THE FUTURE OF
PRINCE BISHOPS PLACE
Working together, we are confident a scheme can be delivered which enhances the contribution of the shopping centre to the setting of the World Heritage Site and responds better to the unique opportunities presented by its context.
Key to this is utilising the existing envelope and massing of the shopping centre as much as possible, whilst adopting a new architectural approach and introducing a wider range of uses.
Heritage Assets
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HERITAGE CONTEXT
Prince Bishops Place benefits from a unique position in the heart of Durham City Centre’s medieval streetscape, with the River Wear to one boundary and the wider World Heritage Site to the other. The World Heritage Site exhibits a number of Outstanding Universal Values identified by UNESCO, which any redevelopment proposals must respect and, where possible, enhance.
The immediate visual setting of the site is therefore defined by its relationship with the surrounding Medieval streets, the river and the wider World Heritage Site. The existing scheme’s contribution to the surrounding built environment is at best neutral; with a compact urban grain at street level, but imposing and bleak outward facing elevations.
The site itself contains no heritage assets, although it does lie within Durham City Conservation Area and is within the setting of several listed buildings (included Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings), Elvet Bridge scheduled monument and the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site.
Citrus are working closely with Historic England and Durham County Council’s Design and Conservation Officers in order to understand and explore the site’s existing and future relationship to the World Heritage Site.
