Engagement to test revised concept designs for Castle Car Park and Eye of York

1) Introduction

Our last blog was in March 2024 which explained the background to the review of the Castle and Eye of York planning application.

We now have some revised concept designs to share and test with you.  Your feedback will inform a preferred option that will be developed into a detailed final design over the summer.

 

2) Re-cap

In November 2023 the City of York Council Executive re-aligned the scheme with the new council’s priorities.  Their recommendations were for:

• flexible green space with children’s play provision
• retention of blue badge parking numbers
• reducing capital and management costs

The proposals seek to enhance the strengths of the Castle and Eye of York area as an important historical asset and re-establish it as a key destination of heritage and cultural activity. As well as connecting this area to other parts of the city.

The scheme will be brought forward in phases linked to the funding that is available, focusing on the Castle car park, and the board walk in the first phase.  We are testing the costs of the concept designs with our cost consultants to ensure it falls within budget. This may lead to prioritisation of elements, refining the phasing or seeking ways to reduce costs within the design.

We will submit amendments to the existing pending planning application to ensure that a comprehensive scheme is developed for the area (see March blog for further details).  Subject to planning approval, this means that the rest of the site can be implemented when funding becomes available.

 

3) Revised concept designs

The Regeneration team have been working with BDP to develop revised concept design ideas for the area, based on the Executive recommendations, and taking into account the principles of the Council Plan, Castle Gateway masterplan, public open brief following extensive My Castle Gateway engagement and the city’s Our City Centre vision.

 

3a) Key elements

The revised concept design is built upon three key pillars that respond to the new brief:

• Create a new greenspace – The site will become a new greenspace at the edge of the city centre, providing respite from the busy and confined neighbouring streets. A greenspace will reinforce the historic connection with the city walls – the site completes a green circuit around the city centre. The scheme will provide new uses for people to enjoy, such as seating spots, play spaces, education areas, picnicking lawns, places for remembrance, small scale events, spaces for residents and visitors.
• Designed for all – Part of the brief is to re-provide the 30 blue badge spaces that currently exist within the Castle car park. We want to go beyond that and make sure that all the features within the site are accessible and inclusive, from play to seating to parking to access routes.
• Tell York’s story – The scheme has a responsibility to tell the story of this important location. The site’s location in the confluence between the River Ouse and the River Foss is historically significant, and the connection with water and the river is an important part of that historic storytelling. The site is a place from which northern Britain was controlled. This importance has been lost through years of changing use, from medieval fortification, to Georgian prison, and now to a car park.

 

4) Comparison with previous scheme

For the planning application in 2022 we broke the site down into four areas (Figure 1).  Here we will take the same approach to run through the similarities and differences that are proposed, how they relate to the open brief.

 

4a) New public space

These concept sketches (figures 3 and 4) illustrate different spatial layouts to consider and test how the open green space and blue badge parking could sit within the central public space.  It is likely that the final design will be a different layout again, depending on the feedback received.

Proposed similarities to previous scheme and open brief:

• Castle approach/ Castlegate Walk will reinstate a clear route to approach the Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower from the city. This walkway is historically significant in the context of power and authority as it was a processional route for judges.
• Planting, level changes, varied surfacing and sculptural seating will create a playful landscape with incidental pathways and stepping stones to encourage informal play.
• Castle garden adjacent to the last drop on the Female Prison, given the historical sensitivity of the site this area will retain a reflective and quiet character, with planting and seating.

Proposed revisions:

• In the central space, the revised scheme proposes to replace the previous large paved public square that could host events and the water fountains with a smaller, greener area of public space, transforming the remainder of the Castle car park site into a new park. It would include places to sit, open lawn space, feature seating, planting and rain garden to represent the role of water, and trees to buffer the parking area and create shade.
• It is envisaged that the new space will havepower available to enable small pop-ups and communities to use it at certain times of the year.
• Castlegate Square is a place of arrival from Castlegate and the Coppergate Centre, and as such, the design will seek to reflect the importance of the site, making the most of sightlines and views, distinct from the areas to linger or gather. The revised scheme will retain a vehicular access point into the Coppergate Centre service yard and blue badge parking.
• As the Drop area is no longer required to be safeguard space for future expansion of York Castle Museum, there is a new opportunity to interpret where the original castle entrance, walls and gateway once stood within the landscaping.
• Accessibility is a central element of the Council Plan and Our City Centre vision. City centre access studies have emphasised the importance of blue badge parking bays in this location due to its proximity to the city centre and cultural facilities. The revised scheme proposes to retain thirty blue badge parking spaces, to keep the current level of provision in Castle Car Park.

4b) River edge

This concept considers building a new elevated connection with the river including a riverside walkway and a boardwalk behind the museum linking the Eye of York with Castle Mills and Piccadilly.

Proposed similarities to previous scheme and open brief:

• Riverside garden alongside the water’s edge, a linear green corridor connecting the wooded area behind Female Prison and the Coppergate Centre.
• Riverside walk will open up the river edge of the site along the top of the Georgian prison walls, with viewing points, so people can get close to River Foss.
• The river corridor has ecological value and provides a range of habitats, therefore the existing vegetation and trees will be retained where possible. The timber boardwalk will be elevated to ensure habitats are protected, and the river embankment will be maintained to avoid any change in the flood storage It will create a wildlife walkway and will provide access to unseen parts of the castle walls.

Proposed revisions:

• The boardwalk to the rear of the museum will link the proposed riverside park, new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Foss to Piccadilly, and the new crossing to St Georges Field. The previous design narrowed as it turned the corner of the museum.  The revised design is exploring whether a consistent 3m wide path along the whole stretch is possible to aid ease of movement.  However, this brings a risk of additional materials and construction costs, and additional tree loss/ biodiversity impacts but this could be offset through the revised greener design.

 

4c) Eye of York

This concept sketch looks at creating a garden in the Eye of York which is the space enclosed by the York Castle Museum (former Female Prison and Debtors’ Prison) and the York Crown Court.

Proposed similarities to previous scheme and open brief:

• The Eye of York design respects the adjacencies of the Crown Court, York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower.
  • Space near the Crown Court – a quiet area, where the use of planting creates a sheltered seating area and a planted edge to the court.
  • Space fronting Clifford’s Tower – a larger seating area as a place for people to congregate. This can be an educational space for school groups, or as an arrival place for processions and events.
  • Space fronting the Museum – a curatable area which opens onto the steps of the female prison building. This will be a place which the museum can curate for outdoor exhibits, small scale performance, or as external cafe space.
• Planting design could reference the sites history of transportation by using plants from around the world.
• The central tree and lawn will be retained creating a central point around which people can gather and listen to speakers. The space is designed to be outward looking, responding to the surrounding buildings and their associated importance and heritage.
• The road which encircles the lawn space will be replaced by a paved surface to encourage and prioritise pedestrian movement whilst still allowing for necessary vehicular access to the museum and courts. This would create opportunities for gathering and activity in the space, such as occasional speakers or exhibitions.
• Retain necessary vehicular access to the court and Castle Museum.
• A small amount of parking will be retained to enable the Crown Court to operate.

Proposed revisions:

• The revised scheme keeps the existing kerb lines, rather than previous oval shape
• It is expected that hostile vehicle measures will no longer be required as the space is not designed to hold large scale events. This will be tested as the designs progresses.

 

4d) Clifford’s Tower

This concept sketch looks at the area surrounding the base of Clifford’s Tower.

Proposed similarities to previous scheme and open brief:

• Radial path around the base of Clifford’s Tower mound, and enhanced planting separating the path from Tower Street and the surrounding area. The circular path was designed with input from York Liberal Jewish Community to enable people to participate in a contemplative walk as an act of memorial for the lives lost in the 1190 Jewish massacre. The path will have a reflective and peaceful character, where the events of 1190 and other key historical events can be remembered and reflected upon.
• The bold swathe of planting would enclose the site to reinterpret the historic moat and water which once surrounded Clifford’s Tower and the Castle. The planting will create a dramatic vista from the top of Clifford’s Tower, as well as providing an attractive and welcoming environment for people to dwell and gather. The planting will include a rain garden for sustainable drainage and create a wildlife corridor. The planting scheme provides a cohesive link between the different areas of the site and serves to define the space as a distinct area within the historic fabric of York.
• Tower Street – A simplified reconfigured Tower Street, will see junction improvements at the end of Tower Street/ Castlegate, giving pedestrian priority, blue badge parking will be relocated to the opposite side of the road away from the base of Clifford’s Tower.

Proposed revisions:

• Simplifying the access points onto radial path to better reflect the arrival points from Tower Gardens, Clifford Street and Castlegate.
• We will engage with York Liberal Jewish Community to review whether the new plaque at the base of Clifford’s Tower works successfully as a memorial space, including for the laying of stones.  The previous layout had a separate quiet area for remembrance to the northeast of Clifford’s Tower, whereas the revised layout brings the expanded swathe and play elements into this area.

5) Things to think about

When reviewing the emerging designs, how they respond to the brief and how we propose to deliver them, we encourage you to think about the following:

1. The concept design includes elements that respond to the public open brief such as creating places for reflection, garden spaces, new areas of play, places to meet, to gather, to pray or to protest. Whilst acknowledging that the new brief (green space, play, blue badge parking, reducing costs) moves away from delivering a hard paved space that could be used for events, are there any other key aims from the original public brief that you would like to see considered in the scheme?
2. The concept design includes a series of smaller spaces which need to work together to deliver the overall vision and create a destination. Are the mix of uses right (green space, play, seating, planting, parking)?
3. Does the new design respect the setting of Clifford’s Tower and the historic buildings?
4. As part of this stage, we are costing the scheme to check that the new proposals are within budget. We are keen to know what you see as priorities within the scheme?

 

6) Next steps

Thank you for your interest in Castle Gateway.  These concept designs present a snapshot in time, and our current thinking.  We will be talking to key stakeholders and the public in September to test these ideas and invite you to get involved with the My Castle Gateway events and public debate.

We would like as much feedback on the concept designs as possible by the 20 September 2024 to inform a preferred option that will be worked up into a detailed design over the autumn, with the intention to submit revisions to the existing planning application in February 2025.

A full business case will be reported to the council’s Executive in Spring 2025 prior to commencement of delivery.  Castle Car Park will only close when a revised business case and planning application have been approved for delivery.

 

7) How to find out more

• Read our latest blogs here on the revised concept designs and frequently asked questions
• Watch a video with the landscape architect talking through the concept designs here
• (The existing Castle and Eye of York planning application February 2022 can be viewed as a point of reference to the previous scheme proposals here)

 

8) How to get involved

• Sign up to join the public My Castle Gateway events here to hear more about the concept designs:
• Saturday 7 September, onsite tour 09:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00
• Monday 9 September, online event 19:30-20:30
• Attend Guildhall Ward Committee Thursday 12 September, 17:30-19:00, Quaker Meeting House, Friargate York YO1 9RL (no ticket required)
• Alternatively, residents can provide feedback by commenting on the My Castle Gateway blog or social media pages X/Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or by emailing regeneration@york.gov.uk.

 

The engagement period will run from 15 August to 20 September 2024.