Successful regional development projects must move beyond the icons

Glenn Howells
18 May 2015

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Planning

Architect Glenn Howells is the RIBA advisor for the Soar Island regeneration project competition which seeks ideas to identify a potential vision for the future use of the two-acre site in Leicester on behalf of the local authority. With so much political focus now going in to boost regional economic development he discusses what he sees as the key ingredients needed for success? 

Projects like Soar Island are critical to the successful regeneration of our towns and cities. Most areas have these potentially special opportunities or locations that can be different to the development that surrounds and follows them.

What makes them special is that they are transformative, in other words, they change the nature of the place either through introducing something visually striking or by introducing a different type of activity, the best transformative projects achieve both.

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Design ideas from shortlisted teams bidding to win the RIBA competition to redevelop the River Soar area of Leicester will be on display in RIBA’s Architruck, in Jubilee Square from 1.30pm to 7pm on Wednesday 20 May.

The outcome of these projects, when they succeed (and not all do), is that they define not only their site but the wider area, sometimes through providing a visual and mental 'postcard' for a place that was previously anonymous.

Projects that have successfully achieved this, like the Sage in Gateshead or Tate Modern in Southwark, are not only visual markers, they attract people to them and over time create patterns of use, cultural ripples, that spread out beyond their immediate vicinity. These are different to purely iconic projects which I believe are for more fragile, in that they do not balance visual impact with cultural and community content.

We can all think of these projects that have a startling cover but the content was never really thought through, in the end, these fail to become the heart that any community or place needs. 

Returning to Soar Island, the local authority here have been ambitious and brave, setting out a broad plan for regenerating the hitherto neglected Eastern quarter of Leicester, and recognising that within it there is one special spot that has the geography and prominence to define this part of the city.

"The success of all of these and in the end the winning scheme will depend not only if they are excellent designs but if they can become part of the lives of the people who will over time live and work here."

The open competition they have promoted is also brave in that it has not prescribed what Soar Island needs, it has left it open to teams of designers to imagine what the place could be.

This process has generated a wide array of fascinating ideas, that have been eventually pared down to five, very differing yet equally ambitious proposals. The success of all of these and in the end the winning scheme will depend not only if they are excellent designs but if they can become part of the lives of the people who will over time live and work here.

Have your say

Design ideas from all five shortlisted teams bidding to win the RIBA competition to redevelop the River Soar area of Leicester will be on display in RIBA’s Architruck,  in Jubilee Square from 1.30pm until 7pm on on Wednesday 20 May .

 Feedback from visitors to the exhibition will be passed on to the shortlisted teams, who each have until late June to submit their final designs for judging.

 Each of the shortlisted teams will be awarded £5,000 for their submission of a second stage design proposal.  The winning entry is due to be announced in July.