Stretford Masterplan - Bruntwood Works and Trafford Council JV

Who is the developer/client of the project?

Bruntwood Works and Trafford Council as a joint venture

Describe the context of this project and its contribution to the urban life and user experience of the place in 250 words max. and please upload an image of the project in its wider context or a drawing that best situates the project in its location.

Stretford Mall and the Stretford masterplan is a joint venture project between Bruntwood Works and Trafford Borough Council to transform the Mall and town centre into a greener, healthier and more sustainable area, with a heavy focus on reimagined retail and the high street but it also forms part of the Area Action Plan for Stretford, and so focuses on a much wider remit than simply reinvigorating the Mall.

This is an opportunity to redefine a large part of Stretford, stitching the community together with a new town centre and mixed-use neighbourhood comprising high-quality contemporary architecture and innovative public space.

The emphasis of our masterplans is on ensuring social, economic and environmental sustainability for the town in which we work and in Stretford, this has been backed up by winning nearly £18m of Future High Streets government funding which will ultimately help us in achieving high-quality infrastructure and a resilient public realm.

Already we’ve unveiled our masterplan, had a robust and ongoing consultation process both in the Mall and through a digital platform including working with the community to develop the brand. We’ve brought more independent retail into the area such as The Play Cafe, Stitched Up and Stretford Foodhall, and we’ve worked on placemaking activities with existing community groups such as monthly markets with Spirit of the Essoldo. 

Please describe your approach to this future place and its mix of uses. How will it function as a vibrant place? How does it knit into, and serve the needs of, the wider area? 250 words max. Please attach a detailed masterplan that shows the mix of uses and public spaces.

Specific plans include the reinstatement of historic King Street as a thriving high street, and developing a ‘Makers Yard’ hub for small independent retailers and restaurants, with outdoor seating, eateries and bar areas. To provide up to 800 residential units around Stretford Mall and St Matthew’s Church, to include affordable homes. To repurpose the Lacy Street area into a mixed-use space to unlock the connection between the town centre and the canal and open up the waterfront area. A series of interlinked public realm spaces would be created to bring people into Stretford from the wider area. To create green meeting areas with public squares and open spaces, and a green biodiversity corridor, including a Library Square and Central Park at the heart of the town centre. The features would also improve access to the Bridgewater canal. To transform Stretford Mall and the surrounding area into a sustainable retail and leisure centre.

This project adopts the Neighbourhood Creation Framework designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios which is comprised of the following principles - design, place, community, sustainability and making. These principles interrelate with The National Design Guide characteristics of well-designed places to help establish a thriving neighbourhood with a strong sense of community in Stretford, and we’re guided by the key themes to achieving a distinct sense of place and quality, which are: creating places which respond to their context, designing people-friendly streets and open spaces, crafting modern houses which feel like home, and offering choice and diversity

How will the carbon use/material impact of the development of this new place be mitigated? What is the sustainability strategy? 250 words max. Please attach an image or drawing of the project that supports your statement.

High on our priorities is the commitment to the Bruntwood Works pledge to reduce absolute carbon production by 50% by 2030, aligning with our joint venture partner Trafford council and their own commitment to be Carbon Neutral by 2038 , and implementing that in Stretford by aiming for a self-sufficient town centre with solar street lighting, district heating systems, and approaching all our refurbishments with net Zero Carbon in mind. Our strong sustainability agenda will be a core principle of our partnership.

The emphasis of our masterplan is on ensuring social, economic and environmental sustainability for the towns in which we work and we need to think about cultural shifts around the future of towns and how people engage with brands.

A huge part of the work we’ve done in Trafford already has been in considering how we respond to these changes and help places to become dynamic and futureproof.

Within the retail portfolio at Stretford we’re ensuring ethical brands form part of our masterplan to meet the demands of ethically conscious consumers, this plays a part towards a larger shift towards environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and this is where we, as Bruntwood Worlds, have to lead the way.  By 2028 our Trafford portfolio will be recognised nationally as a blueprint for sustainable, technology-enabled, well-built town centre ecosystems. Each site will have community at its heart, and be vibrant places with a significant contribution to employment and inclusive growth.

What do you see as the greatest contribution of this project to the citizens of this future place and its surrounding areas? You may also attach an additional image or document to support your entry.

The starting point for change is putting people at the start of the conversation and keeping them at the centre of it, and that standard is something we’ve been particularly responsive to when it comes to our work at Stretford Mall with peerless community engagement at the core of our partnership.

An event was held at Stretford Mall in January 2020 which was well attended gaining over 3000 interactions with residents. Through various workshops, interviews and forms, residents were given the opportunity to express their initial thoughts on the masterplan

Public feedback enabled the design team to develop a proposal which puts the residents of Stretford at the heart of the design. The results of the consultation were used to deliver an initial masterplan approach for; retail, food, public space, commercial and residential opportunities in Stretford within a well-knitted and connected community.

Another major strength of our joint venture partnership has been in detailed data-informed learning; deep research together with public consultation, which has led to a hyper-local understanding of human and consumer behaviours that will allow resilience and adaptability for the future of Trafford. With the help of the High Street Task Force we’re developing our skills in data analysis and have been awarded access to the footfall dashboard for Stretford. Not only does this provide us with consumer insights but in turn, we can feed that information into a national database so that each town centre can benefit from the evidence gathered by high streets across the UK.