Firm to work with Dutch landscape practice West 8 to ensure planned development has a coherent strategy
BDP has been picked by Liverpool City Council to design a plan for the development of the city’s famous waterfront.
The practice will work with Dutch landscape architect West 8 with the support of WSP and regeneration consultant Ekosgen to ensure a slate of ongoing and planned developments in the area knit together with a “coherent, legible and visionary approach for the future”.
A significant housing scheme at Festival Gardens, Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock and regeneration led by National Museums Liverpool and Tate Liverpool in the Royal Albert Docks are all set to transform the area in the years to come.
Between them, the two practices have experience designing major waterfront regeneration schemes in New York, Toronto, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hamburg and Rotterdam.
As part of its work, the placemaking team will engage with local communities, residents, and businesses and key stakeholders – such as Liverpool BID Company, Grosvenor, Tate Liverpool – and major landowners, such as Peel Land and Property, National Museum Liverpool, the Canal and River Trust, General Projects, and Liverpool Yacht Club.
They will create a strategic plan for the waterfront, which will be taken forward for adoption as a supplementary planning document.
It comes three years after Unesco stripped Liverpool of its world heritage status, which was on the third time in 50 years that the UN’s heritage body had made such a move.
It said that overdevelopment had resulted in an “irreversible loss” of historic value at the Victorian Docks and a “significant loss to its authenticity and integrity”.
Nuala Gallagher, corporate director of city development at Liverpool City Council, said: “Liverpool’s waterfront is one of the UK’s most iconic destinations and one of the principal reasons we’re one of the UK’s most visited cities and one of the most filmed in Europe.
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“Such is our ambition for the waterfront’s future, we need truly world-class experts who lead their fields – and that is exactly what we have in appointing West 8 and BDP and the wider team.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to appoint such esteemed urban placemakers to help shape the next chapter in Liverpool’s waterfront vision and plan.”
David Rudlin, Urban Design Director at BDP, said: “Liverpool’s waterfront strategy is a great opportunity to work on one the world’s most iconic and recognisable riverside locations.
“A blend of heritage and innovation will create a place that celebrates the city’s rich history, while embracing its potential.
“BDP has a long affinity with Liverpool as the masterplanner for Liverpool One and with the work we have done on Aintree Racecourse and the new Everton Stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock.
“We are very excited to be working with West 8 to maximise the potential of important part of the city fabric.”
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