Using the ruins of Broadmarch Shopping Center to offer a new vision for the Nottingham development,
Heatherwick Studio has used the ruins of a partially demolished shopping center
to provide fresh insight into the new Nottingham development in the UK.
The proposal by Heatherwick Studio and Stories is a new mixed-use complex.
The complex includes 750 new homes, public and recreational spaces, offices,
conference spaces, event spaces, and acres of green space rich in wildlife.
The project’s vision is to revive the former site of the 1970s Broadmarch Shopping Center in Nottingham, UK,
redesigning and rebuilding many of Nottingham’s lost street connections for the city’s future.
Using the ruins of Broadmarch Shopping Center to offer a new vision for the Nottingham development
The master plan also aims at revitalization plan to reconnect the entire center,
with reference to both the physical and the historical.
Half of the Broadmarch Center opened in 1975;
however the center was abandoned amid the redevelopment of an 8-hectare (20-acre) site,
when Ento’s owners moved into management at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And when the site was returned to City Council for lease ten months ago,
a new public consultation process called The Big Conversation was launched.
The three parties involved, Nottingham City Council, major advisory group Broadmarsh,
Heatherwick Studio and Stories, were involved in the process.
The design focuses on reducing waste and carbon emissions during new construction,
and will use the shopping center’s existing framework to adapt to the city’s ambition to be the UK’s first carbon-neutral city by 2028.
The proposal includes 750 homes, creating 6,000 jobs for local residents, office and conference spaces,
retail space, a wide range of public, green and recreational spaces, improving the Nottingham Caves,
and creating ancient street patterns.
The new development also included a large green space by creating a “green heart” in the vision center.
The focus was on transforming the remains of the former shopping center into a place that brings people together, not just a retail space.
The company has made a proposal to preserve and breathe new life into the framework,
creating a place that can retain the diversity and vitality that many city centers lack, rather than tearing down the structure.
Using the ruins of Broadmarch Shopping Center to offer a new vision for the Nottingham development
The primary design intent was for the new Broad Marsh [historic name of the area]
to reflect the true diversity of the city.
This green space filled with wildlife will be distributed over the entire site intertwined in and out of the frame,
with the aim of creating a beautiful and serene heart of the city.
The green spaces will be located within 3.5 hectares of common land.
The plans will also transform the existing Severns home into an art hotel above the caves
and 37,000 square meters of office and conference space,
within the scope of renovating the city’s cave network and creating a new entrance.
This will allow tourists to sleep right above the caves and form part of a new heritage and culture across the city centre.
Nottingham City Council will work on a detailed masterplan to test the viability of the vision and secure the required investment from public and private sector partners.
