This landmark site lies on the doorstep of the Bargate Monument, the Grade I listed medieval gateway into Southampton’s Old Town. With the ancient town walls running as a spine through the Bargate Quarter site, the project looks to transform the area and celebrate some of the city’s richest heritage assets.
Formerly a redundant 1980s shopping centre, the vision for the project was to redevelop the area as a vibrant place for people to live and shop in the city centre, bringing a new pedestrian street and a series of gardens through the heart of the development. The £100m scheme brings 500 new residential units including townhouses and retail at ground floor level, creating a vibrant new quarter within the city, which looks to the town walls as the connecting thread.
For the first time in over 30 years, the old town walls have been revealed in this area, having previously been hidden by the former Bargate Shopping Centre, built tight up against them.
The new proposals moved the building line away from the walls, giving them space to be admired and setting them within a green landscaped framework, reminiscent of the Victorian ‘York Gate Gardens’ which once ran along this stretch of the town’s defences.
Where sections of the town walls have been historically removed, the scheme has represented these missing sections sensitively and creatively through artworks and details within the floorscape.
Working alongside artist Kirsty Brooks, a series of screen-printed glass artworks have been designed to represent the walls and provide interpretation as part of the wider ‘Walk the Walls’ route around the city.
Assisted by the Council’s archaeologists, we delved into the archives to discover more about the Bargate’s unique history and the fascinating medieval artisans that historically worked in this quarter of the city – from brewers to blacksmiths, weavers and woodturners.
Details within the public realm celebrate these makers and helping to tell the rich story of the site’s association with the great medieval trade routes in and out of the city.
The scheme involved close dialogue with Historic England and the Council’s Urban Design Officer to develop the sensitive strategies the site warranted, as well as curating a distinctive palette of materials in keeping with the historic setting, which sees the use of traditional Purbeck Stone, quarried in the neighbouring county of Dorset.
Having been involved from the outset of the project, we developed up the planning information, with the scheme receiving unanimous approval from Southampton City Council. We have also developed up the technical design packages and will continue to monitor the works as they progress on site.
