Where is City Park?
What is City Park?
What is happening on site currently?
What does City Park consist of?
Am I allowed to walk across the mirror pool when it has water in it?
Can I bring dogs into City Park?
How does the weather impact City Park?
How much has City Park cost?
What kind of events will City Park be able to stage?
What will be the economic benefits of City Park for Bradford?
What are the plans for the former police headquarters?
How will City Park be maintained/ looked after?
Is it safe?
Will there be suitable disabled parking and access?
Artist's impression of City Park
Where is City Park?
City Park is right in the very heart of Bradford city centre, surrounding the Grade 1-listed City Hall.
What is City Park?
City Park is a high quality public space in Bradford city centre measuring six-acres (the equivalent of four football pitches). It includes City Hall, Centenary Square, Norfolk Gardens and a new 4,000sq m mirror pool water feature.
The park helps to link major visitor attractions including the National Media Museum, the Alhambra Theatre and St George’s Hall, the city’s transport hub (Bradford Interchange train, bus and coach station and Forster Square train station) as well as city centre retail outlets.
It is a flexible space for people to enjoy, being big enough to provide a tranquil environment for those who want to rest and relax, while accommodating people participating in activities and play.
City Park has been designed to attract visitors into the Bradford district from across the UK. It connects the city centre, enhances the overall image of the city and helps create a landscape for investment. City Park will set Bradford apart from other cities and is a key component of the city’s regeneration.
Image comparing the size of City Park with other public spaces
What is happening on site currently?
The site is currently undergoing final testing and commissioning with construction work also being carried out on the Pavilion building.
Webcam still of City Park, January 2012
What does City Park consist of?
City Park provides a superb landscape comprising fountains, trees and attractive green spaces making an ideal environment for walking, relaxing and quiet contemplation.
The centrepiece of City Park is the mirror pool which can be filled with water but also drained and used for public events. The mirror pool is a 4,000sq m shallow body of water (around 22cm or 8 inches at its deepest point) and sloping gradually to the edge which reflects and showcases the Grade 1-listed City Hall.
Within the mirror pool there are more than 100 fountains of varying styles, including the central fountain which can reach more than 30m (100ft), the tallest in any UK city. In the smallest pool are 40 low-level fountains which create a fun children’s play area.
The fountains are programmed to change the appearance of the park throughout the day so one day is never the same as the next. The pool is made of hard-wearing granite cubes with a tactile paving strip around the edge to differentiate between the pool area and the plaza. It is durable for use in events when dry and a non-slip surface when wet. Other high quality materials like porphyry tiles (matching the setts used in the city centre as part of the Heritage Streets project), stainless steel and hardwood timber have also been used throughout the park.
The Pavilion is the stone-clad building to the south west of the mirror pool. It features a sloping grassed roof for use as a viewing platform across the mirror pool towards City Hall. Inside the Pavilion are public toilets, offices for on-site staff and space for commercial use. Underneath the Pavilion is the control room and water storage tank for the mirror pool and fountains.
At the rear of City Hall is Norfolk Gardens, in the south east corner of City Park next to Hall Ings. This pre-existing green space has been fully landscaped with new herbaceous planting, the installation of a new bus canopy and improvements made to sight lines to make the area more open and accessible. This was achieved in part by the removal of an under-used concrete footbridge across Hall Ings.
Opposite the Centenary Square building are sculptures by award-winning artist Wolfgang Buttress. The three sculptures, all cast from reconstituted stone, measure up to 2.5m (8ft) in height and 4m (13ft) in length and weigh between 1.5 and 15 tonnes. The artist designed the sculptures to “complement the City Park landscape and the mirror pool and make a real connection with people”.
Wolfgang Buttress also designed the 10 lighting columns, measuring 17m (55ft) in height, around the mirror pool. The galvanised steel columns have been designed to look like stylised reeds and rushes sitting at the edge of the mirror pool. They illuminate causeways and paths around the water’s edge and the mirror pool itself.
Four of the lighting columns feature laser lighting projectors and cameras which track movement as part of the interactive public artwork Another Life created by the award-winning Usman Haque. They will respond to people moving around City Park and across the mirror pool causeway and changes in the weather and wind.
Am I allowed to walk across the mirror pool when it has water in it?
When the mirror pool is partially full, the Y-shaped causeway provides a path for people to cross the park. City Park is a public open space which people are free to use responsibly – we would urge people who want to splash around to make use of the 40 low-powered play fountains close to the Pavilion building.
Can I bring dogs into City Park?
All dogs must be kept on a lead in City Park and they are not allowed to enter the mirror pool area, whether it is drained, partially drained or filled with water.
The water treatment in place at City Park would ensure there was no risk to public health if a dog did enter the mirror pool but it could spoil people’s enjoyment of the park.
We’re confident the vast majority of dog owners will respect these rules but a Dog Control Order has been introduced to make it a formal offence which could result in a fine of up to £1,000 if they are breached.
The full Dog Control Order relating to keeping dogs on a lead in City Park and out of the mirror pool area can be read by clicking here and here or following the links at the bottom of this page. The Orders are also visible on site.
How does the weather impact City Park?
There is a weather monitor on site which measures temperature, climate and wind speeds. This feeds into the settings for the fountains and lighting which will reflect the current conditions.
When the temperature drops near freezing the mirror pool and fountains will not be operated and in high winds the fountain heights will be limited.
How much has City Park cost?
We expect the final cost to be close to the original estimate of £24.5m. We are working within a contract and for commercial confidentiality reasons we are therefore unable to outline how much we expect those to be at present. We understand the need for transparency and we will make the details available as soon as we can.
What kind of events will City Park be able to stage?
City Park, and the mirror pool space in particular, will be an adaptable environment which is capable of holding events such as continental markets, Christmas fairs, theatre productions, screenings and community festivals. It is anticipated that the mirror pool area will be a hub for a number of new major events each year in addition to enhancing and supporting established events in the city and district.
Artist's impression of an event in City Park
What will be the economic benefits of City Park for Bradford?
City Park has been designed to bring jobs and prosperity to Bradford by attracting visitors and investors, raising land and property values and help create the landscape for investment in the city centre.
Direct investment can already be attributed to City Park such as the £45m Southgate scheme. The Southgate scheme is the new headquarters for Bradford-based Provident Financial who were attracted to staying in the city, and in particular the city centre, because of City Park and the benefits to their workers. This re-location, as well as the new 200-bed Jury’s Inn hotel within the development, brings approximately 770 jobs into the city centre.
Provident also recently announced that they would locate their Vanquis credit card operation in the city centre.
Investment in public realm generates economic benefits and impacts through attracting new investment, increasing land and property values and enhancing the image of a city. Similar schemes have been a success elsewhere:
Rope Walks, Liverpool: Investment in public realm here led to an increase in the population from 150 to several thousand.
Brindley Place, Birmingham: Implemented new pedestrian routes through the site, mixed-use buildings and attractive open spaces and helped to stimulate private sector investment, contributing to the wider regeneration of Birmingham.
What are the plans for the former police headquarters?
The northern portion of the former Police Headquarters has been demolished to create additional space for the City Park. The partial demolition is necessary to avoid disruption to the cells of the Magistrates Courts service.
How will City Park be maintained/ looked after?
It is recognised that effective maintenance is crucial to the success of the City Park. The park and mirror pool will be maintained to a very high standard. The mirror pool can be drained every night for road sweepers to drive across and clean the area before the pool is re-filled at dawn.
Bradford Council has a good track record of maintaining parks to a high standard, including the successfully regenerated Lister Park, which has won numerous awards and accolades, including being named Britain’s Best Park and gaining a Civic Trust, Green Flag award.
Is it be safe?
Yes. City Park has been designed with safety in mind and to be used by people of all ages, all day long (and into the night) and all year round. A full safety assessment including issues of pollution, child safety, water safety, vandalism prevention, fountain / geyser safety and slips / falls has been carried out. Twenty-four hour staffing and remote surveillance will be provided. The whole park will be well lit with clear ‘sight lines’ and no dark or hidden corners.
Will there be suitable disabled parking and access?
Yes. City Park’s design is geared towards being fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. The exact proportion of disabled parking will be considered alongside the requirement of the city centre as a whole. Sufficient space will also be provided for one-off events taking place. These findings have been closely adopted as an integral part of the design process. Specific consultations have been held with disability groups and feedback from this process has been fed into the final designs.
For more information on the park, please contact us.
