Client: South West Regional Development Agency
Location: Swindon, UK
Size: 8 hectares
Skills: Masterplanning & Urban Design, Architecture, Landscape
Broadway Malyan was appointed by SWRDA to prepare proposals for the regeneration of the area around The Promenade in Swindon. The Promenade is one of seven major projects being promoted by The New Swindon Company in association with Swindon Borough Council to bring about a programme of sustained public and private sector investment and renewal.
The Promenade is currently an under-used area of the town centre which has scope to incorporate new uses, features, infrastructure and activities to become a cultural magnet for Swindon.
The vision for The Promenade will include: a new library and cultural facilities, provision for the University of Bath's Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts incorporating a new gallery and arts campus, expansion of the Wyvern Theatre, 80,000m² of mixed-use development and 500 homes. A high quality public realm will thread the redevelopment urban components together.
The development will include a leisure branded area incorporating a cinema, convenience shops, specialist quality retail outlets, bars, cafes and restaurants. Enhanced pedestrian links and new civic spaces will connect The Promenade to adjoining areas of the town centre. Accessibility and circulation will be enhanced by the reorganisation of the highways and public transport links.
The objectives of the project were to help create a positive identity for Swindon, to provide a legible and attractive hierarchy of pedestrian routes, to enhance existing and create attractive new public space, to provide a comprehensive range of residential accommodation, to provide new and improved cultural and educational facilities, to generate creative and business activities and to establish the centre both as a place to invest in and as a destination by day and night.