Futuristic theme for Heath Business Park
BOLD plans to transform a Runcorn commercial zone could soon be brewing after a competition was launched to the find the best ideas to turn it into a ‘futuristic environment’.
Heath Business And Technical Park (BTP) also looks set for a rebrand as ‘Heath Park’ according to a contest brochure published by the Royal Institute Of British Architects (RIBA).
The document said the aim is to create a ‘sustainable, futuristic environment where people can live, work and play’ while using good design to ‘promote health and happiness and help to eradicate loneliness and poverty’.
Specific goals include reducing its carbon footprint, slashing consumption and waste, and reacting to social trends such as the ageing population, obesity, inequality and poverty, and crime and security.
The competition is sponsored by the business park’s owners SOG Ltd.
Heath BTP began its life as chemical giant ICI’s headquarters but following the company’s closure, was converted into a private enterprise hosting companies, laboratories and production sites.
Authors of the RIBA report said the business park is no longer a regeneration project and is now eyeing further development.
It said several supporting projects are already under way to lay the groundwork including building upgrades, demolition of redundant offices, unneeded buildings and site remediation.
The longer-term plans are to be split into two phases: the first to create a ‘vision for the future’ and the second to develop a response based on the ideas submitted in phase one.
The competition brief said: “The evidence suggests that if we increase our use of green infrastructure, encourage physical exercise and engagement with the natural and social world, consider new modes of transport and accessibility, we can make places more sustainable and liveable, with resulting benefits on the individual and their community.”
It added: “Whilst future Visions must consider these factors, they must also importantly consider the emerging technologies that are already influencing our lives.
“We are increasingly living in digital worlds, engaging socially and commercially online.
“On the horizon, pervasive technology such as the internet of things, smart materials, new battery systems, robots supported by autonomous
decision-making through AI and machine learning, all present intriguing new possibilities and challenges.
“Science and technology present us with quite limitless opportunities for the design of new places and systems but we do need to consider what their effects will be both positive or negative, and also how our privacy and security will be maintained and trusted.
“We must consider how the spaces we create for homes, education, work and social life will contribute to happier, healthier and prosperous lives.”
Anyone hoping submit entries should do so no later than the final deadline at 2pm on Tuesday, February 11.
Results are expected to be announced around the end of June.
For more information visit www.architecture.com and complete a relevant search.