Back Silver Street, Fowlers Yard, Riverside Walk
On the opposite bank of the river, Back Silver Street and Fowlers Yard have potential for the consolidation and enhancement of new craft workshops and other creative industries through further, small-scale development and through a new landscape design for the spaces as a series of new places close to the river.
There are opportunities for new development on the east side to the rear of premises on the west side of Silver Street while still making adequate provision for servicing providing it is time limited and well managed.
The importance of these spaces and buildings in the street network in the City centre would be much enhanced by implementation of the riverside boardwalk above the sewer pipe on the east side of the river creating a pedestrian link beneath Framwellgate Bridge, and by a pedestrian connection to the bridge at the south end which it is understood would be acceptable to English Heritage, in principle (Framwellgate Bridge is listed, Grade I and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument).
Fowlers Yard is a preferred location for a new jewel building which could house a small gallery, a new restaurant with a riverside frontage or a media use such as a film office. A new pedestrian link could also be explored to ensure that Fowlers Yard is on a pedestrian circuit for specialist retail.
The public spaces in the Back Silver Street area are a sequence of interrelated vennels and yards that link Silver Street to Fowlers Yard and the riverside. From Silver Street there is a steep change in levels to the river with steps providing access through archways to Back Silver Street which runs parallel with the river. The townscape is dramatic with the rear elevations of buildings that front Silver Street stepping down the slope but still presenting a dominant presence up to five or six storeys in height. Immediately adjoining the riverside is a terrace of single storey workshop buildings fronting Fowlers Yard.
This area has recently been regenerated to a high standard and is occupied by a number of speciality craft retailers. Signage, paving and building frontages are all of a good quality and should be regarded as a benchmark for further investment.
These proposals, in total, would create a new sequence of public spaces around all sides of Millburngate Reach, making it a valued “stone” in the Necklace Park. These spaces deserve homogenous treatment in terms of the quality of design and executions and the choice of materials and components.
