Milburngate Reach

 The Millburngate shopping centre (now re-branded as “The Gates”) is the central part of a wider opportunity for change that takes in land and public spaces around the periphery of the centre, including the potential for investment on the other side of Millburngate Reach in Back Silver Street and Fowlers Yard.

Millburngate shopping centre was radical at the time of its construction, in two phases, starting in 1974.  It was much praised for its contemporary interpretation of a medieval aesthetic while encapsulating a conventional shopping centre.  It also presaged mixed use development with an element of residential use on the riverfront and offices elsewhere.  However, oversensitivity to its historic context gave it very bland and blank facades over three sides and an entirely introverted building form.

The Centre became tired.  It had not seen any significant reinvestment in recent years, the poor integration of listed buildings on the Framwellgate Bridge approach means that it feels isolated with poor connections to the main shopping street (Silver Street/North Road).  It has always been perceived a “dead-end” connected to the main shopping streets in only one place and with an inadequate anchor store to draw people to the far end,.  As a result the centre failed to attract high quality retail and became a focus for secondary frontages and value retailers.

The Vision for Durham envisages more and better conventional town centre retailing and The Gates is a major opportunity to address this potential.  The Durham City Vision for Durham City centre envisages a number of changes that could be carried out to improve the performance of the shopping centre and its integration, and its key role in the attractiveness of Durham as a retail destination. 

There are several different levels of intervention that would help deliver the Vision and strategies, and in each case change should address a number of performance criteria:
•    An improved and more open relationship to the river and direct connections to the Market Hall, Market Place and Claypath
•    More open frontages to Leazes Road and Millburngate, and in particular the Framwellgate Peth junction
•    Better integration of the listed buildings and linkages with North Road
•    Redevelopment of inappropriate structures
•    Improved quality of the connections to Framwellgate Waterside, including the area north of Millburngate Bridge which could undergo radical change itself
•    Enhanced provision for anchor retailers within the Centre
•    Improved quality of the internal retail environment
•    Increased provision of units that meet modern retailer requirements

This Durham City Vision does not prioritise between levels of intervention in the Shopping Centre and expresses no preferences.  Any new investment is a positive change.  The Durham City Vision presents options as an agenda for further discussion with the owners of the Centre and their tenants.