A strategy is being drawn up to encourage developers to build ‘landmark’ tall buildings that enhance Nottingham city’s skyline.
The tallest structure in Nottingham is the Eastcroft Incinerator, standing at just under 300 feet, while the Victoria Centre flats block is currently the tallest residential building in the city at 246 feet.
A new plan is now being drawn up to encourage developers to build new landmark buildings in the city and make sure they “earn their place” in the city skyline and add to the character and quality of Nottingham.
A consultant is now on board, and engagement will be taking place over the next few weeks, according to Paul Seddon, the Director of Planning at Nottingham City Council.
“For a long, long time, we will only get one chance at maximising each development site,” Mr Seddon said.
“Let’s make the most of it. That most of it isn’t necessarily always tonnes and tonnes [of building], and it doesn’t mean that everything is really tall and we are Manhattan, but to build that momentum and investability, and to make sure we aren’t wasting any of that, does mean we can then build some really cracking, tall, landmark buildings that enhance the skyline.”
The council has a document titled the Nottingham Urban Design Guide that dates from about 2009, and over the past decade it has been under constant review.
Its purpose was to maintain important views across the city while ensuring suitable areas were suggested for redevelopment.
The new document will be of a similar nature, but with a more promotional tone.
“Some of those [views] are pretty important and are held dear by people for good reasons, but there is a whole chunk around the city centre, and some parts of the city centre, where you can actually think about really reinventing the scale of opportunity there,” Mr Seddon continued.
“Where across the city is that kind of scale, where a really big building has a chance of happening, because they need a critical mass, they need a quality of infrastructure around them, and you can’t just will them into being. You can’t push them to places developers don’t want to go and where people don’t want to be.”
Some of the existing sites that have been earmarked, provisionally, for landmark buildings include the triangle near Unity Square, the site at the corner of Queens Road and London Road, the former Hartwell Ford dealership site, and the Island Quarter.
Mr Seddon said the logical place is the east side of the city, including the canal corridor towards Meadow Lane.
Another prime site is disused land off Glasshouse Street, near the Victoria Centre.
Here, developer CODE Students had been seeking to build two student accommodation blocks between 19 and 27 storeys in height, making the latter of the two the tallest in the city.
However, the plans were rejected at a planning committee meeting last year.
“They have appealed and they’ve asked for a public inquiry on that,” Mr Seddon said.
“Buildings, if they are going to break Nottingham’s skyline, if they are going to be part of the cityscape here, pretty much forever because that scale of investment does not go away, have got to earn their place in the city skyline and really add to the character and quality of Nottingham.
“Some people think tall buildings have no place in Nottingham, but that is the joy of planning. Somehow we’ve got to navigate between often strongly held views.
“The big challenge with delivering tall buildings is actually their cost and viability.
“At the moment, viability is not pushing us to that level of risk-taking from the development industry. A more than satisfactory return can be made on sites in Nottingham for six to 10 floors of accommodation.
“What I do hope is that gentle, slower densification gets us lots of new homes, more places to work, and builds that momentum. Then the taller buildings come.”
Cllr Neghat Khan, leader of the council, added: “Well-designed tall buildings are more than just additions to the skyline – they signal that a city is open for investment, open for business, and ready to grow.
“Nottingham has many of the ingredients needed to achieve similar success: world-class universities, a highly skilled workforce, excellent transport connections, and a thriving business community.
“Our ambition is to create a city centre that is vibrant, modern, and economically successful while remaining unmistakably Nottingham and protecting our proud heritage.
“Looking ahead, I want Nottingham to be known as a city that embraces opportunity, welcomes investment, and has the confidence to think big about its future.
“Landmark tall buildings can form part of that vision, helping to drive growth, create jobs, and ensure Nottingham remains one of the UK’s leading regional cities for generations to come.”
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter