Task 7. Urban Spaces

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).

Fig 1. Steps in Market Square (Bagnall, 2014)

Fig 2. Handrail down slope into Square
(Bagnall, 2014)

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.

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.

Fig 8. Curved Building that Surround the Space (Bagnall, 2014)

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

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 25^th April 2014.

Fig 2. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Handrail down Slope into Square. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 3. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Entrance into Adam’s Building from Lace Market Square. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 4. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Metal Tree Sculpture. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 5. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Square Boundary. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 6. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Layout of Space. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 7. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Stairs. Drawn 25^th April 2014.

Fig 8. Shaun Bagnall. 2014. Curved Building surrounding the Space. Drawn 25^th 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].