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19 September 2001
Countryside Properties PLC is pleased to announce that as a result of an international competition it has been chosen by "APU" Anglia Polytechnic University as its development partner, to promote and redevelop APU's 6 acre Central Campus site, in the town centre of Chelmsford, Essex. The sale of the Central Campus site will enable APU to complete the building of its award-winning Rivermead Campus. All of the University's facilities in Chelmsford will then be located at Rivermead where the town will have a University Quarter in prestigious modern buildings.
Countryside Properties is proposing a major mixed-use scheme at the Central Campus site, with a completed development value of more than £100m, designed by internationally renowned architects, Richard Rogers Partnership.
The appointment by APU of Countryside Properties comes at the end of a detailed process of selection from the final four shortlisted submissions. APU needed to form a partnership with a developer that will allow a phased hand-over of the central site as new teaching, learning and community facilities become available at Rivermead.
The stimulating design for the redeveloped Central Campus site, by the Richard Rogers Partnership for Countryside Properties, has had input from an international team of consultants and advisors, and responds to the West End Forum masterplan. The scheme has been judged by independent architects as meeting all the criteria laid down in Chelmsford Borough Council's planning brief.
APU vice-chancellor Michael Malone-Lee said: "Our Central Campus site has been an educational landmark in Chelmsford for nearly 100 years. We are now going to create a new educational landmark in the centre of the town at Rivermead. It will be a 21st century University campus that will rival any university anywhere. Our partners, Countryside Properties, will create a new commercial, residential and arts quarter for the town that will set exceptionally high standards of architecture and urban design."
Richard Cherry, New Business Director of Countryside Properties PLC, commented, "We are delighted to have been selected to work with APU to deliver our vision of a sustainable mixed-use development, of the highest quality, in the West End of Chelmsford. We will create a vibrant urban quarter that will further enhance Chelmsford's status in the East of England."
He added, "We are proposing to include new homes of mixed tenure, retail and commercial uses, including cafés and restaurants, offices and a new arts quarter, as well as a Central Square that will serve as a focus for the scheme. Access to the adjoining Chelmsford train station will be improved and some of the existing key historic properties will be retained and refurbished."
Lord Rogers of Riverside said, "The regeneration of this gateway location in the centre of Chelmsford represents an ideal opportunity to implement many of the core principles of the Urban Task Force, as outlined in the UTF report "Towards an Urban Renaissance." The scheme focuses on quality, density and a rich mix of uses."
APU will vacate the Central Campus site in two phases, in 2003 and 2005. Countryside expects to commence works in 2003 with an anticipated completion date of 2008.
APU was advised by Drivers Jonas. Countryside's team of consultants and advisors includes:
Richard Rogers Partnership / Architects / Robert Rummey Associates
ARUP / Engineers / Planning Consultants
Montagu Evans / Martin Associates / Cost consultants
Landscape Architects / Arts Consultants / New Media Partners
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Information correct as at 19/09/2001