It's the end for Odeon twin towers

The T&A can exclusively reveal that The New Victoria Place' mixed-use design has been chosen by a panel of expert judges in an international design competition.

The winning scheme outscored two other finalists - one of which would have retained the former cinema's distinctive twin towers. The proposal, which will see investment of about £55 million, is designed by Langtree Group, Artisan and Carey Jones Architects.

It will create a vibrant new public square framed by four new buildings offering premium offices, affordable studios and one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

With a new 100-bedroom hotel and a three-storey caf and restaurant facing the new square and the Alhambra Theatre, New Victoria Place is designed to be a landmark in Bradford.

The development will also include 124 parking spaces and about 20,000 sq ft of space earmarked for use by Bradford College to provide a city centre presence.

It is hoped the scheme will revitalise the offices market in the city centre.

Subject to planning approval,work on the site will start in summer 2007, with the development scheduled to be completed in 2009. Maud Marshall, Chief Executive of Bradford Centre Regeneration, which ran the competition, said: "I'm delighted to announce New Victoria Place as the winning entry.

"The scheme is crucial in the regeneration of Bradford. High quality mixed-use developments are essential to booming UK cities.

"New Victoria Place will ensure Bradford is able to emerge as a major northern city, moving it forward, as it begins to stand shoulder to shoulder with cities such as Leeds and Manchester.

"Offering a strong, commercially-sustainable development which has an extremely strong business model, New Victoria Place will play a crucial role in the city's renaissance."

Councillor Andrew Mallinson, Bradford Council's executive member for regeneration and economy, said: "It has taken a significant amount of time and expertise to ensure that Bradford benefits from the best possible scheme for the former Odeon site.

"The winning group has demonstrated not only a stunning, deliverable design but also the track record and experience to make it happen."

Jan Anderson, Executive Director of Environment, for Yorkshire Forward, which owns the Odeon site, said: "Renaissance on the scale of the Odeon site takes a long time to deliver and is a long-term investment.

"The first phase of the scheme has resulted in the selection of the New Victoria Place scheme as the one which will bring the most benefit to the City of Bradford, and continues the transformation of the city centre."

Pick of the top landmark ideas

Today's eagerly-awaited announcement on the Odeon cinema follows an 18-month process which began with the launch of a prestigious designer-developer competition.

The competition encouraged teams to come up with ways of transforming the derelict site to create a new landmark for Bradford.

The proposed redevelopment of the site is a flagship project for Bradford Centre Regeneration and Yorkshire Forward, who hope it will come to symbolise the ambitions of the city centre.

The Odeon site, bought by Yorkshire Forward in May 2003, is considered to have strategic importance in the wider regeneration of the city.

The difference of opinion regarding the future of the site prompted an intense public debate in June this year.

Representatives of the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) clashed heatedly with leaders of the Bradford Centre Regeneration team, who ran the designer-developer competition.

Since the debate, residents have expressed annoyance that the cinema has been allowed to become overgrown with weeds, creating a city centre eyesore. Yorkshire Forward has said it would not be the best use of public money to remove the weeds.

With the intensity of feeling and nostalgia surrounding the former cinema, today's announcement is unlikely to be the end of the discussion, with the next steps in the process likely to create more interest.

It is expected that a planning application will be submitted by the developer in Autumn this year.

The contest itself sparked immediate interest and there were 18 expressions of interest submitted by top-rated architects and developers.

Three finalists were selected in September 2005 with final proposals received in March this year.

The final decision, announced today, was made by a panel of experts, including renowned architect Glen Howells.

Before the decision was reached, an extensive consultation process took place to gather views from the public.

The consultation involved an exhibition at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television where the plans were showcased.

More than 3,000 people visited the exhibition to inspect the plans and offer opinions.

Other core consultation channels included Bradford Centre Regeneration's website and the post, with 3,524 leaflets mailed to Bradford residents.

A total of 16,500 leaflets were distributed across the district and 1,493 feedback forms were completed and returned.

A detailed report on the consultation process, released to the Telegraph & Argus today, concludes that "the total number of positive responses received outnumbered negative comments expressed."

A total of 44 per cent of participants liked the fact that the designs offer a connection to the heritage of the city, while 36 per cent said the designs had an appealing appearance.

Older people were more likely to mention the city's heritage than younger residents, according to the consultation report.

When responding under the category "reflects Bradford's heritage," 36 per cent of residents believed it was important to retain the original towers from the existing building, while 12 per cent said it was important to have a mix of old and new in the designs.

BCR said a good cross-section of the community had taken part in the consultation, with nearly equal proportions of men and women represented and a good spread of different age groups.

The modern appearance of the buildings was also mentioned as a positive factor by 13 per cent of participants.

Although the feedback forms did not prompt residents to express a preference between the three designs, 337 chose to do so.

Casa Mela got the nod from 221 respondents, New Victoria Place was the best design in the eyes of 87 people, while the Pivot attracted 34 votes.

A total of 12 per cent said they did not like any of the three designs and the same percentage thought the existing building should be renovated.

The physical appearance of designs was the main thing people disliked about the proposals, with 55 per cent expressing their dislike.

There were fears that the style of the buildings could be seen anywhere, with 13 per cent saying the designs did not reflect the area.

Concerns were expressed that the building materials were impersonal, were not harmonious with the city centre, were too modern and too tall.

Judged against criteria outlined at the beginning of the competition, the Langtree/Artisan/Carey Jones entry outscored entries from the other two highly competitive finalist teams - Bioregional Quintain/Studio Egret West and PPG Land Limited/Dyer.

The criteria for judging the winner were cost, deliverability and viability, architectural quality, contribution to cityscape, innovative design, maximisation of development potential and programme.

New Victoria Place was commended for its strong and commercially-sustainable financial plan. The development will be built speculatively and is not dependent on any pre-let units.

Langtree, Artisan and Carey Jones Architects have extensive experience of designing and developing similar schemes, transforming neglected areas into highly desirable locations and playing a key role in the regeneration process.

Simon Peters, regional dDirector of Langtree Group, said: "We are proud to be selected as the winning team and we believe that New Victoria Place will be an important landmark for Bradford, and a key fixture in the huge regeneration of the city.

"Not only will the development set an architectural benchmark in the city, it will also give Bradford the facilities needed for it to really prosper."

Carol Ainscow, chairman and chief executive of Artisan, added: "We share Bradford's vision for the future of the city and are delighted that we will now be part of delivering that vision. The whole team looks forward to working with Bradford Centre Regeneration and the people of Bradford to deliver a place of which we can all be very proud."

Mike Harris, director at Carey Jones Architects, said: "We are proud that our scheme has been selected from a shortlist of three such highly-respected design-development teams. We believe our unique design coupled with cutting edge' residential and commercial expertise fulfilled the judges' criteria to be innovative, sustainable, distinctive and ultimately deliverable.

"Langtree, Artisan and Carey Jones now look forward to delivering a high quality mixed-use scheme that will provide the city with a new public square and a vibrant 21st century leisure destination that complements Bradford's historical fabric."

Bradford Centre Regeneration will now work closely with the winning designers and developers to ensure the design is of the highest standard and the facilities are appropriate Plans to demolish the current building and replace it with a new development have angered some residents of the district.

There will be a further chance for residents to comment on the scheme and the application will be determined by Bradford Council by Spring 2007.

Work is expected to start on site during Summer 2007 and is due for completion in 2009.

Why the twin towers could not be saved

BCR says a structural report of the Odeon building shows that retaining it is possible, but not financially viable.

A guide for companies wanting to develop the city centre site was drawn up by council officers before the competition was launched.

The paper outlined the Odeon's historic importance and that any replacement must be a "landmark".

It told developers that retention and refurbishment of the Odeon, while possible, was not financially viable.

It also made clear that a part-demolition with the retention of the towers was not possible because of structural issues.

THE LOSING FINALISTS

Bradford Pivot (PPG Land Limited and Dyer).

• Mixed-use building to shop, relax, learn, live and work.

• Lower floors containing retail and leisure space

• Articulated facade creating a partially-covered public space which the main entrance atrium opens on to.

• Education space above a Yorkshire stone podium.

• Pedestrians able to pass through the building on this level.

• Residential, office and restaurant upstairs.

Casa Mela (BioRegional Quintain and Studio Egret West).

• A graceful building on the outside illuminated by Bradford Festival colours on the inside.

• Towers retained and miniature towers added.

• Mixed use development of hotel, homes, flexible workspace and front-of-house facilities for Bradford College.

• A Grand Foyer' - a triple height covered public meeting space.

• Flexible space to host events, including drama and music.