Thursday 13 October 2011

Wellington Dock To Be Filled In-Is There Any Hope For Liverpools World Heritage Site?

They filled in Trafalger Docks...... and now they want to fill in Wellington Docks for a Water Treatment Plant.
Wellington Docks was the site for the berthing of the 2008 Tall Ships event.
 This is the design review. Done by Atkins was it the same Atkins that prepared the SPD.

 http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/CABE/Design-Review/1/Liverpool-Waste-Water-Treatment-Extension-at-Wellington-Dock/

Liverpool Waste Water Treatment Extension at Wellington Dock


Designed by Atkins for United Utilities
Planning reference: 11F/1581
Reviewed (date of review): 12 September 2011While we understand the need of this facility for Liverpool, we acknowledge that the proposed plant sits in the buffer zone of the Liverpool World Heritage Site and affects the structure of the historic dock. In this instance, however, we concentrate our comments on the design of the building.
Building design
We find the approach to dealing with the dock wall and preserving the perception of the water interesting, but we suggest using a more robust material for the “water surface” that is more in line with the overall appearance of the building. In principle, the reduced design and the simple form of the building work well. The success of the scheme depends on good detailing and materials that are long-lasting, durable and easy to maintain, particularly bearing in mind the harsh maritime environment. We recommend that the client reassesses the choice of materials and perhaps replaces the Kingspan cladding with concrete. We feel that a single material would reinforce the strong, simple industrial appearance of the proposal. The artwork on the western elevation needs to be selected carefully to ensure that it is of high quality to last and look good. We would also like to point out that the recess between the dock wall and the building could easily turn into an unsightly rubbish trap if not constantly cleaned and maintained.

Liverpool was asked to put together a Supplementary Development Plan for Unesco.
pg 63, 64 and 65 deals with Dock Water Spaces. The last paragraph says It is considered inappropriate for existing water spaces within the docks that survive, within the buffer zone to be infilled.



History of the Site.  2008 Tall Ships event at the BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2008/07/16/tall_ships_map_feature.shtml



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Dock


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