PLANS to regenerate Liverpool’s Lime Street have been completely changed to create a street celebrating its history as the city’s cinema quarter.

Amended plans have been drawn up following harsh criticism of a previous scheme which also had Mayor Joe Anderson wanting a fresh look at what had been described as a bland, unimaginative design.

The result – a fresher looking, continental style development with a wide pavement that retains some of the old and blends it with the new - illuminated night-time panels in different colours providing a nod to its "cinema street" past.

The scheme still includes demolition of the old Futurist cinema, but its image is replicated as a key feature of Lime Street. The two famous gin palaces – the Crown and the Vines - also remain along with some of the original older buildings which will be restored.

 

The first effort attracted fierce criticismThe first effort attracted fierce criticism

As before, the scheme includes shops, bars, restaurants, commercial space, a hotel and student apartments. The drawings include wider pavements along Lime Street, though the designers say public realm works do not form part of the submitted scheme. It seems they are included as a ‘for instance’ to show what Lime Street with a ‘cafe society’ frontage could bring to the city centre.

But the stark frontage of the much criticised previous scheme is altered in amended plans submitted to the city council’s planning department this week.  The entrance to the original Futurist becomes a new gateway into the scheme.

The proposal states: "Throughout the development of the scheme, the local interest in the Futurist Cinema has been widely reported. There may be an opportunity within the amended scheme to pay tribute to the social history of Lime Street, and in particular the Futurist, by incorporating relevant wording, names, patterns and even the outline of facades on the cladding panels."

It goes on: In developing the new design, inspiration was taken from Lime Street in its heyday, a time when the street bustled with life, the popularity of the cinemas was at its height, and the facades were animated by bright lighting. The cladding panels of the proposal will be perforated or etched and will be backlit, providing colour and vibrancy to the scheme, which will ensure that the revised proposal presents an exciting ‘gateway’ to the city.

Whether the celebration of cinema with the frontage recreated will be enough to satisfy opponents is yet to be seen.

 

 

The Old Hall Street office of the IBI Group has created the amended Lime Street scheme for developers Neptune who are working on the project with Regeneration Liverpool.

Explaining the reasons for the changes in the scheme, IBI say in their documents: “The feedback from the consultation (for the original scheme) was generally positive in relation to the improvement of this part of the city, but some concerns were raised in relation to the design, particularly the appearance of the Lime Street frontage and the materials.”

The concerns focused on the loss of the Futurist and other historically significant buildings, with critics saying their removal was undesirable.

Many questioned why the facade of the Futurist could not be retained, and that the design lacked architectural and aesthetic merit and failed to relate to the fine detailing of the retained buildings.

Critics also said the buildings earmarked for demolition were distinctive in their variety of age and style, features not represented by the (original) proposed design.

 

It was also felt the original scheme did not represent a "gateway" development in what is one of the city centre’s premier streets.

IBI adds in its amended scheme: “The design team has taken the comments on board and explored a number of alternative options for the scheme. The revised proposals are considerably different in appearance to those originally proposed, taking a very different approach to the facades of the buildings, and are considered to present a more exciting and also more sympathetic design.”

A period is now available for comments to be made to the planning department ahead of the revised scheme being presented to the planning committee. The aim is to start demolition work before the end of the year to enable regeneration work to start soon after.

The drawings include wider pavements along Lime Street, though the designers say public realm works do not form part of the submitted scheme.The drawings include wider pavements along Lime Street, though the designers say public realm works do not form part of the submitted scheme.