A Green and Civic Space…

The Coppergate Centre

New buildings shown as brown, listed buildings as red.

 

Esher's 1969 proposals included new stores on the W.side of Piccadilly, on the site of Castlegate School, to match new stores being built opposite [Tesco's, now Index &c], and: "the at present disused confectionery works [Craven's, Coppergate] are changed to shop and office use, and the rear portion reduced to provide service circulation" [for the new stores]

Esher also incorporated plans for the disused St.Mary's Church: "The existing embryo footpaths alongside the cinema are extended to communicate through to St.Mary's Castlegate, which in its suggested new role as a City Information Centre, would attract a substantial amount of foot traffic. It is therefore also shown in a less cramped setting, with all the obsolete outbuildings removed and a properly paved and treed open space. The spire which is an important feature of the town centre must remain the dominant landmark of any views down Castlegate and with this in mind, a new office block with shops at ground level is shown framing the new space, concealing the bulky flank of St.George's Cinema, but keeping the view of the church intact."

What Esher was suggesting was to replace the 1948 plan's open northern extension of the Castle Precinct with a scheme he applied everywhere in York: small interrelated areas of enclosure with historic buildings as a focal point. 

The Coppergate Centre [now Coppergate Shopping] by architects Chapman Taylor and Partners was influenced by Esher's proposals. The area was enlarged by demolition of both cinemas, the vestry of St.Mary's and St.George's school. Losses include the profiling of the building between the church and St.George's cinema, which Esher shows according to his favourite containment-with-view principle; footpaths to Piccadilly; and the reduction of the space at the E. end of the church, noe called St.Mary's Square. A small triangular garden shown in the 1948 plan as linking through to Piccadilly was reduced to a narrow riverside walk. Gains include the opening up of a good new view of the tower of All Saints Pavement from Coppergate Walk, housing, and a very satisfactory sense of enclsure. The backs of the C18 houses are revealed nicely along Castle Walk, which runs to communicate directly with the Castle Precinct. [A pity that the proposed development will block the view here.] The development's success is assisted by the Jorvik Centre.

The impact of the original Coppergate Centre upon the Castle Precinct was limited by public pressure. The current Castle/Piccadilly design brief notes: "The competition for the development of the Coppergate Centre invited applicants to consider the potential for incorporating part of the Castle Car Park within that development. At that time this did not prove to be feasible..." In fact, the detail, massing and southern extent of the scheme were carefully adjusted to take account of the importance attached to keeping the space around the tower open, and futher expansion was resisted.