A competition winning proposal creating a rich and layered new cultural quarter in Colchester. A place for local, independent makers, producers and growers to interact directly with the public.

A high quality public realm with continuous paved surfaces, shared by pedestrians and the occasional vehicle, with archaeological traces marked in the pavement.

A hub, with a critical mass of popular, creative and commercial activity, building on Colchester’s real historical strengths.

High quality, varied architecture: a mix of exciting new buildings, eyesore sixties blocks transformed out of recognition, a makeover for the bus depot, carefully restored historic properties.

Queen Street is traffic choked and run down. This is a chance to make it once more an elegant artery in the life of the town. The vineyard, on the terrace of the creative business centre, revives a centuries old tradition on Colchester’s south facing slopes.

Town centre living that is innovative, beautiful and sustainable. A potent mix of uses ensures a vibrant, creative and safe environment day, evening and night.

New connections north, south, east and west stitch the new Quarter into the urban fabric of Colchester and connect many of its historic places. A new part of town that breaks with Colchester’s current evening youth monoculture: St Botolphs will be family friendly at all times of day.

St Botolphs will be Colchester’s most ecologically sustainable development to date. Intimate and diverse, appropriate for Colchester’s urban grain of streets, open spaces and lanes. The bus garage becomes a flexible covered public space: something for nothing – it already exists.