Office Development at Site 7, Gorsestacks, Chester City Centre

Barlows Plc

Within the Gorsestacks Masterplan in Chester city centre, the site was at a location north of the outer ramparts of the Roman wall that surrounds the original city precinct. It was surrounded by the rear of buildings facing Upper Northgate Street to the south, a traffic roundabout to the north, an important shopping street to the east and a car park to the west. The brief asked for an office building complete with car parking.

The greatest challenge of the design proposal was to mediate between the small scale and height of the historic buildings and the large scale structures along St Oswald’s Way and St Martins Way, including the Northgate Arena and the adjoining two number eleven storey height flats. The design rises to a maximum of four storeys to the north elevation to provide a bold face to St Martins Way, creating a ‘gateway’ building on the inner ring road and, more importantly, to respond to the large scale of St Martins Way and Northgate Area. Towards the south, the building is reduced in height by one storey in a response to the neighbouring four-storey brick and pitched roof building that fronts Upper Northgate Street. The mass of the building is clearly articulated to respond to the physical context in a sensitive manner.

The design proposal was a ‘stand-alone’ building at the confluence of several important highways and reflected the strategic importance of this ‘gateway’ site. The design was an architecturally bold solution to a difficult site. It was conceived as a delicate glass structure that surmounted a solid base. The base, constructed from red Cor-Ten steel panels, evoked a reference to the underlying red sandstone, from which many of Chester’s important buildings are constructed. The choice of Cor-ten is a sympathetic and contemporary alternative to the material palate that is quintessentially Chester. Within the ‘solid’ base are windows that are to be read as punched apertures, thereby adding to the illusion of solidity. The facade was visually broken down by the introduction of two glazing systems. The principal system has vertical proportions, which reflects the vertically prevalent in the historic buildings in Chester, while the secondary system has horizontal transoms that act as a foil to the principal system. This adds a richness to the facades.