KQ Liverpool has unveiled new plans at the MIPIM UK commercial property expo in London which aim to improve connections across the city centre and create a new public space
Liverpool’s emerging Knowledge Quarter could feature a futuristic, eco-friendly transport system and a new public space in front of the Adelphi.
The ideas are being unveiled at the MIPIM UK commercial property expo in London by KQ Liverpool, the agency overseeing the £2bn Knowledge Quarter project.
It published Spatial Masterplan and Transport Vision documents which aim to stimulate new thinking and help “fuse” existing boundaries within KQ Liverpool.
The plan would improve connections across the city centre and create a new public space at the epicentre of the city centre.
Liverpool’s £2bn Knowledge Quarter – click to read more about the key projects
Among the series of urban design and transport ideas put forward in the vision is a new high-tech, eco-friendly transport system running up Brownlow Hill from the city centre, to the universities, hospitals and the Paddington Village development.
With the working title of the ‘Lime Line’, it could significantly improve ‘last mile’ uphill journeys for patients, medical professionals, academics, students, staff and other visitors.
KQ Liverpool is calling for global innovation technology companies to collaborate with them on ideas for this new high frequency, short distance, 24-hour transit system.
The documents also reveal a shared vision for ‘Lime Square’, which would see a major overhaul of the crossroads adjacent to the Adelphi Hotel and former Lewis’s building (home to the new ‘Circus’ development).
It would create a “dynamic conduit” for all parts of the city and a gateway point that will feel “both world class and distinctly Liverpudlian”.
The Spatial Framework, devised on behalf of KQ Liverpool by K2 Architects and HOW Planning, outlines the need to blur the lines between the distinct communities and neighbourhoods of KQ Liverpool.
The thrust of the Transport Vision, which has been created by Mott MacDonald, is “a transport environment that works for all”.
Colin Sinclair, chief executive of KQ Liverpool, said: “Creating a world-class innovation district and making that space more accessible to everyone go hand in hand, which is why we have unveiled these two visionary frameworks simultaneously today.
“KQ Liverpool has made huge strides in the past year and we are confident that our world-leading strengths in fighting infection and disease, materials chemistry and high performance & cognitive computing; in education, health, science and technology, as well as our superb cultural assets including the Cathedrals, The Everyman and Liverpool Philharmonic on Hope Street, can help us to attract leading academics, doctors, scientists and innovators from across the globe.”