Major Redevelopment Plans Announced For Bradford
A series of inspiring regeneration plans for Bradford city centre have been announced, with the aim of transforming the look and feel of the area, and attracting more visitors. The Telegraph & Argus reports that the multi-million pound schemes should also encourage more economic activity through business investment and foreign students.
The unloved Kirkgate Shopping Centre has been purchased by the council, and will be demolished to make way for residential developments, open green spaces, and smaller commercial units. The brutalist concrete structure was built in 1976, and at the time it was hailed as an example of futuristic architecture.
The changes in shopping habits over recent years mean that many of the retail units in the centre are now closed. The remaining major outlets, such as Primark, New Look, and Sports Direct, will move over the next two years to The Broadway shopping centre, which contains a mixture of high street brands and independent stores.
The regeneration scheme is based around the concept of creating a ‘city village’, which is an attractive place for families and young professionals to live. There are plans for 1,000 new homes in the city centre, which will include a good mixture of sizes and bedroom numbers. There will also be some high-spec student accommodation built.
A new five storey grade A office building will be constructed at the Mirror Pool, near to the magistrate’s court. This is expected to create 450 permanent new jobs in the city, as well as 30 temporary jobs during the construction process.
Care will also be taken to conserve the historic nature of Bradford’s many fine buildings. For example, the Grade II listed Old Building on Great Horton Road will be converted into a mixture of private and student accommodation. The grand building dates from the 1930s, and was once used by Bradford College.
The building has some beautiful carved stonework on the exterior, and inside much of the original ornate plasterwork and stained-glass windows remain. The developers plan to incorporate the vintage features into a conversion of 190 apartments.
Aurangzeb Iqbal, of Citywide Developments, said: “We deliberately went for one, two and three bed apartments. Foreign students often have a lot of money, and their families want them to have a fantastic experience while they are studying. We want them to go back and tell people ‘You’ve got to go to Bradford.’”
Bradford has been chosen as the UK City of Culture 2025, beating off competition from Durham, Southampton, and Wrexham. Lee Craven, director of Bradford Live, a new arts venue in the city, said the initiative shown by the new schemes helped to secure the win.
He said: “This is a good example, I think, of the city not just hanging around waiting for somebody to throw it a few crumbs. It’s actually investing in its future. I think that helped to swing it – the fact that the city was already investing – wasn’t just assuming things would fall its way, we’re going to build our way, invest our way out.”
Bradford Live will redevelop the Odeon Theatre into a live music venue, with new bar areas.
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