Stratford-upon-Avon Gateway SPD Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace and authentic home of William Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare offer across the town is dispersed and disjointed, however, with much of it failing to meet the expectations and requirements of modern-day visitors and users. The historic sites struggle with capacity, and access to collections is limited due to inadequate display and education facilities.
In recognition of these challenges, an opportunity has been identified by the Council to create a new ‘gateway’ into the historic town centre from the emerging Canal Quarter to the northeast, while also extending the town centre offer from its historic spine into and through the site.
The proposed World Shakespeare Centre will anchor the development and balance the existing Royal Shakespeare Company, which commands the banks of the River Avon further south.
Supplementary Planning Document
Key masterplan drivers include:
- Balancing the Shakespeare offer;
- Extending a sequence of pedestrian-friendly spaces and improving permeability;
- Creating a Gateway to (and from) the Canal Quarter;
- Inviting people in through improved visual and public realm connections with the historic spine;
- Activating the new public realm with a complementary mix of land uses;
- Celebrating views over the town; and
- Responding to the climate emergency.
The currently underutilised Gateway site forms part of the original planned medieval town, but it is dominated by car parking and coach facilities, representing a gap in the town’s historic urban fabric, and an opportunity to rationalise coach drop off to the benefit of the historic fabric and its environmental conditions
The masterplan framework has been adopted by the Council as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), giving it weight as a material planning consideration, and ensuring its co-ordinated delivery across the different land ownerships that make up the overall Gateway site.
