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2. PUBLIC OPEN SPACES: THE PIAZZA, MARKET SQUARE & WATER FEATURE
2.1.4 Neighbourhood acceptability
2.2.4 Neighbourhood acceptability
2. PUBLIC OPEN SPACES: THE PIAZZA, MARKET SQUARE & WATER FEATURE
Creatively used open spaces for entertainment, relaxation, and family fun.
Market squares and piazzas are features in the centre of many communities in the UK and on the continent. When the open space is empty it gives style and elegance to the buildings around it, and yet it is easily transformed into a lively, crowded environment that's the trading, social and leisure centre for the neighbourhood.
The riverside development in Richmond has proved immensely popular. In Twickenham, the outstanding success of the recent French Markets illustrates the popularity and potential of markets that complement the town's existing shopping facilities. Covent Garden also illustrates the enduring popularity of street entertainers and their capability for attracting crowds to adjacent shopping areas.
The site slopes on average 2.59 metres (8.5 feet) from King Street to the Embankment. This change in levels offers enormous potential for imaginative design and the chance to provide a uniquely attractive setting.
The creative use of open space throughout the development is also a challenge for the architect. It is possible to have a piazza which serves as a market place, or two separate spaces. For the sake of clarity we have treated each as separate and adjacent entities.
The popularity of the Twickenham Festival and other local arts initiatives shows that there is abundant interest from the community and visitors from outside in displays, shows, and performances, and a piazza on the riverside in the centre of the area is an ideal venue.
The preferred location is at the corner of Water Lane and the Embankment, a busy place that links with Church Street and King Street, and to the east end of the Embankment, the Barmy Arms and Mary Wallace Theatre, and the present sculpture park at Champion's Wharf. It gives public access to the best views of the river, upstream to Radnor Gardens, across to Eel Pie Island and the working river, and downstream towards York House Gardens and Richmond. As well as becoming the focus for the site, it will reinvigorate both the riverside and the town.
a. It should be central to the area, a focus of activity that flows out into the adjacent open spaces. b. It should be friendly, and spacious. c. It should be open air, not covered. d. It should be able to support a variety of approved activities but yet be unsuitable for antisocial activities, e.g., drug and alcohol abuse, and sleeping rough. e. The alternative location suggested will not work: the Wharf Lane end of the site, in the shadow of Thames Eyot, is too isolated and too dark, with poor sun and poor sight lines, and limited views of the river.
a. Tourist Department statistics indicate that throughout the year, there are approximately 50,000 visitors to Twickenham. Tourists contribute something like £24 per head per visit, sometimes more. During the rugby season, the matches bring as many as 500,000 people to Twickenham, many of whom arrive in the early hours and wander around with little to do until the pubs open or the match starts. Many groups include school children and families. b. Surveys of the use of the Embankment and the small grassed area at the bottom of Water Lane indicate that there is a constant demand for leisure open space, and the piazza is a natural focus for any activity on the Embankment and the river. c. Throughout the day, the piazza can accommodate:
- Planned entertainments such as those that are managed by the Leisure Services Dept, children's theatre, art shows, and demonstrations.
- Street entertainers and impromptu musical performances.
- Viewing platforms to watch the passing scene, birds, and river events.
- Picnics.
- An ice cream stall, snack bar, and other meeting points.
As well as performance space, there is room for displays of the visual arts. Linked to the Eel Pie Centre, the piazza could provide space for shows by some of the 300 amateur artists in the area, plus professional work. The thriving community of local artists currently faces a shortage of display and sales space, and a showcase for their wares would receive enthusiastic support.
2.1.4 Neighbourhood acceptability
Our preliminary soundings of residents of the Embankment, Thames Eyot and Eel Pie Island indicate that piazza activities are welcome and would enrich the ambience of the area. The only caveat is that musical entertainments should be small in scale and held during the day.
2.1.5 Traffic generation and parking
Many of the people arriving at the piazza would be doing so by foot, public transport, or boat. They would not demand on-site parking facilities.
The servicing requirements are light, and they will tie in with other servicing for the site and the area.
a. There may be safety issues if the varying levels of the site are not used sensibly by layering or terracing. b. Policing could be a problem, though on the busy corner policing would be mainly by passers-by, on foot or in cars.
The success of the recent French markets, with over 10,000 visitors in the three days of the market in June, and similar crowd levels at the market in the previous December, indicates that there is a strong public interest in and appetite for street markets. Local shops have reported a considerable increase in sales around the times of the markets, so the concept has already proven beneficial to the town.
The ideal place to hold markets is in a square on the north side of the site, accessed by the link through from King Street, the service road, and the piazza and the circulation areas on the rest of the site.
This would give a friendly open space that can be surrounded by the cafés and retail outlets on the site.
The entrance on the north side of the square would be via the link to King Street, which could be lined by small units, display space or kiosks. This entrance must be at least the width of two of the existing shops in King Street to provide light and a feeling of spaciousness. An entrance that is only one shop wide will produce a corridor that will detract from the site and be unpopular with many residents.
a. Markets could provide a significant income stream to the Council, at a relatively low cost to service and administer. This should be sufficient to cover the cost of management and to provide a surplus to LBRuT. b. An open space mainly surrounded by buildings will provide a focus for shopping in the winter months. c. It could be used as performance space, in addition to the piazza. d. On rugby days and in the run-up to Christmas, it could provide an additional trading opportunity.
There are a great variety of markets available: art, books, postcards, clothing, crafts, stamps and coins, jewellery, junk (ie flea), and antiques.
A selection of these specialist interest markets provides year-round continuity, and introduces a variety of visitors to Twickenham.
The nearest big market is in Kingston, but it is mainly fruit and vegetables. There are no other markets locally that offer an assortment of stalls and places to poke around.
2.2.4 Neighbourhood acceptability
There is considerable local support for markets on the site, though, there is opposition to a fruit and vegetable market which would affect local retailers.
2.2.5 Traffic generation and parking
Market traders would need to park their vans during the course of the market, but this could be accommodated if a flexible view were taken with respect to parking in the area.
a. The square has to be of sufficient size to accommodate a market. Typically this might mean 25 stalls of 3 metres by 2 metres with a 3 metre path between them, to meet fire regulations. b. Unless the entrance from King Street is at least the width of two of the shops, and unless the whole area is well-lit at night, it could turn into a miserable tunnel and a haven for rough sleepers, and a litter trap. c. The location is bisected by the service road behind King Street, which provides access for the businesses and flats, plus service vehicles and the emergency services. Traffic along the service road would have to be controlled by lights, with priority given to pedestrians using the Market Square.
This could be the focus or centrepiece for the development, and link the site to the river. The concept is flexible, and the ‘naked ladies’ in York House Gardens are one of the tourist attractions inTwickenham.
The design of the fountain could be by competition, which would attract attention to the borough.
This could be either in the market square or the piazza.
Fountains are enduringly popular, and could be a landmark feature of the whole development. They connect to the river visually and thematically, and they are a potential source of pleasure for all visitors.
The costs still need to be worked out, and a possible scheme to use water pumped from the Thames and recirculated in a closed system needs to be investigated further.
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