Peel secures consent for Wirral Waters arts hub

The £4m waterside village, designed by architect OMI, has been given the go-ahead by Wirral Council, the latest project to be given planning consent at Peel L&P’s 30-year regeneration site.

Known as Egerton Village, the £4m scheme will be located at Four Bridges and next to the existing Wirral Metropolitan College.

It will also sit next to the proposed Maritime Knowledge Hub and the £7.5m, 34,000 sq ft No1 Tower Road office, which secured planning consent earlier this year, along with £3m of grant funding from the Liverpool City Region.

Egerton Village will act as a community hub featuring a restaurant and bistro, retail units targeted at independents, artists’ studios, managed workspace, and an events space.

OMI secured the brief in March 2017 following an architectural competition, beating fellow practices Ellis Williams, Sixtwo, K2, and Ainsley Gommon. The scheme will be built using modular construction techniques.

It is the latest project to advance at the major regeneration site in the last 12 months.

Along with No1 Tower Road, a Belong care village designed by architect Pozzoni was approved in April, while Urban Splash and Peel L&P submitted plans for the first 30 modular homes at the site, where the joint venture will deliver 347 properties.

Peel L&P also exchanged contracts with the Legacy Foundation and Wirral Council for Wirral Waters One in August, a £90m scheme of 500 homes.

Richard Mawdsley, director of development at Peel L&P, said: “Egerton Village is a really important development at Wirral Waters as it will help provide some of the facilities and amenities that are missing but that lie at the heart of a regeneration project. It has been designed to serve new and existing residents, students and local businesses as well as visitors. Securing planning is a positive step forward.”

Nick Berry, director of OMI Architects said: “The approval of the Egerton Village proposal is a positive milestone in the delivery of what will become the natural ‘hub’ for leisure activities within Peel L&Ps wider Wirral Waters vision.

“Egerton Village will provide an opportunity for local businesses to contribute to this unique waterside environment, creating a new and exciting place for workers, residents, artists and visitors to enjoy. A lot of the hard work behind the scenes at Wirral Waters is now starting to pay off. It’s been difficult – but we now have a line of sight for the delivery of a number of inter-related projects.”