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3. THE EEL PIE CENTRE (PROVISIONAL NAME)
3.11 The Eel Pie Centre: benefits
3. THE EEL PIE CENTRE (PROVISIONAL NAME)
This represents the major public asset on the site. It is primarily for community use, though it can also draw visitors from outside the borough, and tourists.
The Eel Pie Centre is a landmark building that becomes the focus for the whole area and celebrates the river by integrating the history, townscape, landscape, the river-related industries, wildlife and human life of the Thames between Kew and Hampton, in a natural centre on Twickenham’s riverside (Walpole’s "seaport in miniature").
The building provides an ideal opportunity for imaginative design, and it should fulfil the competition brief’s requirement for a demonstrably sustainable building in its construction and content.
The overall size and layout of the building will depend a great deal on the uses to which it is put, plus the sources of funding available for the different facilities.
At the time of writing there had been insufficient time to explore these, which greatly curtails our contribution and the options which we can put forward.
Until it is clear whether sources of funding are available, and until the size, shape, requirements and equipment for the centre have been established, it is best not to rush ahead with plans for it, as all these factors will have impact on the costs and the architectural and structural practicalities such as ceiling heights for a cinema or performance space.
This is a family oriented, education-based centre that interprets river activities and river history, archaeology, landscape, wildlife, the boat-building industries, recreation, etc, in this part of the Thames as well as wider aspects of water use, management and conservation.
It could include live demonstrations, artefacts such as historic boats, and interactive sections, and an observer centre with CCTV for watching birds, bats, and river life. It should stress the continuity of the river and current issues, as well as the unique historical connections of Twickenham with the 18th century landscape movement through Pope and Walpole.
See appendix 6 for subjects for the interpretation element of the Centre.
The consultants Roger Tym and Partners were commissioned by the Council to investigate the viability of a discovery centre which could form the key to the success of the development.
a. They reported that discovery centres are fast growing in popularity. They are flexible in format, and though they are often regarded as being oriented towards children, they can and do appeal to a wider audience. b. They concluded that a centre of the nature described would be right for Twickenham. c. Many discovery centres recoup a 50% to 90% return on their expenses. Though the format of discovery centres that Tym looked at is outside the likely return from this development, there are other ways of raising funding, increasing flexibility, and reducing costs. The report provided a financial analysis which is forming the basis of further investigation as to the practicalities and the viability of the discovery centre.
a. An interactive discovery centre raises awareness of the river and its importance within the community. It is modern and forward-looking, drawing attention to what is here. b. It gives a focus to the riverside, and compliments, rather than competing with, the planned Twickenham museum. It provides insights into the world around us, and through its interactive nature, it involves people of all ages in river life. c. It fulfils a valuable function locally: there are no museums of river life in the area; there is no accessible visual record of the river as it was 100 years or even 50 years ago. There are no displays or demonstrations of how river systems work, and how our environment came about, and the way it is likely to change in the future. It is vital to preserve this heritage before it is lost forever. By displaying it in a family-friendly discovery centre, we will reach a broad number of people, in an enjoyable atmosphere. d. It will draw attention to the need to preserve the hard-pressed traditional industry on Eel Pie Island upon which the whole well-being of the Thames depends – the boatyards. There is great economic pressure to turn these into housing, but it is vital that they are preserved:
- The riverside nature of Twickenham distinguishes the town and gives it its identity
- If the boatyards are destroyed, not only will we lose a valuable part of our heritage, but the river traffic will be threatened: Eel Pie Island has one of the last remaining boatyards on the whole of the Thames licensed to carry out the mandatory checks and provide the safety certificates on the big pleasure boats on the river.
e. The riverside is busy with families, local people, and visitors, on almost every day of the year, no matter the weather. Improved tourist information facilities and the improved ambience of the piazza, market square and town centre will draw people, and an interesting and vital discovery centre will attract them to return, time and time again. f. It’s fun.
a. The capital cost will be part of the development. We need to investigate further possible sources of funding, commercial interests, and potential displays (e.g. the Living River from the Millennium Dome). b. Limited amounts of traffic will be generated, and it should be a flow throughout the day. Many visitors will come on foot or by public transport, or use the existing parking facilities, the impact on traffic and access should be negligible. c. St Mary’s University College in Strawberry Hill offers a Heritage degree course, and is a recognised centre of excellence. Staff and students are available to assist in the creation of a viable centre which conforms to best practice.
The Twickenham riverside is a natural centre for tourism. Many of the visitors arrive on foot or by public transport, and we hope to increase the numbers who arrive by boat. Visitors at present are aware of and charmed by the specialist shops in Church Street and enjoy the hospitality of the local restaurants and pubs. They absorb the atmosphere of the Embankment but few are aware of the working boatyards and craft studios of Eel Pie Island or the extent and variety of wildlife. Part of the role of the centre is to open these up in a controlled way, so as to preserve as well as display.
About two thousand people per annum from all over the world already walk the riverside from St Mary’s Church to Marble Hill, and Marble Hill House alone has around 12,000 visitors per annum.
In order to make a visit to Twickenham memorable, to publicise the town’s assets and draw people back for repeat visits, there is need to provide more helpful facilities for tourists. A modest but high-quality tourist centre is required, and the Eel Pie Centre is the ideal location for it.
Currently, tourist information is provided in the atrium of the Civic Centre, a busy place with inadequate display space, that is difficult to find for the casual visitor. The centre we propose as part of the Eel Pie Centre would be open seven days a week, to meet the needs of local people and visitors to the borough. It could possibly be partly staffed by volunteers, and its cost could be met through the existing tourist information provision.
It could handle bookings for local events, and manage controlled access to the working environment, e.g. guided walks, visits to boatyards, etc, boat time tables, boat hire, and ferries.
It would also have information about the other attractions for visitors in the area:
This would be family friendly, and serve people who just want a tea or coffee plus the visitors to the centre.
It could be a traditional tea-room, or a coffee bar with snacks and ice creams.
This could sell river-related items, maps, books about the area and its history, tide tables and ephemera, like the shop under the arches at Richmond bridge.
In conjunction with the display space, it would help provide a commercial outlet for local artists and crafts persons.
It could also sell chandlery, walkers’ and boaters’ requirements, goods from local groups and societies.
These would service local artists, and work in conjunction with the display space in the piazza. The local amateur and professional artists and craftsmen and women will welcome display room on a permanent or a temporary basis.
This needs to be investigated further for sources of funding. There is a perceived demand for a small-scale (150 seat) performance space with its ancillary support space (storage, dressing rooms, administration office).
If sufficient revenue is available from outside sources to fund the discovery centre portion of the Eel Pie Centre, it is possible that the revenues from the pool site could be put towards a small arts facility.
This could include a meeting room and a crèche or nursery school facility, and possibly office space for organisations like the charity, HANDS.
This needs to be easily accessible from both the river side and the Market Square side of the development. It should be attractive and well-maintained, and large enough to handle the same levels of traffic as the current PC, and not the automated variety
It should have its own entrances rather than being accessible only through the Eel Pie Centre, and, like the facilities in Richmond, it should be open until midnight.
3.11 The Eel Pie Centre: benefits
This is a river-oriented centre, that relates to the living and working life of the community. It is a public asset, built on the site of an earlier public asset, and in keeping with that tradition. It provides an attractive central point, a focus, that the town currently lacks.
The Discovery Centre meets the need for lively family-oriented information on our past, present, and future as a riverside community.
The Tourist Information Centre provides accessible, user-friendly information where people need it, in the centre of town, in an ideal position to stimulate visitors to explore the richness of the area.
The other components of the centre, the café, shop, display area, provide outlets for the community, and colour, life, and variety.
The whole centre raises the profile of the town in its own eyes, and through it we create a heart in the community where one was missing before.
Families, schools, locals and visitors in the displays in the Discovery Centre.
Local residents, tourists and visitors in the Tourist Information Centre.
If the building is pleasingly designed and in keeping with the surroundings, it will be welcomed by the community: there is demand for a café and artists’ display space.
The ‘riverside heritage’ theme for the area has already been established, with the hard landscaping on the Embankment, and the architectural design of the houses in Water Lane. We should look to maintain this continuity of approach and scale that integrates the new with the old, and produces a rich and varied environment in keeping with the riverside of today.
None.
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