Stoke-on-Trent - Europan 9 site

Opportunities and challenges

This project is for the first phase of City Waterside in Stoke on Trent and is led by RENEW North Staffordshire. It will be an important step towards changing perceptions of the area. The aim is to deliver a high quality, sustainable residential neighbourhood that will attract people back from the suburbs and surrounding towns.

The challenge is to create high quality contemporary architecture and open spaces which take advantage of the site’s green views and waterside location. Innovative high-density housing types are needed to establish a diverse new market for the City Centre. New models for city centre living are sought that create and sustain economic and social opportunity alongside new homes.

Key to the success of the project is an imaginative approach to creating scenarios for building and establishing communities. Development should provide incentives for graduates to settle in the City, foster creative and entrepreneurial talent and help to develop knowledge based industry and enterprise.

City context

The city of Stoke-on-Trent is a federation of six towns located in the Midlands of England (214 km north west of London). The decline of the pottery industry in the twentieth century has led to migration away from the city centre residential areas, leaving an over-supply of unwanted housing in central locations and a radically shifting local economy.

This project is for the redevelopment of such an area, taking advantage of its location to create a modern urban village, providing commercial and leisure opportunities and apartments by the canal, office and live/work space and low rise, high density family accommodation.