Birkenhead Masterplan

With people at the heart of all we do, we conducted thorough stakeholder engagement to understand the needs of the Birkenhead community, as well as the requirements of local businesses and the unique contextual surroundings of the site.

We presented an indicative masterplan to the public that featured some key elements, including repurposing a vacant unit in the existing Pyramids Shopping Centre to create a new market hall, a new build replacement leisure centre, and redeveloping the site of the existing leisure centre to extend the new residential neighbourhood.

However, following a review of the feedback, we changed a number of elements, taking onboard their comments. The market is now planned as a new standalone building on plot A3 at the heart of the new public square and we will retain the existing leisure centre, freeing up the development plot which had been previously set aside for a new leisure centre.

We then presented the revised masterplan to the Places Matter Design Review Panel. Following this review, we made further amendments, such as increasing the heights of some blocks to create an interesting skyline and reinforce entry points into the development. It was also reiterated that the new market hall will be an architectural gem, a high-quality leisure and retail destination, focusing on the evening food and beverage offerings, drawing people into the town centre.