Vision of new life for docks
EUROPE’S biggest party is taking place on the banks of the River Mersey this week as Liverpool hosts Eurovision 2023 but the UK’s largest current regeneration project is over the river in Birkenhead, where 500 acres of former dockland will be transformed with a possible 13,000 highly energy-efficient new homes over the next 30 years.
It’s taken more than a decade for the first 30 of these innovative modular homes to be rolled out atWirralWaters, a mix of threestorey Town House and two-storey Row House designs by Liverpool architects Shedkm at Redbridge Quay, named after the famous red bridge in what was the north-east corner of Birkenhead Docks.
The two, three and four-bedroom homes are for sale from £190,000 to £250,000 for the Row Houses and from £325,000 to £390,000 for the Town Houses (0151 453 7997; rightmove.co.uk).
The first residents moved into the waterside homes a few months ago and it is hoped that community events over spring and summer will encourage more people to visit the new show home, or at least to enjoy walking around the previously inaccessible waterfront.
In the coming years there will be more waterside paths and green spaces in what was a derelict landscape, and already a small park and apple orchard have been opened.
New education facilities and a governmentfunded Manufacturing Technology Centre are also promised, with new office space already available and work expected to start soon on a £25million Maritime Knowledge Hub. This will be housed in a renovated 19th-century hydraulic tower building and engine house, designed as a copy of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It will become a hub for innovative engineering, training, research, development and entrepreneurship to support the region’s £5billion maritime industry, and will generate new jobs – particularly in decarbonising.
When planning permission for the hub was announced recently, Maritime Minister Baroness Vere said decarbonisation presents huge opportunities for the UK, adding: “The Maritime Knowledge Hub will be a crucial centre for collaboration, providing a huge boost for the Liverpool City Region, creating a new architectural landmark inWirral and supporting jobs and education.
“The hub shows the huge potential of our maritime regions as engines of growth, and how these clusters can galvanise action.”
John Lucy, Liverpool City Region Freeport director, describes planning permission for the hub as “a fantastic shot in the arm for the regional maritime sector” and adds: “Through the combination of the Freeport and hub, and working in close co-operation with public and private sector partners, we hope to use this development to continue to foster innovation, facilitate trade and create high-skilled jobs.”
Over the next 20 years or more,Wirral Waters will transform Birkenhead, with plans including a mile-long park along the route of the disused Dock Branch railway line, inspired by The High Line park in New York.
In the meantime the latest in sustainable housing design and innovation can be seen at Redbridge Quay’s Row House show home, now open six days a week.
Richard Mawdsley, Peel L&P’s director of development for Wirral Waters, says Redbridge Quay will soon be joined by 500 one and two-bedroom waterside apartments overlooking the dock at Miller’s Quay and says: “It’s a wonderful place to set up home.”