The New England Quarter is a mixed-use development in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It was built between 2004 and 2008 on the largest brownfield site in the city, adjacent to Brighton railway station. Most parts of the scheme have been finished, but other sections are still being built and one major aspect of the original plan was refused planning permission.
The site, a steeply sloping hillside between a main railway line and one of Brighton's main roads, had been the home of a railway locomotive works and goods yard for more than a century. High-density housing was built at the same time and surrounded the railway buildings. From the 1960s, the area fell into decline: the works and goods yard were closed and demolished, and most of the housing was cleared. This left large areas of derelict land which attracted small-scale redevelopment and transient commercial enterprises. Proposals for redevelopment were made from the 1980s onwards; in 2001 a master plan was granted planning permission by Brighton and Hove City Council. Site clearance work followed, and construction began in 2004.
The New England Quarter consists of separately planned areas (called "Blocks" in the master plan) connected by new or altered road infrastructure and pedestrian links. Land use includes private and council housing of various styles and configurations, office and retail space, a college, a hotel, public space and community facilities. Some of the residential development aims to meet high environmental and sustainability standards, and green space is being provided on former railway land.
The scheme has attracted criticism from various sources, and certain aspects and proposals have been particularly controversial. A planned 42-storey hotel and residential building on one block—which was not in the original plan and for which planning permission was later denied—was opposed by many local people and politicians, and was eventually rejected by a government minister on appeal. The decision to allow a large supermarket branch to be built in the middle of the development was also unpopular. A campaign group was formed to co-ordinate and raise the awareness of people's concerns.
Location
The New England Quarter is in a central location in Brighton, the main urban centre in the city of Brighton and Hove. It is immediately east of the railway station and approximately ¾ mile north of the seafront. It covers a broadly rectangular area of , bounded by: To the north: New England Road, leading to the Seven Dials area To the east: The A23 London Road To the south: Trafalgar Street, leading downhill from the station towards St Peter's Church, and forming the northern boundary of the North Laine area To the west: the railway station and its associated trackwork and sidings
(Some sources measure the site differently, and accordingly define it as smaller or larger than the size given in the master plan.)
History
The completion of the Brighton Main Line from London to Brighton in 1841 encouraged high-density housing development on the hill west of London Road. Between this area and the railway line and station stood Brighton's steam locomotive works and the lower part of the station goods yard. The first locomotive was produced here in 1852. By 1896, the works employed more than 2,200 people in the manufacture and maintenance of locomotives for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The works and its associated buildings were situated on an artificial plateau dug into the side of the chalk slopes, with the railway line on top, the works at a lower level and the lower goods yard beneath, below track level. (The works had been extended on a pier across the lower goods yard at one point.) Production lasted until 1957, after which the buildings survived for some time before being cleared in 1966 to make way for the largest car park on what was then British Rail's Southern Region. The lower goods yard section towards Trafalgar Street was no longer used by British Rail after the early 1970s, although it did not finally close until 1980. Part of the land was incorporated into the car park, and the rest saw a mixture of uncoordinated uses, such as small office blocks and used car dealerships. Many of the houses adjoining the goods yard were demolished in 1962 and 1968, and some tower blocks were built nearby. Further north, a large multi-storey car park was built in 1976 close to St Bartholomew's Church.
Various proposals were put forward for more effective use of the land. The first was in 1989, when a mixed-use development, centred on a new pedestrianised square outside St Bartholomew's Church, was planned. It would have included a supermarket, offices, houses and other shops, and a relief road designed to take traffic away from the congested London Road. The Environmental Services Department of what was then Brighton Borough Council produced a planning brief for the site in October 1993, stating a desire to "recreate in the area west of London Road a vital, urban, mixed use townscape which links a regenerated and environmentally enhanced London Road shopping centre with North Laine and the station". The desire to use the site to its full potential was increased when city status was awarded to Brighton and Hove in 2000; it was the largest brownfield site in the city.
Development of the scheme URBED (the Urban and Economic Development Group), a not-for-profit urban regeneration consultancy, designed and developed the master plan for the scheme on behalf of the New England Consortium. This is a group of companies and interested parties which together have the overall responsibility for the scheme, including Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, J. Sainsbury Developments Ltd and Quintain Estates and Development (QED). The land was originally owned by British Rail, but passed to Railtrack when the railway system was privatised in the mid-1990s. It was sold to the New England Consortium in 1997. An initial planning application, including a new Sainsbury's supermarket, was rejected by the council in November 1997; the rejection was subsequently upheld on appeal in September 1998. URBED were then asked to develop a new master plan for the site. This design statement was published in July 2001, and was granted planning permission by Brighton & Hove City Council at the end of 2002. Construction work on the site began on 19 July 2004.
Overview of the scheme The scheme is a mixed-use development, consisting of a wide range of residential, commercial, educational and community buildings, transport-related infrastructure and public space. The land has been divided into a series of "blocks", identified by letters, to which different types of development have been allocated. (Letters H, I and N are not used.)
Block(s)UseLocationDetailsA–DResidential; CommunityCheapside–New England Street–Fleet StreetCollectively known as the "Core Site". City Point (Barratt Developments); training and resource centreCCommercialNew England Street–Ann SquareSainsbury's supermarket, three other retail units and office spaceE–FResidential; CommunityStroudley Road–Fleet Street–New England StreetCrest Nicholson/BioRegional Quintain joint venture: private and social housing, community centreGResidential; CommercialStroudley Road–Cross StreetGladstone Row: Three-storey townhouses; workspace buildingJCommercialStroudley Road–Fleet Street4-star hotel (Indigo; 94 beds; *Previous planning: Radisson; 250 beds)KCommercialStroudley Road (south of Billinton Way)3-star hotel (Jurys Inn; 234 beds), conference facilities and officesL–MEducationalStroudley Road (north of Billinton Way)European headquarters of Study Group International, including Bellerbys College and Embassy CES language schoolO–RCar parkingStroudley RoadNew multi-storey car park for Brighton station
Residential areas When the scheme is complete, at least 355 new homes will be available, consisting of a mixture of standard houses, apartments and townhouses, and able to support a population of approximately 1,000 people.
In 2005, a joint venture was formed between housebuilder Crest Nicholson and environmental project and design group BioRegional Quintain Ltd to acquire part of the site (Blocks E and F) and provide 172 of the new homes, including the affordable housing stock as mentioned above. The homes will be a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and "eco-studios", contained within one six-storey and one ten-storey tower. This section of the development will also incorporate of community space, to include a community centre, and of floorspace for commercial use.
The Southern Counties division of major British housebuilder Barratt Developments was responsible for building City Point, the other section of the private housing development. This covers Blocks A, B, C and D, to the south of the Crest Nicholson/Bioregional development.
Block A
This covers an area of and is bounded by the now partly pedestrianised New England Street (the former course of which it partially encroaches upon), Cheapside, a new pedestrian right of way (Kingscote Way) and Blocks B and C. The Harvest Forestry, a low-rise building with small dome-shaped turrets at each corner, previously stood here. The block has been designated a high-density, urban housing area, consisting of eight three-storey townhouses, each with four bedrooms, fronting New England Street; nine townhouses with roof gardens and small rear gardens—also with four bedrooms, and fronting the new pedestrian route; and two apartment blocks with 21 two-bedroom flats. The apartment block fronting the new Ann Square (facing north) has retail units at street level (total area ). The housing has 17 allocated parking spaces.
Block B Covering , this block lies west of Block A and adjoins Fleet Street, part of the new main road through the New England Quarter. It contains a very high density of housing: 119 residential units per hectare (current government planning policy stipulates a minimum of 30 residential units per hectare, but no maximum density is advised). A retail unit and 47 residential units, none with allocated parking, make up the block. There are nine four-bedroom townhouses, 17 two-bedroom flats, 13 three-bedroom flats and eight two-bedroom duplexes. A single unit of was designated for use as a shop or café; it is occupied by a fast food restaurant. The apartment blocks in Block B are four and five storeys in height. The central area enclosed by the block has been developed as a courtyard.
Block C The residential element of this large (), complex block consists of 94 units, comprising four one-bedroom flats, 54 two-bedroom flats and 36 three-bedroom flats. These are all situated above the Sainsbury's supermarket, which forms a major component of the block. The flats are arranged across two apartment blocks, connected by a pedestrian route and sharing two courtyards. No parking is allocated to any of the flats. The blocks are each four storeys in height, on top of the height of the supermarket.
Block D This is another mixed-use block, with a training centre at street level. The residential element within the area consists of 56 units: eight one-bedroom flats, two one-bedroom duplexes, 34 two-bedroom flats and 12 three-bedroom flats. Most of the building is five storeys high (the lowest floor being the training centre, with four residential floors above), but a further three storeys are incorporated within a tower in one corner. Again, no parking is allocated to this block.
Blocks E and F