Places Matter! Design Review Case Study:
Blackburn Youth Zone

Places Matter! Design Review helped transform the design for Blackburn’s Youth Zone from one that clashed with the conservation aims for the area of Blackburn cathedral quarter, into one that fitted well with it, and was also a better design. Architect Mark Serventi, who is employed by the developer Eric Wright Group, said ‘We had to go away and start again. But we ended up with a better building.’ Andrew Rudge, who was at the time conservation officer for Blackburn and Darwin borough council, said ‘Design review can in effect act as a mediator between different arms of the council.’

Blackburn Youth Zone

What happened was that the developer was given a site within an area masterplanned by BDP, on which to design the Youth Zone, a sports and leisure facility for charity Onside. Given the constraints of the site at that point, the architect’s only option was to propose demolition of existing buildings on the site, including crucially an old electricity building, seen as one of the most distinguished remnants in an area that had suffered an attrition of architectural character. This demolition was needed despite the fact that the architect had performed spatial gymnastics such as putting the sports ground on the roof of the building.

The first design review responded to the concerns of Rudge and of English Heritage, saying that it was essential to keep that building. Because an adjacent proposed multi-storey car park was not now going ahead, the developer was able to enlarge the footprint of the site, allowing the architect to come up with a new design which retains the vital parts of the electricity building. This was again submitted to design review, which came up with some further comments about clarifying and simplifying certain elements. ‘I think the design has benefitted from that rigour,’ said Serventi.

Blackburn Youth Zone

  
All this happened shortly after BDP put together a supplementary planning document for the area, which included a heritage statement which identified buildings of character, including the electricity building. ‘There was a period when the design of the Youth Zone was a problem,’ said Christian Nielsen, a town planner with BDP.

This was a complicated site and a complex issue, with numerous interested parties, and some internal communication problems at the council. But the process of design review has untangled a tricky issue, and all parties, including Onside, which will be operating the building, are convinced that they now have a better solution than when they started.