Case study

Winter Gardens | Mixed-Use Development | Mayer Brown

We have been working with Bournemouth Development Company, to create a £150 million mixed-use scheme for the Winter Gardens. Winter Gardens is the largest of its kind in the seaside town’s history. The plan is to rejuvenate this important, 1.98-hectare, town centre site. This area has been underutilised since the demolition of the existing concert hall in 2006.

The proposals will bring new life to the town centre. In addition to new restaurants, premium retail accommodation, public spaces and a children’s outdoor play facility, there will be over 4,000 sqm of dedicated leisure space. Plans include 352 high-quality homes to meet the demands for quality town centre living, with stunning views towards Poole Harbour and the Jurassic Coast.

The existing 225 public parking spaces will be re-provided in a new below-ground car park, discretely located under a landscaped podium. In addition, there will be new resident parking.

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Transport Planning
Infrastructure Design
Environmental Assessment

Details

The Challenges of Creating a 360 Degree Development

Our role was to assist Bournemouth Development Company to secure planning consent for the development. Our services included providing transport planning, highway engineering, air quality and acoustic advice.

The key challenge was to create a development that would provide appropriate servicing and parking facilities for the proposed mixed-use development, and re-provide the public parking, whilst creating a development that would be attractive from all approaches in this key town centre site.

The development also sought to deliver a major part of Bournemouth Borough Council’s vision for the creation of a ‘Grand Garden Walk’. This is a circular route that loops around Bournemouth’s historic lower gardens and connects the seafront Pier Approach to the town’s central square.

Our Solution for the Winter Gardens Project

We proposed to rationalise the highway layout on Exeter Road to reduce dominance by vehicles and enhance the environment for sustainable transport. This will be achieved by introducing a traffic calming scheme with raised tables, road narrowing, wider footways and new cycle routes. A person-friendly environment will be created by seamless transition between the development’s public realm and the adopted highway.

The development’s frontage on Exeter Road provides for generous outdoor landscaped dining spaces fronting the proposed restaurants. The new piazza, wide site frontage and improved highway will together deliver a major part of the ‘Grand Garden Walk’.

The scheme will have a 4 storey, 580 space, car park, almost completely hidden by the natural bowl of the site, mixed uses and landscape features. The existing number of public car parking spaces will be re-provided, accessed off Exeter Road. Residential parking will be accessed from the quieter Cranborne Road.

The majority of the mixed uses will be serviced via a service yard in the basement structure within the main body of the site, screened from the public realm and residential amenity spaces. The residential development will also benefit from internal servicing, minimising impact on the external highway network and local area.

For further information please contact enquiry@mayerbrown.co.uk

Images courtesy of BrightSPACE Architects