Kings Quarter transformation gets green light
Gloucester City Council's planning committee approved the authority's proposal for the complete regeneration of the city's Kings Quarter.
Plans for Gloucester’s £85 million Kings Quarter transformation have been given the go ahead by Gloucester City Council planning committee
The proposals, submitted by Gloucester City Council for improvements to Kings Quarter featuring new homes, a hotel, office space, restaurants and shared workspace in the heart of the city were approved by councillors tonight (Tuesday 3 March).
They include a complete transformation of Kings Square as part of the revitalisation of the city centre by creating a new destination for regular cultural activities including live performances.
It will also involve the refurbishment of King’s House to provide a new creative hub with exhibition space, a multi-storey car park, modern food hall alongside public realm and landscaping work.
A number of ageing buildings will be replaced with up to 156 new homes, 40,000 sq ft of new office space, shops, bars and eateries.
Commenting on the decision Councillor Richard Cook, Leader of Gloucester City Council said: “Our long standing vision to regenerate and revitalise this part of the city can now finally become a reality.
“With the redesign of Kings Square, together with new homes and offices, we can make this a real destination that brings people together and one that we can be proud of.
“This redevelopment has been a long time coming and will provide a much needed total transformation of our city centre. It will benefit residents, businesses and visitors to Gloucester not just in the short term, but well into the future and we’re delighted that these plans have been approved.
“Work can now begin in earnest, starting later in the Spring with the Square and we can now continue our discussions around potential delivery models to bring about the rest of the Quarter with work starting as early as 2021.”
Images have been released showing how Kings Square will look during the day and night, and how the space would be used for live performances, events and festivals and art and light shows.
Michael Grubb Studio, the creative vision behind high-profile projects such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Twickenham Stadium Gateways have been working as part of a dedicated design team to create lighting to brighten the area and protect its newly welcoming atmosphere into the evening.
The defining sculptural edge of the square has been designed by internationally renowned George King Architects (GKA) whose founder hails from Gloucester.
Work is already underway on major improvements in the city centre as evidenced by a new Transport Hub, work starting on a new Kings Walk retail unit facing Eastgate, improvements to King’s Walk car park and the demolition of Bruton Way Car Park.