ALTERNATIVE plans put forward to create an ‘Art Square’ in the town’s ‘cultural quarter’ were rejected by council bosses, it has emerged.

During the tender process which was ultimately won by developers Alumno, these plans were submitted by architect Trevor Horne.

Mr Horne, who runs Trevor Horne Architects, worked alongside Knights Developments and Savills on the project.

His plans showed an ‘Art Square’, which included a number of sculptures, an amphitheatre and a ‘gateway’ from Queen Street to the new square, outside Firstsite.

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The award-winning architect admitted it was important to factor a residential element into the plans, but his did not include student accommodation.

He said: “We had planned for 136 units which would have been phased throughout the development and Knights were very keen on not going too high, so at most each building would have been three storeys.

“Knights was the main contractor for us and they involved the likes of Savills in their comprehensive assessment of what was possible and viable and ultimately what would work.

“That formed our brief and we wanted to knit this new development into the fabric of the old town; you’ve got the priory to the south and obviously the Roman wall, which we were very mindful of.”

 

He added: “Our take was to open up the visual arts centre to Queen Street and form a new art plaza which we had named Art Square which would create a gateway from Queen Street into the area.

“We were conscious that to do that, you need footfall; you need people to come through to make a proper connection.

“Obvious the project would have needed a tweak here and there but we thought we had a really good scheme which would be good for the town and was workable.”

Finalised plans, backed by Colchester Council cabinet and submitted by Alumno, are set to before planning committee members next month.