City Waterside

City Waterside’s objective is to reinvigorate the housing market in Stoke-on-Trent, an area of low demand.

To achieve this aspiration the Lichfield site has to build on its two key assets: Its proximity to the city centre and its romantic setting on the canal.

We propose to connect these two “points of desire” with a new public space- a pedestrian route parallel to Lichfield Street. The route is conceived as a grand staircase that celebrates the approach to the water- the “cascade”. Terraces create a series of squares that open up vistas onto the canal and into the landscape. The two existing squares- to the north of the canal and beside the school- will thus be given new meanings and linked to the new quarter. Two further smaller “neighbourhood “ squares will offer high-quality outdoor spaces to their immediate surrounding. Balancing ponds and swales collect and drain surface water on the squares and, like beads on a string, further underline the theme of the cascade.

The hard-landscaped public spine is accompanied by a series of semi-private “communal” gardens. We envisage them as orchards- with cherry, apple and pear trees on a central lawn. Permeable paving on the perimeter provides pedestrian access to the houses.