Thanks to Ross Pritchard of Pleydell Smithyman (specialist design and business consultancy) for this ringing endorsement:

“Piccadilly Gardens has a strong and bold design but it is apparent to us that there is a swell of support from the community to soften these hard edges. The local residents want to improve the sense of arrival to the town centre. Ross Pritchard of Pleydell Smithyman has therefore sought a sensitive way of respecting the original design whilst responding to the wishes of the community. The basis of the idea is to introduce a green wall system to break up the strong form that dominates the space. The intervention would add a softer more human scale to the edge of the gardens thereby making it more welcoming. There are many different ways of achieving this but the inherent complexity of the concept will become apparent as the project moves forward. The challenge will be introducing a new element to the gardens without compromising the simplicity of the overall design.

Green walls are ideal for the city centre environment as they provide a functional purpose as well as an aesthetic one. The structures enhance biodiversity by attracting various birds, butterflies and bees, and reduce pollution by removing particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide from the air. There are some really good examples up and down the country and are steadily becoming more prevalent. A great example of this movement in the market was the QR Code Garden at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show it achieved a Bronze Award and raised awareness of the various new green wall technologies. Pleydell Smithyman hope to continue support of this project over the coming months.”

ROSS PRITCHARD
Landscape Architect LMLI

For and on behalf of
PleydellSmithyman Limited
 

PleydellSmithyman

STRATEGY | CREATIVITY | DELIVERY

How Piccadilly Gardens once looked and how they could be so much better!

What's this all about?

For Manchester, it seems a terrible shame that the first/last and most dramatic view of the city for the majority of visitors and residents remains Piccadilly Gardens. As an area which has existed for over a century as a Manchester hotspot and has been immortalised by Lowry, it has fallen into a rather humble existence.

Although there is some wonderful architecture, dramatic water fountains and some fabulous street performers, unfortunately the most eye-catching part of the area is the drab imposing wall that splits the public space with the aim to reduce the negative effects of the bus interchange. Erected in 2002, the wall is 130m long and over 4m tall, mostly as one part curving around the central pedestrianised area, but also with another part separated by a footpath.

Wouldn’t it be brilliant to significantly improve this structure by adding a vertical garden? This is a well-tested technique that has been used from Paris to Hong Kong, both indoors and outdoors. A vertical garden is also an efficient way to clean up the air and improve the general environment. In addition to the leaves absorbing carbon dioxide to release oxygen, the roots are also able to trap and help decompose pollutant particles.

The vertical garden could be trialled on the standalone part of the wall, where it would consist of a metal frame mounted onto the wall, so avoiding any root-damage to the existing concrete. The plants would grow on a felt layer built into the metal frame. The plants on the bus interchange side would consist of a range of bushy, evergreen plants. But the real treat would be on the pedestrianised side, where the garden would be planted full of strawberry plants that can thrive in the Manchester climate.

Once the trial wall was established, the remaining bare grey concrete would also be given a vertical garden cover, for the more space covered, the better the absorption of not only pollutants, but also traffic noise.

Piccadilly Gardens has a great potential to return to former glories. We hope that you are as excited as we are by this idea. We would appreciate if you would support this idea in some way, from pledging your support, to your time and expertise, or maybe even some funding to contribute with other partners who also wish to bring back some of the former charm of Piccadilly Gardens.

Thank you for taking the time to read this through. Let’s hope that many people support Manchester and Piccadilly Gardens so that we get it up and growing!

Kind regards,
Piccadilly People