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Progress ReportBakers Quay

Regeneration News
April 2008.
(pdf 679kb)

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Kings Quarter

Rebuilding the retail heart of Gloucester.

The comprehensive regeneration of the Kings Quarter area provides the opportunity to transform Gloucester′s retail economy and create an attractive new shopping destination for the city centre.

An international design competition will launch the transformation and remodelling of Kings Square which, together with a new department store and nearby environmental improvements, will revitalise this important retail quarter of the city.

The new, continental-style Kings Square will continue to be Gloucester′s principal outdoor events and festivals venue and the whole area will be served by a range of much improved bus, rail and car parking facilities.

Kings Square

Site description

Kings Square itself is the largest and most important open space in the city centre. It is surrounded by ‘tired′ retail and leisure outlets, however, the area has responded well to recent facelifts. There area number of empty properties awaiting redevelopment in the surrounding streets, especially between Kings Square and the Inner Ring Road.

Outputs

  • 1.4 ha brownfield land redeveloped
  • 25,000 sq m comparison retail
  • 200 new homes
  • 1,000 new jobs
  • 6,750 sq m offices
  • £80m private sector leverage
7 Comments
Brian
FJ - the shops in Glos reflect the buying power of the consumers in Glos; who exactly is going to shop in this 5th Avenue? Expensive shops don't come to Glos because they wouldn't make any money, Poundland et al do! The docks will be the place where the money goes too, the city will be dominated by empty shops, poundland and Charity shops for the next 5 - 10 years.
Posted on 19/May/2008
FJ
I noticed someone mentioned that Gloucester doesn't "just need expensive shops". They then went on to mention that we need a "broad spectrum of retail". Currently, a vast majority of Gloucester's shops are either tacky chains, charity shops or shops selling cheap things. There are a few boutiques, but they are far outnumbered by the others. So if the city needs a broad spectrum of shops, then we definitely need more expensive shops- lets make kings square our 5th avenue!
Posted on 13/May/2008
Secret Squirrel
There are lots of positive comments throughout this website concerning reatil, but I think that the City needs a broad spread of shops not just stores selling expensive products. This isn't Kensington. Even Cheltenham has it's fair share of charity shops; in fact apart from the promenade Cheltenham is actually pretty avearge when it comes to shopping. Soon the Luis Vitton brigade from Tivoli will be coming to the Designer Outlet for their stylish goods. How ironic.
There could be more done with this website in communicating how the project is evolving; the Titanic Quarter (Belfast) website provides a useful example

Posted on 24/Nov/2007
Matt
Whereas I do feel the change has been for the better, I believe that instead of putting a hard surface down, a garden area should have been created, like that of the Imperial Gardens in Cheltenham, only smaller. It could include benches, and a coffee shop could be located next to it. The market stalls were a good idea, but most of the items being sold there are quite tacky and cheap. Also, i feel that the new layout has been based almost completely on the ice rink that is there in the winter. Whereas I think the ice rink is a good idea, it is not so amazing that King's Square should be based around something that is only present for about two months! A garden could also still include a smaller water feature, and it could be located in the centre of the area.
Posted on 21/Nov/2007
Anthony
These plans for Kings Square and it’s surrounding streets really do seem impressive with 25,000 sq mtr of comparison retail over a large area, will give this city a quality retail offering which will compliment the ‘Gloucester Quays’ designer outlet area. We need well designed/signposted pedestrian flows between the two areas with possibly creative artwork capturing the city’s heritage and the historic docks/quays waterways. The development proposals for this area sound great, including the new bus station/terminal (long overdue!), alongside the new department store (re-located Debenhams?) to greet the incoming bus and rail users with large high rise glass fronted retail units along both sides of Market Parade, leading through landmark tower buildings either side entering into Kings Square where further glass fronted large stores along to Kings Walk on your left and the Regal on your right are on offer along with the mentioned oval shaped café/restaurant positioned off centre.
One impressive element of the scheme that has caught my attention is being the re-development of the existing Debenhams department store into large ground or even second floor retail units along the Oxebode/Northgate St. and Square frontage. This could attract many quality retailers into the city, as Gloucester does appear to suffer from insuffient large units being available thus restricting its retail offer. To top this off is the ingenious idea of a multi-plex cinema along with restaurants/bars/cafes on the higher levels of building with a grand foyer entrance from Kings Square with escalators/lifts up to the second floor, you could have the film billboard up above the foyer giving it a Leicester Square feel even! Plus with the additional continental style restaurants and bars, this really would keep the city centre’s evening economy vibrant, attractive and a major attraction for people to come into the city. Gloucester really could become a major shopping destination between Birmingham (to the north) and Bristol (to the south) if the King’s Quarter is developed in the right way and attracts the right quality retailers this historic city deserves.
I am in agreement with previous comment from Gary Blakeley with regards to lack of progress. Where are we with this, as there does not seem to be any progress with detailed planning permissions being put forward for the work to commence early 2008? Why O’ why is the old eye sore building of the once burger cafe still there? This could have been demolished long ago in preparation for development and open up the view of the square as you exit from Kings Walk. This development has to gather visible momentum to be on the heels of the vast quays designer outlet to enhance the flow from the extending city centre from the south to the north of Kings Square thus every business between these two shopping experiences can benefit.

Posted on 6/Nov/2007
Gary Blakeley
Your website states work should comence in Feb 08 at Kings Square. This is not far away yet I see no advanced work to make sure things progress on time. I suggest you have only high quality named shops in this area ie ,the dearer the better . I am fed up of seeing Gloucester people walking around Kings Square smoking and being idle . If we have expensive clothes shops etc it should attract people with money and this is the essence why Gloucester has failed as there are to many bargain basement shops attracing people with no monies. This may sound harsh but the facts speak for themselves. Look at The Promenade in Cheltenham, King Street in Manchester and The Bullring in Birmingham they all have shops that attract clients with money and not a charity shop in sight.
Posted on 2/Nov/2007
Simon Garner
It would seem that a lot of work still needs to be done to elevate Kings Square from a tired old 70's concrete mess to it's full potential as a cosmopolitain plaza. Removal of the two 'island' buildings and the 'feature toilets' would help open up the area and attract quality businesses.
Posted on 18/Jun/2007
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