Cranfields Mill, Ipswich: giving the council confidence
Cranfields Mill is an ambitious project right on the dockside at Ipswich. The scheme features 300 homes, restaurants, shops, offices and a theatre for regional arts agency Dance East.
High ambition
The redeveloped Cranfields Mill features a 23-storey tower that is now the tallest building in Suffolk.
Cranfields Mill, Ipswich by John Lyall Architects © Morley von Sternberg
It is an integral part of regeneration plans for the Suffolk town.
CABE first saw the proposal, by London-based John Lyall Architects, when it came to our design review panel in 2004. We liked the ambition, as well as the way the architecture integrated with the historic waterfront.
But the intention to introduce a 23-storey tower – the tallest building in Suffolk – met with some local opposition and we shared a few of those concerns. The residential towers that made up the scheme needed to work better with the buildings on the waterfront.
This was Ipswich Borough Council’s first encounter with CABE. Its conservation and urban design manager, Bob Kindred, says the fact that CABE championed the bold use of tall buildings in this setting, but also wanted changes, proved instrumental. ‘It gave the planning committee the confidence it needed to support the proposal, and at the same time to demand better quality design.’
The scheme has faced uncertainties, not least when a dip in the residential market put funding at risk. But CABE’s involvement helped the local authority both to maintain quality and retain the original architect throughout.
The scheme is due for completion in autumn 2009. East of England Development Agency director George Bennett says that CABE’s insistence on high quality has helped to make Cranfields Mill a flagship development: ‘This has created widespread confidence in the regeneration of the area.’
CABE gave the planning committee the confidence it needed to support the proposal, and to insist on better quality design.
Bob Kindred, Conservation and urban design manager, Ipswich Borough Council
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