Building Design Partnership - Leisure Development - Manchester, Cathedral Gardens
Date: 24 Jun 2002
The first new city centre park within the new Millennium Quarter of Manchester for over 70 years is now complete to coincide with the opening of the Commonwealth Games by HM the Queen in mid July.
The Gardens are part of the new £42M Millennium Quarter funded by the Millennium Commission. They were designed following public consultation as part of the regeneration of the City Centre following the IRA bomb destruction in 1996.
Cathedral Gardens, designed by Building Design Partnership, offer a spectacular green oasis in the centre of the city and celebrate the unique character of the medieval heart of Manchester. The gardens are bordered by the historic Chetham’s School of Music, the Cathedral and the refurbished Triangle shopping centre. The park provides an ideal setting for the new Urbis visitor attraction, designed by Ian Simpson Architects, which is open to the public on 29th June 2002.
Karen Howell, director of BDP Landscape said “We have been overwhelmed by the public’s enormously positive response to their new green park. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with a forward thinking client and to design such a prestigious urban public space - Cathedral Gardens and Urbis complement each other extremely well”.
The Cathedral Gardens scheme consists of a series of themed lawns, trees, water features, artworks and hard landscape areas to create the new green space in this part of the city. More than 100 trees have been planted, including English Oak, Horse Chestnut, Pine and Birch to create a miniature arboretum. Artwork features, which have been created by local and nationally known artists, are lit at night. These are all integrated within the soft landscape setting to contrast with the more urban civic space of Exchange Square within the Millennium Quarter.
Cathedral Gardens was designed by BDP landscape architects and engineers, project managed by Mace, and constructed by Manchester Contracts, the City Council's own in house team for Manchester City Council Special Projects Office.
Funding has been provided by the Millennium Commission, Manchester City Council and the European Regional Development Fund. The scheme cost £4.4M and started on site in 2000.
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