Friargate appoints award-winning landscape architect

ARCHITECTURAL practice Gross Max has been appointed to deliver the public realm of Coventry’s new Friargate development.

Proposals for the 37 acre site feature a total of 25 new buildings, including 14 Grade A office buildings, two hotels and new residential. Gross Max will be responsible for the design of all public spaces, streets, squares and parks within Friargate.

Sitting adjacent to Coventry Train Station, Friargate is an office-led regeneration project totalling (3,200,000 sq ft of  mixed-use development. The project will be delivered by developer Friargate Coventry in partnership with Coventry City Council.

Friargate Coventry appointed Gross Max following a competitive selection process, in which contenders presented their initial ideas for the scheme’s public realm.

Stephen Reynolds of Friargate Coventry said: “Gross Max share our vision for place-making with an excellent track record in creating sustainable environments that have a traditional feel and contemporary style. 

“Friargate is about far more than creating new office buildings – the masterplan will establish new walking routes and public spaces to encourage pedestrian movement from the train station to the city centre. The new public realm will define the masterplan and establish Friargate as the new gateway to the city centre.”

Gross Max is renowned for its high-profile, international projects, with a portfolio that includes the Shi Ling Park, Chengdu, China and the transformation of the 380 ha former Tempelhof Airport in Berlin into a contemporary public park.

Closer to home, the practice has successfully completed work on the public realm around the Royal Festival Hall and Royal Botanical Gardens in London, the Turner Contemporary in Margate and Glasgow’s Museum of Transport.

Work on the Coventry project – which will be delivered in phases over the next 15 years – is expected to start later this year.