Urban Splash, Igloo unveil Festival Gardens thinking
Phase one of the Liverpool regeneration project would feature 440 homes, including an 80-bed extra care scheme and 110 affordable properties. Meanwhile, the JV is in the process of establishing a “pioneering coalition of developers” to bring the long-awaited scheme to fruition.
A joint venture between Urban Splash and Igloo Regeneration was selected by Liverpool City Council last month as the preferred development partner for the 27-acre Festival Gardens opportunity, beating competition from Vistry and Muse.
A cabinet report due to be discussed next week sets out the JV’s intentions for the site, which once formed part of the International Garden Festival celebrations launched by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984.
A planning application for the 440-home first phase of the wider 800-home waterfront project is expected late next year.
Urban Splash and Igloo plan to deliver upwards of 30 different house types at the site, offering a range of different tenures; co-housing, social rent, mixed tenure family homes, retirement living, and self-build are all planned.
As well as delivering homes themselves, the JV will work with other businesses to bring the plans forward.
In phase one, the care scheme will be delivered by Alpha Living while the affordable element will be managed by Regenda Homes.
TOWN is lined up to develop a co-housing scheme, while Starship has been tapped up to deliver modular homes. Six different architects are being utilised to create the development.
Work on phase one is expected to begin in spring 2027, subject to planning approval.
Jonathan Falkingham, co-founder of Urban Splash, said: “Festival Gardens is one of Liverpool’s biggest opportunities. It’s a huge privilege to have been selected as the city’s development partner on the creation of this new riverside neighbourhood.
“Our aim is to create a place for everyone and embrace the spirit of the original Garden Festival – showcasing outstanding housing design, innovative landscape strategies for healthier living, and building on the arts and cultural programme initiated 40 years ago.”
Peter Connolly, chief executive at Igloo Regeneration said: “Festival Gardens is a landmark project that will create lasting impact for the city region, with a thriving new neighbourhood offering a diverse mix of homes to support people at every stage of life
“It also brings together, under the JV’s leadership, a pioneering coalition of developers with a shared commitment to transform this iconic site into a community that’s sustainable, inclusive and built to last.”
Situated three miles south of Liverpool city centre, Festival Gardens was the subject of a £53m remediation effort, funded by the city council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and Homes England. Vinci was the contractor for the site enabling works, which concluded in 2023.
As part of that programme of works, the Southern Grasslands public park was completed. This sits next to the 27-acre development site that Urban Splash and Igloo will be focussed on.
Looks like student accommodation
By Undergrad
So phase one is a care home and affordable homes, and after that who can guess, but it looks like they’ll still be building in 2035!
Surely £60,000,000 worth of remediation warrants some high quality housing and design.
By Anonymous
Crying out for re-instating the Ferry terminal here surely
By L17
Cheap Looking development needing demolition in 35 years..don’t bother
By John lynn
Have we waited from 1984 for this uninspiring effort ?
By Liverpolitis
Have they copied and pasted several different views of other projects and tried to present them ad one?
By Liverpool4Progess
As usual in Liverpool an opportunity missed, with another bland development with little or no imagination, and as someone else has said, where is the ferry link.
Another huge own goal by Liverpool City Council, would have expected better from Igloo and Urban Splash.
By Anonymous
OMG lol!!!
By Anonymous
Bring back Pleasure Island!
By Liam
This looks very promising! CGI obviously just an idea of density and form, so look forward to seeing the detail but much more interesting than handing it over to Redrow or someone like that. Urban Splash will do a good job based on track record.
By Mike
What a huge disappointment. Rows of bland 60’s style blocks of flats lining Riverside Drive , with others blocking the view of the river. Currently it is very pleasant living on the old Festival Garden site, but the proposals for the rest of the site will ruin that. Low density development with high Council Tax would enhance the area and keep traffic to just about manageable levels
By Anonymous
Seems a real missed opportunity to not address the River with some commercial too. Great spot for a nice coffee shop/restaurants.
By L17
A prime waterfront site with lovely views, but hey: let’s not deliver buildings to match, or to exploit their setting. If a second year architecture student came up with this as a project it wouldn’t merit more than 3/10.
By More Anonymous than the others
Some buildings are a bit too tall, please reduce the height
By Anonymous
Whilst it’s positive to finally see some proposals for the site, based on the image released there doesn’t look to be much engagement with the waterfront or the key pedestrian / cyclist route that it sits adjacent to.
By Anonymous
Hurry up with works because there is zero building work going on in Liverpool
By Anonymous
The design looks awful. Ugly buildings and an incoherent use of space.
Aside from that, it is worrying to see that almost half of the phase is some sort of subsidised housing. Surely the first stage should seek to maximize the commercial value of the site given the £60m of remediation costs incurred? Anything else would be a breach of the council’s duties to taxpayers.
By AB
Tomorrow, tomorrow! I love you tomorrow! You’re always. A day. Away!
By Annie
Is this being considered overall and what is also proposed for the IM Marsh campus? As going to be worse traffic than there is already. Agree with the other comments its not very exciting – especially for the water front. Should knock the sizzler pub down and the Chung Ku as well – both don’t look great.
By Bob Dawson
Judging by the image the planners seem to have forgotten this is a waterfront location, they should be maximising the number of apartments with a river front balcony and view.
By Dom
Pretty rubbish effort. Could do with a clear organisation with a central hughstreet boulevard. It could also do with some depth by including some taller buildings towards the back – nothing enormous but 50-80m. I think the green roofs are stupid – these are always in CGIs and never in the final product, so they need to be ditched. I also do get the insistence on 20% affordable – there are plenty of houses available in Liverpool (and elsewhere in the North) – this is not London.
By Chris
Did anyone really expect anything better?
By Anonymous
What a complete waste of space, views blocked, no direct access from St Michael’s to the waterfront and woeful dated buildings that resemble any new town from the 70”
By Just saying?
CGIs are just indicative masses hence outline planning. Detailed plots will come and I’m sure they will be quality
By Anonymous
Let’s see the City Regions construction industry benefit from this. We’ve lost one major construction business already this week. Use local skills in your design teams and construction teams. Tell Steve Rotherham and the council it should be a priority.
By Bill Maynard
Disappointing!
By Otto Pool
Typical. Phase one 2027.
Brakes are still jammed on then.
By Eric
In view of Urban Splashes/Igloos ideas and plans for the site I think that we should all stop calling the site ‘Festival Gardens’ and instead call it ‘Liverpool’s Model Village (Toytown)’ because in my humble view the ideas put forward look like someones ideas for a post war model village or the kind of town that would appear on a railway modellers train layout. The only thing missing are the train tracks but I am sure that tram lines could always be added later! The festival gardens site/model village should be a site that attracts the very best in architecture and design at all levels and that should abide by the sites and in my view former name festival gardens by having masses of green spaces and yes gardens not blocks of low rise flats. As for the date of spring 2027 being a ‘start date’ given LCC’s record on movement I think it be more like 2037 at the earliest.
By Brendan R
The worry is that this is the best in architecture and design these days..this is what they teach them post modernism at its finest, CAD/CAM design, Etch a sketch realisation and no beauty or imagination in sight…and it’s everywhere. No wonder people want to cling to the past when it comes to old buildings.
By Pugins Ghost