Streetscape, Ancoats

The new Ancoats streetscape was driven by two distinct priorities. Firstly, the streets must reflect the historical setting. Secondly, they must be pedestrian priority and appropriate for a mixed live/work area. These are not normally complementary but there was a determination to compromise neither. The result is highly progressive in producing a dignified and traditional streetscape which incorporates ‘invisible’ measures to facilitate pedestrian movement and slow vehicle speed. The new comprehensive 20mph TRO is enforced by the physical form of the streets rather than by signage, the police and the legal justice system. This is traffic calming by design, an art which has been well understood in other times and places but has tended to be lost in our urban centres in recent decades. In this way the urban village is unified and the unique character of the area is recognised and enhanced.

Client

New East Manchester

Date

2001 to 2010

Team

Civic Engineers / Simon Fenton Partnership, quantity surveyor / CivicWorks, artist / Latham Miller Consulting, street lighting