Becketwell Archives - Planning Design Ltd

Hotel demolition advances Becketwell regeneration

19th June 202315th February 2021 by Gary Stringer

Following the recent news that detailed planning permission has been granted for the first phase of Derby’s Becketwell regeneration scheme, Derby City Council has now announced it has signed a contract to demolish a redundant hotel to make way for the £200 million redevelopment project.

The Pennine Hotel and former Brannigans pub will be levelled, making way for new development, which will see the creation of apartments, offices, a new hotel, multi-storey car park, public square and performance venue.

At the heart of the city centre, the Becketwell site covers land previously occupied by the recently demolished former Debenhams store, in Victoria Street and Duckworth Square, in Colyear Street.

As previously reported by Marketing Derby detailed planning consent was granted recently for the first phase of the ambitious regeneration scheme, which involves building 259 build-to-rent apartments on the former Debenhams site.

The scheme, which is being delivered by St James Securities, will create more than 2,000 jobs.

Derby City Council has now awarded the demolition contract for the Pennine Hotel to A R Demolition. Work is scheduled to start in the spring and continue until autumn.

Councillor Matthew Holmes, deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transportation, said: “This site has been a regeneration priority for many years.

“The closure of the Duckworth Square mall in the late 1990s and the subsequent relocation of Debenhams left the area in economic decline.

“It was compounded by the shutdown of the hotel five years ago.

“We now have a tremendously exciting opportunity to reimagine a vitally important part of the city centre – creating new vibrancy, boosting the economy and providing facilities for more people to live, work and enjoy life in a thriving, prospering Derby.”

Paul Morris, development director at St James Securities, said: “The appointment of the contractor for the demolition of the former Pennine Hotel is another key milestone in preparing the site for the long-awaited Becketwell regeneration scheme.

“We look forward to getting on site to commence phase one of the scheme in early May.”

Planning & Design Practice Ltd, together with our peers amongst the local business community, and stakeholders such as Marketing Derby, are fully supportive of the redevelopment plans for the Becketwell area, a site which has been crying out for revitalisation for a long time, having been earmarked for development in the Local Plan since 2006.

Richard Pigott, Director at PDP said “Repurposing city centres, especially in the wake of the pandemic, is crucial to their futures and in this respect Derby is no different.

“The Plans for the redevelopment of the Becketwell area of the city centre will allow well designed modern buildings to sit alongside some of our fine old buildings, champion good architecture and act as a catalyst that brings benefits to the wider area, and the city as a whole”

Planning & Design have worked on numerous commercial projects which have involved changing the existing use of buildings located within the city centre.

The long-term vitality of town centres is an important planning concern and diversifying the uses of retail and leisure units can make significant contributions to the street scene and the local economy. For more information or to discuss your development proposals please get in touch.

Becketwell first phase gets planning go-ahead

29th November 202219th January 2021 by Gary Stringer

Detailed planning permission has now been granted for the first phase of Derby’s £200 million Becketwell regeneration scheme and development work is expected to begin this spring. At a recent meeting of the Derby City Council planning committee, councillors voted unanimously in favour of developer St James Securities’ landmark scheme.

Phase one of the scheme includes the construction of 259 build-to-rent apartments on the site of the former Debenhams store on Victoria Street. A new public square, on the site of the former Central United Reformed Church, remains the centrepiece of the development and will also be delivered as part of the first phase.

Work is already underway to bring forward a second phase to comprise a new 3,500-capacity performance and conference venue on the site of Laurie House offices and the former Pink Coconut nightclub. Future planned phases of the scheme include a range of other complementary uses of the site, including up to 25,000 square metres of grade A offices and commercial space, a hotel and a multi-storey car park.

More than 2,000 jobs are expected to be created by the development, with completion expected at the start of 2023.

Councillor Matthew Holmes, deputy leader of Derby City Council, said: “A thriving city centre is vital for Derby’s future economic prosperity and this project will be transformational – allowing hundreds of people to live in high-quality homes in the heart of the city and breathing new life into an area which has been challenged for many years.”

Marketing Derby Managing director John Forkin said: “There is much talk about the need to repurpose city centres and by creating new quality homes for 500 people in the heart of Derby, St James Securities is doing exactly what is required.

“This is an important piece in a bigger jigsaw that will not only develop the Becketwell site but also act to build confidence for further investment in Derby.”

Commenting on the news, PDP Director Richard Pigott, said “repurposing city centres, especially in the wake of the pandemic, is crucial to their futures and in this respect Derby is no different. We are pleased to see that the council unanimously supported the proposal despite some local concerns about the scale of the development. This is a bold development which should act as a catalyst for further investment, ensuring that the transformation of the city centre goes from strength to strength”.

Ambitious plans for Becketwell move forward

30th November 202222nd September 2020 by Gary Stringer

Joseph Cattmull, Architectural Technologist at Planning & Design Practice Ltd talks about the ambitious plans for the Becketwell area of Derby, as redevelopment plans take a major step forward.

For many years the old Debenhams building in Derby has stood out, but for all the wrong reasons. I still remember arriving in Derby as a student back in 2014 and being amazed by the buildings prominence on a street of otherwise high architectural quality. After many years it now appears that a much needed redevelopment will finally take place.

A new multi-use proposal, put forward by St James Securities in partnership with Derby City Council has received backing and looks like it will be going ahead. The former Debenhams building has been demolished and finally the area can be rejuvenated with a modern multi use purpose and architectural design to lift the surrounding area. A combination of residential and commercial building have been put forward, ensuring a high level of footfall through the area.

The residential development has been reduced in scale, and probably for the best. Formerly being 19 storeys on the public square side, now reduced to 11 providing a better balance to the site and helping to blend the development in with the street scene. 259 apartments (136 one bed, 93 two bed and 30 studio apartments) being built alongside ground floor commercial spaces provide a brilliant opportunity to create a lively hub for Derby residents to gravitate towards. There could be real potential for the area to become a social hub, with the site being surrounded by various bars and restaurants and it is crucial that this potential is realised.

The importance of creating a hub in the centre of the city cannot be understated, the poor location of the Intu shopping centre drags footfall away from the city centre and towards the edge of the city. As a result the market square and the quality of retail in the centre of the city has suffered, the new Becketwell development can hopefully be a step in the right direction towards the city centres revival.

Potentially most exciting is the newly proposed venue, designed to replace the Assembly Rooms. The potential for live music and other performances within the city centre can be the spark to reignite the nightlife scene within Derby. The proposed 3,500 capacity venue will allow Derby to compete with neighbouring city Nottingham, who boast a number of performance venues, including Rock City, the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall and the Motorpoint Arena.

Having such a venue with the potential to bring in up to 3,500 people to performances and events on a weekly or even multiple times a week could do wonders for the cities nightlife and social scene. The proposed Becketwell development must be applauded in putting forward such an exciting and ambitious scheme for the city to look forward to.

However, there is another side to this, perhaps, most vital to the success of the development is creating desirable residential spaces. Creating a residential space alongside a social hub can be a tricky thing to pull off, the balance between being socially busy but also providing the residents with a relaxing and comfortable environment to reside in. This can be solved through good architectural design and layout awareness, for example having bedrooms facing an inner courtyard and the living spaces facing out onto the street scene could perhaps be a solution. Of course, no internal layouts nor designs have been finalised so it will be interesting to see what approach the Architects will take when approaching this issue.

The Becketwell development is definitely something to keep an eye on and to get excited about, if carried out well, the project could be the catalyst for the city centres revival. As a company we will be keeping an eye on all the developments of this project and look forward to the scheme being completed.

Joseph Cattmull, Architectural Technologist, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Main image: Becketwell Aerial from North East – St James Securities

Derby City Centre – Assembling the options

30th November 20222nd September 2020 by Gary Stringer

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the weakness of Derby City centre. As a second order centre it does not attract out of town shoppers or tourists as a centre for retail spending because the offer is not top end, it cannot compete with nearby Nottingham or on-line shopping and out of town retailing. Whilst Derby district centres thrive, its town centre fails. The loss of office jobs to Pride Park, the closure of retails chains and the banks and businesses such as solicitors relocating to Pride Park has left large parts of city centre buildings empty.

Intu has also crashed and has gone bust. The centre remains open with the support of Intu creditors but it now has many empty units and key anchor tenants including Debenhams remain only by the grace of their creditors. Indoor events venues including the cinema and bowling/golf are not viable at the moment because of Covid-19.

Derby City Centre needs to be regenerated. This needs to be a combination of small scale organic refurbishment with small scale specialist shopping together with larger schemes. Radical changes are needed to the financial structure of the city centre. This means a radical change to rent and rates and we need to value the city centre and see it’s potential. There is more long term investment in buildings and structure in the city centre than anywhere else in Derby. To let the city centre continue to deteriorate is to throw away 300 years of investment for short term values and entrenched interests who do not value Derby or its people.

To bring the city back to life absent landlords need to re-think their expectations and their approach to city centre buildings. For too long absent landlords (often Pension funds) have used commercial buildings as part of their portfolios. Their value is based on their financial return and past rents are now unrealistic and this is creating high vacancy rates. To lower vacancy rates it will need a major revaluation and a significant drop in rents. By lowering rental values drastically; rents become affordable to a wider range of operators and small businesses.

Secondly Derby City Centre should re-think its enterprise zones. No longer should Infinity Park be the locus for a rates free environment, it should move to the city centre. It is unfortunate but Infinity Park has failed. Business does not want to locate there. The city’s priority should change and the city council should use the Enterprise Zone in a more effective and creative way by moving it to the city centre. A low rent, rates free city centre would re-invigorate the heart of the city.

Landlords would look at the whole of their buildings not just their ground floors. Schemes to house people, to refurbish upper floors would become viable and necessary, as each part of a building would make its contribution, not just the value of the ground floor operation. It would allow a wide range of tenants to take over premises, including small specialist businesses, housing associations and residential tenant groups. It would create greater diversity and variety. It would also help promote the arts and create spaces of artists and studios.

The city should also look at all its buildings including the Assembly Rooms. Are the ceilings really going to fall in? Could the building not be re-used by a wide variety of small businesses and even as accommodation? Why knock down a serviceable building? The decision to knock the building down seems to be based on not being able to keep it as the Assembly Rooms, but what else could it be used for? Other options do not seem to have been explored and if it is knocked down, how long will the scar remain to disfigure Market Square. Look at Becketwell, it has been an eyesore for over 30 years and the damage it has done to the image of the City Centre has been significant. To do the same in Market Square would be horrifying.

With climate change we need to use the buildings we have, not knock them down. Build a new entertainment venue in Becketwell by all means, but save and re-use the rest of the city centre, re-pave Market Place and with a re-purposed Assembly Rooms create a radical and exciting future for Derby.

Jonathan Jenkin, BA(Hons) BTP MTRPI, Managing Director, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Backing Becketwell

16th May 202230th October 2019 by Gary Stringer

At Planning & Design we are pleased to see our peers amongst the business community, together with stakeholders such as Marketing Derby, providing their support to the redevelopment plans for the Becketwell area, a site which has been crying out for revitalisation for a long time, having been earmarked for development in the Local Plan since 2006.

This recently submitted planning application for a £200m mixed use development covering the former Debenhams store, Pennine Hotel, NCP Car Park and Laurie House at Becketwell is the culmination of many years of hard work and the council should be congratulated for its work in acquiring over 200,000 square feet of land in various different ownerships to make this whole project possible.

Phase one of the ambitious regeneration scheme comprises plans for 342 Build to Rent apartments and a new public square on the site of the current United Reform Church, bringing new professionals and footfall to the city centre.

The residential development will comprise of two buildings, the tallest of which will extend up to 19 storeys in height. This building will contain 246 apartments above a ground floor café and restaurant that overlooks the new square. The smaller building will house 96 apartments with a convenience store at ground floor fronting Victoria Street.

The outline planning application is supported by a request to include a range of other complementary uses of the site, including up to 25,000m2 of new grade A offices, innovation centre and leisure to complement the apartments and a planned multi-storey car park, with a smaller courtyard public square called Summerhill Yard that reflects that part of the site’s historic street name.

“The problems of the high street are well documented and Derby will only thrive as a city if more people can be attracted to live and work in the city centre. The Plans for the redevelopment of the Becketwell area of the city centre will allow well designed modern buildings to sit alongside some of our fine old buildings, champion good architecture and will help Derby compete with other cities, both within the UK and around the world,” said Richard Pigott, Director of Planning & Design.

“It is also worth recognising the benefits that the development will bring to the wider area. Surrounding historic streets like Victoria Street and Macklin Street, which have fine old buildings in need of investment, will also benefit. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the scheme to view the application documents on the council’s website and register your views.” The planning application reference number is 19/01245/OUT and a decision is due by 21st November 2019.

The scheme includes £8.1 million in Local Growth Fund investment from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and received 89% support in a recent public consultation, demonstrating the public’s appetite to transform this derelict area which has stood as a symbol of neglect for decades.

Planning & Design have worked on numerous commercial projects which have involved changing the existing use of buildings located within the city centre. The long-term vitality of town centres is an important planning concern and diversifying the uses of retail and leisure units can make significant contributions to the street scene and the local economy. For more information or to discuss your development proposals please get in touch.

Hotel demolition advances Becketwell regeneration

Becketwell first phase gets planning go-ahead

Ambitious plans for Becketwell move forward

Derby City Centre – Assembling the options

Backing Becketwell

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