The brief was to provide a viable landmark and transformational regeneration project of strategic value that reflects the modern, forward looking energy of the City and its focus on top quality media, arts and leisure to create a new exciting district to Hove adjacent to the Station.
The principle uses for this 6 acre site are residential - 400 units - and employment with over 10,000m2 of varied accommodation. At the heart of the development are both a new Swimming and Fitness Centre and a 7 screen multiplex cinema that play a fundamental role in attracting visitors to this part of the City, and in particular create a new economic and cultural node. A central feature of the proposal is to create a thriving business community with the appropriate infrastructure that creates a centre of excellence in the digital and creative industries sector, in an environment where companies and individuals can operate with collective energy and synergy.
The proposal is designed around a pedestrian spine, opening out into three public squares, providing modern restaurants and cafes along its route, with outside seating to add to the vitality and vibrancy of the area. Below, and in using the change of level across the site, it has been possible to create “under croft” parking at grade at viable cost and minimal visual impact.
We believe the constraints and configuration of the site dictate a new organisational framework that can create a cohesive townscape that integrates with the surrounding area but also has an identifiable quality of its own, an alternative district and a destination of choice. It seeks to integrate overlapping uses of offices, housing, shopping, leisure and cultural activities into a homogeneous whole that welcomes activity and involvement from both those who live and work there and visitors alike. The philosophy has also been to build tall to use the scarce land sustainably on a site identified as suitable for this approach. The development is about intensifying the City, a demonstration that the City of Brighton and Hove can grow from the inside.
