Urbanism
Environment
Design

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URBED were commissioned by Siglion, a joint venture between Carillion and Sunderland City Council managed by leading property experts Igloo regeneration, to produce a masterplan for the former Vaux Brewery site in early 2015.

The masterplan was initially developed as part of igloo and Carillion's bid for the project back in 2014. It has since been updated following a series of consultation events, to engage with local people and businesses on their aspiration for the site and to provide the framework for an ambitious scheme which enhances this part of the city centre and links it with the newly created Keel Square.

URBED worked closely with a multi-disciplinary team to bring the planning application together, including Planners and Engineers- Cundall, Architects for the first phase building- Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios and Landscape Architects- Landscape Projects. 

A dedicated website was also set up to document the process and inform people about the developing scheme: www.shapingsunderland.com 

The Proposals

For this key city centre site, the proposals were to deliver high quality office accommodation together with complimentary residential, retail, food and drink, hotel and leisure uses – all linked to the city centre via the new Keel Square. Activity would be promoted through active uses on the ground floor of buildings to include cafes, restaurants and bars. The development would also make the most of its clifftop location with public links to the riverside area, a continuous path along the cliff-edge and buildings orientated to make the most of views to the river gorge and out to the sea. 

A public realm strategy was produced by Landscape Projects to define the landscaping works for different street typologies and the new public spaces to be created, in order to provide a green and pedestrian friendly environment for all to enjoy.

Siglion were successful in securing funding for the first office building on the site, which would set the precedent for future development on the site, and called in Award Winning Architects Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios to design the building.

The Planning Application

The planning application, submitted in December 2015 was a hybrid (part detailed, part outline) application, made up pf the following elements:

• Outline appplication for the whole site, setting out the mix of uses, building line, building heights and public realm strategy.
• Detailed application for the first building on the site and the Phase 1 infrastructure works package.

URBED's role was to produce a masterplan for the site to guide future development, and the illustrative masterplan is explained in detail in the Design and Access Statement.  A document called the Masterplan Framework was also produced to fix certain paramaters which had been designed into the masterplan, to ensure it would be built out as intended, and these inlclude fixing the building line, heights, roads and land uses.

A Statement of Community Involvement was also produced to document the consultation process, and included responses to a workshop and two exhibitions which were held between July and September 2015.

Siglion and Sunderland

We were excited to be part of Cariliion and igloo Regenerations consortium which was named as preferred bidder in late 2014 by Sunderland City Council to develop the Vaux Brewery site over the next 20-years.

John Tatham, partnerships director of Igloo Regeneration said he hoped the joint venture with the council would lead to a ‘step-change in the Sunderland economy’. He said: ‘[We] believe that good design combined with a deep understanding of a place creates developments where people want to be. This in turn translates into demand for property, better values, successful businesses and ultimately successful, viable developments leading to economic growth.   

He added: ‘In evolving our proposals, we considered how the ages of commerce in Sunderland have influenced the city and how the design of the past can inform us in planning the future.’

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council said:’This decision marks an important milestone in the joint venture agreement which will breathe new life into under-used publicly owned land in prime sites for development.