
As an urban space, it provides a
classical element to a modern space. The varying heights around make the space
seem uneven, however the curved nature of the design is relating closely to
that of the Roundhouse Pub which sit at the corner (tower-like design). This
space, each time I have now visited it is dead, only few people wonder, similar
to the Lace Market Square this space isn’t used enough to its full potential.
If there was an injection of life into the square (through businesses) then
this space could be saved.
Bibliography
Bibliography
BBC, 2003. BBC
- Nottingham Features - New Design for Old Market Square. [online]
Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2003/09/new_design_for_old_market_square.shtml
[Accessed 25 April. 2014].
CQ, 2013. Lace
Market Square - Concept, Design and Construction - Creative Quarter.
[online] Available at:
http://www.creativequarter.com/life/architecture/lace-market-square-concept-design-construction/
[Accessed 26 April. 2014].
Fig 1. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Steps in
Market Square. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 2. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Handrail down
Slope into Square. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 3. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Entrance
into Adam’s Building from Lace Market Square. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 4. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Metal Tree
Sculpture. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 5. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Square
Boundary. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 6. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Layout of
Space. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Fig 7. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Stairs. Drawn 25th April
2014.
Fig 8. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Curved
Building surrounding the Space. Drawn 25th April 2014.
Nottingham City Council. 2014. Old Market Square, Nottingham [online]. Available at: http://www.publicarchitecture.co.uk/knowledge-base/files/oldmarketsquarenottingham.pdf [Accessed 26 April. 2014].
TM. 2014. Lace Market Square,Nottingham. [online] Bildurn.co.uk. Available at: http://www.bildurn.co.uk/developments/view.php?id=26 [Accessed 26 April. 2014].
TM. 2014. Lace Market Square,Nottingham. [online] Bildurn.co.uk. Available at: http://www.bildurn.co.uk/developments/view.php?id=26 [Accessed 26 April. 2014].