The Edges of the Market Square 03
The Market Square, the Town, and the Planet
Published in the Stratford Gazette, 12 January 2012.
The edges? Yes, the edges. The edge of a public space, where the horizontal surface meets the buildings, is crucial to creating a lively street scene.
What works best is a row of smallish stores, cafés, and other businesses, with windows that allow people to see in and out. This is a “soft” edge, as opposed to the “hard” edge of, for instance, a supermarket wall with no windows, or windows of frosted glass, or windows covered with advertising.
Seating is important: informal seating such as window ledges, steps, or raised flower beds, and formal seating like benches, or the chairs and tables of a sidewalk café. It has to be designed properly: most people prefer a bench with its back to something. The worst seats are stone blocks without a back. A straight bench is useable for one person, or for two who don’t want to talk to each other, but the best is a cluster of benches and chairs, especially if the chairs are moveable, so that a group of people can sit facing each other.
In the central area of a square, edges can be created. A raised flower bed or a low wall will provide a “back”, and so will moveable evergreens-in-pots. Even the trunk of a single tree will do it, though a circular bench around a tree doesn’t promote conversation.
The edges of the Market Square now include the long, nearly blank side of City Hall, and the stores and businesses (most of them struggling, and several empty) along the south side. The attractive side of Wellington Street, and the somewhat less lively side of Downie Street, separated from the Square by those streets, are visually part of the Square but not functionally very much a part of it. The Plant Architect Inc. design includes changes which would make the south side much more interesting to pedestrians and would also, it is hoped, attract a sidewalk restaurant.
So the long sides could work better than they do, and the short sides have to be created. The sycamore trees called for in the plan will help with the west side, and so will the low wall between the Square and Wellington Street. The shallow, amphitheatre-like steps and big oak tree will contribute to defining the eastern end.
As for the City Hall wall: when the buses are gone it won’t be difficult to do creative things with the area. Seating is a first requirement – benches, individual chairs, (preferably moveable ones), and greenery such as evergreens in pots.
The south side is where Jan Gehl’s prescription for attractive streetscapes can be applied: a row of small businesses with frequent doors and windows to promote lots of coming and going. It’s mostly like that already, but there would have to be seating, and a restaurant with a sidewalk patio. Stores could display merchandise outdoors or provide chairs and tables. This, the shady side of the Square, would be attractive on hot days; awnings could make it more inviting.
The narrowness of the Square from north to south will enable people to stroll back and forth, buying a coffee at the café on the south side and then, on a day when sun is welcome, drinking it in the warmed shelter of City Hall. A busker could use the amphitheatre steps. Inviting, attractive stores along the south side – combined with the existing shops and restaurants on Wellington Street – would attract shoppers.
Stratford already has interesting and popular edges, such as the sidewalk tables outside restaurants on Ontario Street – well-used in good weather – and the steps of Knox Church. The courtyard in front of the Buzz Stop and Callan’s on York Street is a wonderful example of a soft edge. In Wilmington, NC, there’s a bar which has a similar courtyard but with a solid roof – delightful because it’s partly open and partly enclosed – and when I was there in early November it was crowded.
Jan Gehl, in Cities for People, writes that no single feature “has greater impact on the life and attractiveness of city space than active, open, and lively edges. When the rhythms of the city’s buildings produce short units, many doors, and carefully designed details at ground-floor level, they support life in the city and near buildings. When the city’s edges work, they reinforce city life. Activities can supplement each other, the wealth of experience increases, walking becomes safer, and distances seem shorter.” (page 88)
*
The Plant Architect Inc. plan for Stratford’s Market Square can be found at http://www.stratfordmarketsquare.com/
*
Jan Gehl’s books include Life Between Buildings, New City Spaces, New City Life, and Cities for People. He is based in Copenhagen. See http://en.wikipedia.org and go to “Jan Gehl.”
*
Brandis has lived in Stratford since 1996 and is a full-time writer. She is the author of a number of books - visit Marianne's website
Published in the Stratford Gazette, 12 January 2012.
The edges? Yes, the edges. The edge of a public space, where the horizontal surface meets the buildings, is crucial to creating a lively street scene.
What works best is a row of smallish stores, cafés, and other businesses, with windows that allow people to see in and out. This is a “soft” edge, as opposed to the “hard” edge of, for instance, a supermarket wall with no windows, or windows of frosted glass, or windows covered with advertising.
Seating is important: informal seating such as window ledges, steps, or raised flower beds, and formal seating like benches, or the chairs and tables of a sidewalk café. It has to be designed properly: most people prefer a bench with its back to something. The worst seats are stone blocks without a back. A straight bench is useable for one person, or for two who don’t want to talk to each other, but the best is a cluster of benches and chairs, especially if the chairs are moveable, so that a group of people can sit facing each other.
In the central area of a square, edges can be created. A raised flower bed or a low wall will provide a “back”, and so will moveable evergreens-in-pots. Even the trunk of a single tree will do it, though a circular bench around a tree doesn’t promote conversation.
The edges of the Market Square now include the long, nearly blank side of City Hall, and the stores and businesses (most of them struggling, and several empty) along the south side. The attractive side of Wellington Street, and the somewhat less lively side of Downie Street, separated from the Square by those streets, are visually part of the Square but not functionally very much a part of it. The Plant Architect Inc. design includes changes which would make the south side much more interesting to pedestrians and would also, it is hoped, attract a sidewalk restaurant.
So the long sides could work better than they do, and the short sides have to be created. The sycamore trees called for in the plan will help with the west side, and so will the low wall between the Square and Wellington Street. The shallow, amphitheatre-like steps and big oak tree will contribute to defining the eastern end.
As for the City Hall wall: when the buses are gone it won’t be difficult to do creative things with the area. Seating is a first requirement – benches, individual chairs, (preferably moveable ones), and greenery such as evergreens in pots.
The south side is where Jan Gehl’s prescription for attractive streetscapes can be applied: a row of small businesses with frequent doors and windows to promote lots of coming and going. It’s mostly like that already, but there would have to be seating, and a restaurant with a sidewalk patio. Stores could display merchandise outdoors or provide chairs and tables. This, the shady side of the Square, would be attractive on hot days; awnings could make it more inviting.
The narrowness of the Square from north to south will enable people to stroll back and forth, buying a coffee at the café on the south side and then, on a day when sun is welcome, drinking it in the warmed shelter of City Hall. A busker could use the amphitheatre steps. Inviting, attractive stores along the south side – combined with the existing shops and restaurants on Wellington Street – would attract shoppers.
Stratford already has interesting and popular edges, such as the sidewalk tables outside restaurants on Ontario Street – well-used in good weather – and the steps of Knox Church. The courtyard in front of the Buzz Stop and Callan’s on York Street is a wonderful example of a soft edge. In Wilmington, NC, there’s a bar which has a similar courtyard but with a solid roof – delightful because it’s partly open and partly enclosed – and when I was there in early November it was crowded.
Jan Gehl, in Cities for People, writes that no single feature “has greater impact on the life and attractiveness of city space than active, open, and lively edges. When the rhythms of the city’s buildings produce short units, many doors, and carefully designed details at ground-floor level, they support life in the city and near buildings. When the city’s edges work, they reinforce city life. Activities can supplement each other, the wealth of experience increases, walking becomes safer, and distances seem shorter.” (page 88)
*
The Plant Architect Inc. plan for Stratford’s Market Square can be found at http://www.stratfordmarketsquare.com/
*
Jan Gehl’s books include Life Between Buildings, New City Spaces, New City Life, and Cities for People. He is based in Copenhagen. See http://en.wikipedia.org and go to “Jan Gehl.”
*
Brandis has lived in Stratford since 1996 and is a full-time writer. She is the author of a number of books - visit Marianne's website