Commendation for Best Use of a Brownfield Site
ORDNANCE SURVEY
The history of Gunwharf Quays began 810 years ago in 1194 when Richard the Lionheart ordered the first dock to be constructed at Portsmouth for his royal galleys. In 1212 his dastardly brother King John ordered a wall to be built round the dockyard, making the area inaccessible to the general public for nearly 800 years.
By the late 17 th century Portsmouth Dockyard had become the main ordnance yard for the Royal Navy. In 1891, when the Royal Marines vacated their barracks, the Gunwharf site was used by the Naval Ordnance Department until 1923, when it was taken over by the Naval Torpedo School. It then became known as HMS Vernon until 1986, when it was renamed HMS Nelson. On April 1, 1996, it closed its gates for the last time.
Portsmouth City Council issued a planning brief in 1996, and the following year the Berkeley Group was granted outline planning permission to develop the site, provided it retained various Grade II listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. The 33-acre site was bought from the Ministry of Defence by the Berkeley Group in partnership with a South African commercial development company, Lordland Property Holdings. Demolition of the unlisted buildings began in July 1998 and the £200-million regeneration of this major brownfield site began shortly afterwards. This included the reclamation of an additional seven acres of land from Portsmouth Harbour.
Nelson's Gate, built in 1803 as the main entrance to the Gunwharf site, has been restored. The handsome Vulcan block, one of the Board of Ordnance's largest storehouses when it was completed in 1814, has been restored by the HGP Partnership and is being converted into one- and two-bedroom apartments and an art gallery. The Old Infirmary has also been converted into apartments, but most of the 600 homes at Gunwharf Quays are new.
Although so few historic buildings survive, the whole of Gunwharf Quays was designated a conservation area in 1992, which therefore protects the new buildings almost as much as the old. Housing is only part of the development story, for Gunwharf Quays is a mixed-use development with a large amount of retail and leisure uses. For details of this see pages 148-149 of this Judges Report.
The Royal Navy still has a major presence in Portsmouth, employing some 14,000 people, and it is home to almost two-thirds of its ships, including the three aircraft carriers, Type 42 destroyers, Type 23 frigates and other ships. It is now proposing to release up to 30 acres of HM Naval Base Portsmouth for residential, commercial and leisure development.
HOMEBUILDER: BERKELEY HOMES (HAMPSHIRE) LIMITED
Spinnaker House, Hampshire International Business Park, Chineham, Basingstoke RG24 8GG
Tel 01256 379900
Fax 01256 379909
Website: www.berkeleyhomes.co.uk
Contact: Seema Thakur, Marketing Co-ordinator.
Email: seema.thakur@berkeleygroup.co.uk
Architects: THE AMOS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
Unit 2, The Canvas House, 25 Queen Elizabeth Street, London SE1 2NL
Tel 020 7403 0009
Fax 020 7403 2294
Contact: David Bowhill, Architect.
Email: davidbowhill@amosnet.co.uk