City Road - The Need for An Aesthetic Evaluation - TrustNews May 1989
Keith Leaman - Chairman of the Urban Studies Committee
City Road is one of the "gateways" into Winchester and for the visitor approaching from the Stockbridge Road, Andover Road or from the railway station, it is their first introduction to the city. For the ancient capital of England with all its historic connections, City Road makes a most disappointing approach leaving a feeling of lingering doubt, comparable perhaps to being offered an indifferent hors d'oeuvre which ruins the anticipation of a good meal.
Much of the character of the road was destroyed in the 1960s by the demolition of much of the north side and the creation of a new building line for a road-widening scheme that was never implemented. One can trace the line of the original buildings by the position of the Baptist Church, and imagine the original houses on the north side, which if similar in form and scale to those surviving on the south side, would once have been like the fine tall houses of Southgate Street where the road is contained by buildings of quality on either side.
The visual impact of City Road is further damaged by the strong horizontal form and the poor quality of the office buildings built twenty to thirty years ago to replace these town houses. Consider how much more satisfactory the vertical grain of the central and High Street end of Southgate Street looks. So we have lost both the quality of the original buildings and the compact scale of the original urban street scene.
It seems likely that these thin horizontal modern buildings are reaching the end of their useful life and there may well be an opportunity to improve the scale and form of City Road as these sites are considered for redevelopment.
One would have thought that, for such an important main entrance to our city, some form of aesthetic evaluation should have taken place so that firm guidance could be given to potential developers and their architects, but sadly I am not aware of any overall planning strategy for the area.
Even the use of the buildings presents a problem as with the density of noise, traffic and fumes City Road is not a suitable place to build homes, although Swan Lane is a quieter oasis behind which residential development is more appropriate.
It is only a secondary shopping area which will continue to decline as the retail demand concentrates closer to the Brooks development, and the increase in traffic makes it still harder for shoppers to cross City Road. It is therefore almost inevitable that most of the redevelopment will comprise offices and showrooms, perhaps interspersed by the occasional shop or restaurant if the need exists; so let's learn from the mistakes of the 1960s and put back some quality buildings with the hope that they are not dealt with in a piecemeal fashion without the overall planning strategy that is needed.
One cannot blame the Planning Department which is already under siege from inside and outside the system. With the current excessive workload, planning is close to becoming a negative influence, whereas Winchester would be much better served if the Department could adopt a positive and more creative role, with encouragement from the elected members for better architecture. Winchester may then be in a position to realise the opportunities as they arise and create a vastly improved urban environment.
Going back to my original analogy, at the end of the meal in our fine restaurant when we are presented with the bill, let us believe that it was worth every penny!