portfolio hand-in

Start-Up CityRe-Activating Coventry City Centre through

Micro-Economies

-Death of the City Centre-Shrinking UK town and city centres drain of trade and employment

of Coventry city centre shops vacant14.7%

2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online

20,000 jobs lost for each 1%

The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-

75% of grocery shopping is done in supermarkets

-Out of Town-

80% of new shopping centres are planned out of town

-Shopping Centres-Nearby Birmingham

Bullring has 160shops and 30 restaurants

Retailers currently in a critical condition for 2013

-Showrooming-Shoppers visit high

street to see products, then find it cheaper on phones or tablets

Only 40% of total retail spend on high street by 2014

25,000 Town shops closed since 2000

9,000 Expected to close by 2014

230 Retail Brand Casualties since 2007

140

Vacant Coventry


2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online


The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-


-Out of Town-











140


2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online


The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-


-Out of Town-











140


2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online


The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-


-Out of Town-











140

-Death of The High Street-


2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online


The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-


-Out of Town-











140


2012-

UK Vacant Shops

14.6% 2008-5%

-Internet-

12% of shopping is

now done online


The Big Drain

-Supermarkets-


-Out of Town-











140

-Empty Spaces-Abandoned buildings and empty retail units

Empty ShopsVacant Offices

Disused Historic BuldingsAbandoned Sites

Flyovers and Underpasses

Key

Coventry City Centre 1:5000

-Empty Spaces-Abandoned sites and empty retail units

-City of Coventry-AD 700 - Present Day

1016

ad 70

0

Medeival Convent

King Canute and Danes destroy convent and town.

1043

Monastery built on remains of convent which became rich-est monastery in England with gold and jewels.A

D 90

0

Saxon farming settlement devel-ops. 12

00s

Cloth trading becomes main industry, produc-ing wool and dyes. City prospers as a result of reputa-tion of Coventry blue cloth

1150

Growth in tradeLaws passed so merchants coming to the town were free to trade in peace and would be free of rent and dues for a period of two years from when they began to build.

1200

Free trade laws encourage the exchange of lo-cal produce such as wool, soap, needles, metal and leather goods.

1662

City walls demol-ished by King Charles ii after civil war as pun-ishment

1617

Parliamentar-ian stronghold in civil war. Royal-ist prisoners sent to Coventry

1067

Lady Godiva rides streets naked in protest of high taxes on people of the City..?

Dem

olish

Build

GROW

TH

Build

Dem

olish

Boom

1700s

Silk weaving and ribbon produc-tion becomes main industry. This makes town important in the fashion industry

GROW

TH

Slu

mp

1860

s

Foreign imports kill off silk and fabric trade

Slu

mp

1880s

Watch and clock industries grow along with sewing machines to be-come towns main industries

GROW

TH

1890

s

Bicycles devel-oped by sewing machine compa-nies. By the 1890s it became the largest producer of bicycles in the world, with 300,000 produced each year

GROW

TH

Boom

1897

First car was pro-duced in Coventry by Daimler. The motor industry continued to grow and by 1930s was at the centre of the UK motor industry.

Boom

1920s

Car industry fed other engineering industries such as aircraft manufac-ture, instruments, gauges and chain-making. Dur-ing the war most factories turned to weapon and air-craft manufacture

Growth

1940

November 14th Moonlight So-nata Blitz. Nazi German bomb-ing destroyed most of the citys medieval centre and Cathedral. A second raid in 1941 brought death count to 1,236D

emolish

1950s

Build

1960s

A growing and successful car industry meant the city was one of the richest cities in the UK and had one of the highest standards of living outside of London. The population peaked at 335,000 in the late 60s.

Boom

The city is rebuilt in a tabula rasa fashion in a mod-ernist, brutalist style. The first pedestrianised precinct in the UK, separa-tion of cars and pedestrians and a central ring road characterised the redevelopment

1980s

Slu

mp

Decline of Brit-ish motor industry hit the City hard leaving 20% of the population unemployed. A rise in petty crime soon followed giv-ing the city a poor national reputa-tion.

1990s

Although the 1990 recession hit the City hard, engineering re-search headquar-ters have stayed and smaller education indus-tries have grown around Coventry and Warwick Universities

Shrin

kage

2000s

Build

Recent expan-sions to university buildings, as well as improvements of public space have been suc-cessful in reacti-vating areas of the city

2011

2012

New businesses introduced by new migrant commu-nities to Coventry has regenerated previuosly aban-doned areas of the city.

Recession along with rise in internet shopping and out-of-town shopping centres mean that trade is gradually slipping away from the City ventre leav-ing empty shops and dead spaces

2020

Redefinition of city centre: New energy and water harvest-ing industries and city farming become the citys main industries. Improved hous-ing typologies and public spaces make the city de-sirable once moreG

rowth?

Shrin

kage

Claire TaggartUCL

Jan 13, 2013 19:21Scale 1:10000

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Landmark Information Group Ltd and Crown copyright 2012. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY.

1880 Claire TaggartUCLJan 13, 2013 19:20Scale 1:10000

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1930 large

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Claire TaggartUCL

Jan 13, 2013 19:25Scale 1:10000

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1970 large

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Claire TaggartUCL

Jan 13, 2013 19:28Scale 1:10000

1990 large

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1990

-Demolition City-Organic growth of the city through trade is followed by repeated planned

demolition, slum clearance, the blitz and removal of historic industrial and trade buildings throughout the 20th century

1:25000

1930

1970

-Gibsons Modernist Masterplan-Post-war re-building of the city

Vision of a Pedestrianised City Precinct

Masterplan Model

Ultimate Masterplan

Here is a building whose sole value is historic. Is it to be

allowed to stand in the way of the new plan?

Much of this area is already scheduled for

slum clearance

At the moment it is the plan that is of primary

importance, the details can follow later.

SPACOIUS PLANNING

Elevational treatment will be secondary to the plan. It will depend on the availability of

materials

Some of the things to be avoided: varying heights, hid-

eous lettering, extravagant squiggles, narrow pavements

THE ARCHITECT AND BUILDING NEWS

-21st March 1941-

Coventry is one of the test towns and will act as an

invaluable guide for replanning elsewhere

-Post-War Boom Town-Planning widely considered to be a success as one of the wealthiest cities in the UK

during the 1960s

New pedestrianised shopping precinct

-Tracing Identities-Re-introducing lost identities into the city and establishing new ones

City identity and history lost in repeated destruction,

lost industry and tabula rasa re-planning

To create a unique identity and sense of place for

Coventry as a hub for the whole West Midlands and

Warwickshire district

would see much of the city centre demolished and

rebuilt.

The Jerde Vision

High Quality Retail...to attract big stores and

quality brands

MARKET WAY

-Visions for Coventry-Recent proposals for redevelopment of the centre as an

international city to attract big name high street stores

this in Oxford we would be shouted out of town. But the potential

of Coventry allows us to do something audacious and bold

If we tried to do

The plans

a regional, national and international

place of interest...

We need to relocalise and bring manufacturing back to Britain,

and we also need to address the issue of skills, as weve almost lost the skills needed...

Chinese wages are going to be going up all the time, as there is pressure for standards to rise, plus the costs of air freight and sea freight is rising all the time. So were at the turning

point of the whole globalisation super-tanker and its starting to turn around...

...vibrant manufacturing industries, and strong local economies built around

small businesses and cooperatives

The five million small businesses of

this country are all part of the fabric of our communities

"We cant succeed as a country just by hoping wealth

will trickle down from those at the top to everyone else. Our economy wont turn around that way"

I think local people should have more of a

say over what happens on their high street

The High Street should be at the very heart of every community, bringing people together,

providing essential services and creating jobs and investment; so it is vital that we do all that we can to ensure they

thrive

once we invest in and create social capital in the heart of our communities, the economic

capital will follow

...there is a massive appetite out there among

people and organisations to get their hands dirty and fight for

their high streets

...my vision aims to find and nurture tomorrows innovators and ideas that

will create the new sustainable high streets of the future, seizing the opportunity that the current crisis presents

and putting the mechanics in place to allow new talent to flourish

The only hope our high streets have of surviving in the future is to recognise

whats happened and deliver something new

...we could find new ways for businesses

to build shared facilities and develop

deeper connections with each other, enabling them to start to overcome

the challenges they face

"We need very successful entrepreneurs in

Britain. Making profits. Being rewarded"

Vacant shops are also a wasted opportunity with far-reaching consequences. When goods and services start to disappear, our sense of community can be

weakened and undermined

Empty high streets are a blight on the

local economy

were liberating small businesses from the

grip of red tape

Mary PortasNatalie Benne

tt Ed Milliban

dNick CleggDavid Cameron

The High Street Saviours...

Government High Str

eet

Adv

isor Green P

arty

Labo

ur

Conservative

s

Lib-Dems

-Georges Aspiration Nation-Kick-starting the economy with start-ups

The first 2,000 will be taken off the National Insurance

paid by every small company for each employee from April

next year

The income tax changes mean many workers would take

home an extra

700 a year

450,000 small businesses;one third of all employers in the country will pay no

jobs tax at all

New tax relief to encourage private investment in

social enterprise

More small businesses

set up last year, the most in the past 20 years

58% of social enterprises

grew their business last year compared to 28% of other small and medium

enterprises

Drapers Hall

Old Grammar School

Coventry Point

Coventry Market

West OrchardsShopping Centre

-City Centre Landmark Buildings-Re-orienting the city, embedding new programmes in existing historical

and new landmarks

CoventryCathedral

ODEON

IKEA

Whitefriars

City Hall

StationHouse

Friars House

Old Grammar School

Coventry Point Drapers HallAbandoned old traders guild, opposite the old cathedral, herbert gallery and

Coventry University Union

-Abandoned Landmarks-Old landmark buildings as sites to anchor new industries in existing city fabric

1 3

2

[Academic use only] [Academic use only]

[Academic use only]

Under-occupied 1960s office block, adjacent to the indoor market, amongst a cluster of specialist supermarkets and

overlooking the central precint food stalls

Abandoned medieval building close to area of office blocks, amongst a street of alternative fashion shops

1 2 3

Online Retailers of Independent Businesses

-Start-Up City-Online, social and business links

Food , Drink & Catering

Digital /Services & K

nowledge-Based Industries

Fashion, Craft & D

esign

Online Delivery Companies

Workshop

House

Shop Front

Coffee ShopOffice

PrintersWiFiMeeting Rooms

HotelVideo Conference

Meeting Rooms

Computers

Digital Manufacture

Material Sh

opTools

Printers

HouseShop Front

Shop Front

Shop Front

HouseHouse

House

House

HouseHouse

Home Office

Home Office

Home Office

Home Office

Part-Time Job Agencies

Cafe

RestuarantBar

Takeaway

Seasonal Pavilions

Delivery Services

Food Courts

MobileVans

Technical and Trade

Schools

City Energy Harvesting

University Graduates

Waste

Energy Generation

Unemployed

Sales

High StreetStores

Restaurants, Vans,

Pavilions

Waste

Energy Generation

New Migrants

-Sites for Intervention-Five key typologies to address across the city centre

-The Ring Road-1970s inner city ring road leaves a ring of dead space cutting through the

city, choking off the city centre

-Vacant Shops-Loss of industry, unemployment, out-of-town shopping centres and online

shopping contribute to the drainage of trade from the city centre

21

-Historic Buildings-The few remaining pre-C20th buildings are left abandoned, bereft of

function, isolated and cut-off by city infrastructure

3

-Empty Office Buildings-Loss of industry and related managerial work leaves empty office space.

These buildings stand prominently empty, slowly decaying

4

-Abandoned Land-Abandoned sites in the city centre where buildings have been demolished

and rebuilding plans have fallen through

5

5

5

1

1

1

11

1

1

1

1

2

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

2

2

2

2

-Textiles Industries-Migrant Industries, Dressmaking,

Designers and Repair Services

-Speciality Foods-Markets, Shops, Restaurants and Cafes

-New Creative Industries-Services, Media, Photography, Film and Design

Coventrys

Micro-EconomiesEmerging Industries and

Start-Ups

-Social ActivitiesAssociated Public and Social Spaces

foldout business mapping book

-Provisioning-Empty office buildings to be turned into space for providing citys energy and water requirements

-Water Collection-Rainwater collectors and treatment

-Micro Wind Turbines-Wind deflected down facades of building to be

harnessed and harvested

-Dismantling-Buildings to be cut up and split into

different functions. Homes of workers are integrated amongst and powered by services

-Micro-Industry-Small-scale industries integrated in empty office

and housing blocks.British dull, damp climate lends itself to high value porcini or shiitake mushroom production

pop-up

-Provisioning-Empty 1960s office block, Coventry

Point,becomes a power station and small-scale farm for the city centre

-Decks-Proposal for transformation of the city ring road, as a physical social network around the city, with

social spaces, facilities and messages

-Re-Forestation-Large areas of abandoned city centre land to be turned back to nature, turning the negative

image of nature taking over abandonment into a deliberate and positive move

-Free Land-Abandoned land to be turned to allotments for

inner-city dwellers with limited mobility

-Free Space-Empty shop spaces to be let freely for small

businesses, graduates and organisations setting up until in profit

-Social Places-Spaces under and around ring road to be trans-

formed into sports facilities and community theatres and exhibition halls for local groups

and businesses

pop-up

-Signage-Ringroad junctions become destinations and are used as signage for identifying districts

of the city

-Seasonal Pavilions-Temporary seasonal pavilions re-animate abandoned city spaces, occupied by local

businesses on rotation

-Summer-Lightweight foldable pavilions provide

temporary shady space for seasonal food vendors and bars

-Winter-Temporary quilted spaces provide shelter for

mobile coffee shops and hot food stalls

-Performing Arts-Pavilions create events and performance spaces

to re-animate dead spaces of the city

-Summer-Lightweight foldable pavilions provide

temporary shady space for ice cream vendors and evening bars

-Winter-Temporary quilted spaces provide shelter for

mobile coffee shops and hot food stalls

-Step 1: Activation-Temporary pavilions and interventions draw attention and

curiosity to disused spaces and their potential for habitation

Thea

tre

Lea

f Mul

cher

Shop

Sta

lls

City

Bea

ch

Wat

er C

ollec

tor

Planter P

avilions

Bus Stop

Caff

Theatre

-Seasonal Pavilions-Nomadic Pavilions occupy dead spaces in the city, creating an event and allowing local

businesses to showcase

-Autumn Mulcher-Travels around city centre trees, collecting leaves for compost on

allotments

-Winter Caff-Nomadic thatched cafe moves around city.

Uses ancient local medieval construction techniques. Local cafes rotate occupation. Toilet and food waste is biodigested to fuel

the stove and hearth

-Summer Beach-Artificial Beach to be set up in Broadgate

Square with umbrella roof ready for British summer rain

-Spring Planters-Inhabitable seed pavilions are rolled

between citys derelict sites. Coconut fibre shell holds seeds and drops them around

the city, re-greening the land

-Peeping Tom Theatres-Inspired by Coventrys medieval mystery play

tradition, small open theatres are to be distributed around the city centre and ring road for local

drama and arts groups to exhibit freely

-Bus Stop-Using pegged timber joinery, the

bus stop is an interactive social/play space/climbing frame

-(Work)Shop Stalls-Ready-fitted out workshops, shops and restaurants for

new startups with easily adaptable and changeable facades. Local planning laws relaxed, allowing

extension of advertising into street

-Rainwater Collectors-Collectors wrap around redundant office blocks to harvest facade run-

off- to be used as grey water

-Interventions-Small-scale insertions into the city to re-activate dead spaces and buildings

-Digital Directories-Digital signage corresponds with physical signage for the public, as well as serving as a

business support and services directory

Coventry

Interactive Directory Map

Smartphone App

Physical Interactive, Changeable Street Signage

and Furniture

Card Voting Chips

Pavement Sticker AdvertisingCardboard Fold-Out Stools

Voting Boxes Behind Facade

Elevation from Street

-Pop-Up Shop Front-Cardboard pop-up to test graphic and design principles on site and act as a design

consultancy with the people of Coventry

-Festival Ringway-Junction Gateways through ring road improve pedestrian access, utilising disused land, hosting sports facilities and events, creating destinations in infrastructure, re-connecting

the city centre

Car wind-powered under-raod lighting

Graphic cit

y and district symbols re-orientate city centre

Sports facilities in large disused spaces

-Module Insertions-Flexible, adaptable frameworks insert into existing structures

to divide spaces up to be more habitable

Peg

-Join

ted S

tructu

ral T

imbe

r Fra

mewo

rk

Pre

-Fab

Tim

ber-

Fra

me B

oxes

Module frames act as beams and structural bracing

Short-term rental working and meeting rooms in informal cafe office space

-Adaptable Modules-Inserted Rooms can be clad, lined and altered according to function

-Coff

ee S

hop O

ffice

s-P

ublic

Gar

den C

anop

y

-Shofront Homes-Layered living on a gradient from street shopfront, through

home office to private living

pop-up

-Shopfront Homes-Live/work units of adaptable screens designed

on a gradient from public to private space

Pinboard W

alls

Staircase Unit

Sliding Roof G

arden Cover

Micro-Trubines

Water Storage Tank

Legible, A

ccessible Services

Facade A

wning Frame

Inserted into

vacant unit o

n Hales Str

eet

-Shop Unit-Plug-in services and moveable screen partitions allow rapid and easy

changeover and rotation of resident businesses

High Street PublicHome Private

Adapted

for Ru

by Tuesd

ays H

airdress

ers

-Inserted Live/Work Unit-Modular timber structure allows for easy assembly and modification,

whilst hinged screens enable change of configuration day-to day

Floor/R

oof frame module

Rainwater storage tank

Exposed, accessible plug-in services

Plug-in facade

Modular pegged timber structure

Bus stop/loading bay

-Live/Work Unit-Modular structure with moveable screens and

legible plug-in services

Recycling B

ins

Inserted Service Unit

Solar Panels

Micro-Turbines

Bus Stop/L

oading BayP

inboard Shopfront

Modular Structure

Inserted Service Unit

Hales Stree

t Shopfronts

InsideF

acade

LED

Advertising Screen

Staircase Unit

Structure for Future Extensions

-Shopfront Structure-Extruded double facade holds public services and plug-in business units, whilst providing structure to allow for easy

future extension

Bus stop

LED

Advertising

Folded Stair Unit

Swivel Stairs

Fold-Dow

n Canopy

Fold-Out W

orktop

Extension Shelter

Dining Unit

Bio-Combustor Street Heater

Composting B

ins

Foldout Cafe Table

Sink and Worktop U

nit

Transport Pallet

Malleable Furniture/Storage W

all

Pinboard

Mark

et Shel

ter

Deployable Fabric Shelter

Shopfro

nt Displ

ay

Furniture Wall

Display Fram

ework

Fitting Room

Rotating fold-out fabric structure

Workstation

-Plug-in Units-Services, Furniture, shop displays and extensions are delivered by bus to plug into new facade

structures and internal shop units

Kiosk T

racks

Advertising P

in Board

Signage Fram

e

Folded Stair Unit

Swivel Stairs

Fold-Dow

n Canopy

Fold-Out W

orktop

Extension Shelter

Folding food Cart

Deployable Shelter

Cooker Unit


Composting B

ins

Foldout Cafe Table

Pallet Base

Office Furniture/ Storage W

all

Shopfront Framew

ork Display

-Canteen Kiosks-Folding mobile food kiosks are inhabited on rotation, deployed across the pedestrian precincts on a

roller rail system, encircling existing social jmeeting and gathering points

Kiosk T

racks

Advertising P

in Board

Signage Fram

e

Folded Stair Unit

Swivel Stairs

Fold-Dow

n Canopy

Fold-Out W

orktop

Extension Shelter

Folding food Cart

Deployable Shelter

Cooker Unit


Composting B

ins

Foldout Cafe Table

Pallet Base

Office Furniture/ Storage W

all

Shopfront Framew

ork Display

-High Street-Hales Street site with plug-in facade

structure,integrating business and public spaces

-High Street-Hales Street site with plug-in facade structure

Future City

2015-2050

Scenarios

Scenario 1: 2015Low rent live-work units and availability of support and facilities encourage online-trading service companies to relocate to Coventry and new graduates to stay and set up in the city.

= micro-service economy

Scenario 2: 2020With nearly all shopping done online, coffee shops, restaurants and salons take over empty units as the citys social meeting points

= socially-focused high street

Scenario 3: 2020New guilds become tourist attractions for the city, encouraging growth of a new day-time and evening entertainment economy

=leisure city

Scenario 4: 2030Rises in the cost of oil, energy, freight and increased Chinese wages gradually brings more small-scale skilled manufacturing back to the UK.

=consumption-production shift

Scenario 5: 2050With all trading and socialising done online the high street becomes completely redundant, necessitating the conversion of retail space to residential property and precincts to parks, gardens and avenues

=residential centre

Pub and Beer Garden

Shopfront Homes

Public Street Space

Old Grammar School-Cafe Offices-

portfolio hand-in

Documents

town shops

grocery shopping

new shopping centres

uk town

uk vacant shops

city centres

high street

big drainsupermarkets