Oxpens Second Consultation
Welcome to this second online exhibition about the Oxpens mixed use development, being promoted by OxWED, a joint venture between Nuffield College and Oxford City Council.
In line with the Oxford Local Plan 2020, our vision is to create an exciting mixed use neighbourhood for the city, opening up the riverside to provide a new public space for people to enjoy. Oxpens is a big opportunity for Oxford, with new homes, new jobs and a new hotel, helping to expand the city centre and create an innovation district in the west end of the city.
Objectives
Enhancing the river edge and extending Oxpens Meadow
Protecting and enhancing nature and biodiversity of habitat
Extending the public realm network to include a new outdoor gathering space for performances, hospitality and informal activity.
Making the area sustainable, low carbon and flood resilient
Creating a safe, connected, accessible and inclusive place for all
Improving Opxens Road, enhancing the cycle and pedestrian connections in the area and integrating the proposed Oxpens River Bridge into the masterplan
Providing a mix of uses to add to Oxford’s residential, employment and hospitality offer
Creating a distinctive identity that connects to Oxpens’ creative past and feels part of Oxford
Creating an attractive neighbourhood for residents, workers and visitors
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Stage 1 Consultation July 2021
Stage 1 Consultation July 2021
The first round of consultation was held in July to inform and seek views on our approach towards the Oxpens mixed use development. A wide range of comments were made, with the report available on to read on this website (click here).
A summary of the headline points includes the following:
Areas of support
The idea of a new mixed use quarter was generally welcomed
Creating a new public space was a plus
A new walking and cycling network was supported, including the proposed bridge
Protecting nature and biodiversity is a priority, including Oxpens Meadow
The provision of new homes is considered a key aspect
Sustainability is an important element, especially addressing the energy and climate change/flooding
Encouragement to make the most of the river edge opportunity onto the Thames
Detail of pre-submission consultation appreciated
Recognising a ‘once in a generation opportunity’
Concerns to reflect on
Access, circulation, servicing and parking all need addressing
The impact on Oxpens Road and surrounding network needs to be minimised
A proportion of ne homes need to be affordable
Do we really need more student rooms, offices and hotel space; shouldn’t there be more homes?
The role, appearance and working of the Ice Rink, including parking needs consideration
It needs a strong identity and good quality architecture
Roof lines and skyline articulation is important to ‘fit into Oxford’
The area needs to feel accessible and safe for all - no antisocial behaviour
The amphitheatre activity needs sensitive, ‘good neighbour’ management
Masterplan Update November 2021.
The Oxpens Masterplan has continued to evolve since our Stage 1 Consultation in July and we are working towards the submission of a planning application in early 2022. The planning framework for the application is set by the Oxford Local Plan 2020, with Oxpens part of the West End ‘Area of change’ policy, soon to be supplemented by the forthcoming West End and Osney Mead SPD. The plan and its evidence base articulates both Oxford’s housing, hotel and commercial space need.
Key policy ambitions for Oxpens are:
To provide a vibrant mix of uses which balances, maximising the area’s contribution to Oxford’s knowledge economy with high density urban living; to meet Oxford’s housing need by providing a policy compliant mix of residential uses, including market, affordable and student (freeing up family homes elsewhere in the city); to provide new employment space, notably offices and labs, in a sustainable location which will bring jobs and promote economic growth across the West End Innovation District as set out in the Local Industrial Strategy; and to deliver new hotel accommodation to boost overnight stays in Oxford and support the need for greater stay length and spend by visitors.
Oxpens River Bridge
The proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge is a key part of improving the infrastructure in the wider Oxford West End by linking Grandpont and Osney Mead to Oxford West End via Oxpens. Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council are responsible for the delivery of the bridge and are working on options with OxWED.
Flooding and Oxpens Meadow
Oxpens Meadow and the proposed amphitheatre lie at the heart of the Oxpens masterplan. Both areas currently provide important flood capacity and with works required for the develop, flood capacity must be maintained.
Flood capacity analysis
A comparison between the flood areas before and after the work is shown below, with the outcomes being that additional flood capacity is provided.
Works to Oxpens Meadow and forming the amphitheatre
Higher areas of Oxpens Meadow will be lowered to riverbank level to enhance its flood mitigation role. Once these works have been completed, the amphitheatre can be formed. Details of the work is shown below.
Landscape and Biodiversity
Creating a green and biodiverse neighbourhoods is a critical element of the design approach to Oxpens.
Integrative ‘green placemaking’ approach
Over overarching aim is to create a powerful sense of distinctive Thameside Oxford that captures the mix of riverside greenery, water, meadow and carefully designed built environment.
Planting philosophy
We plan to protect the best of existing trees and vegetation, and enhance this with new planting of species native to the Thames Valley as well as wildlife friendly species selected for their suitability for the site conditions. This would include alder, willow and wildflower meadow.
Biodiversity and habitat
We propose to protect and enhance the river edge habitats with a new, planted swale integrated along the east edge of the meadow with native wetland plants. The meadow will be reprofiled and reseeded with wildflower areas introduced to improve species diversity and enhance the existing wildfowl habitats.
The new amphitheatre will contain water gardens planted with flood resilient wildlife friendly planting. Within the built areas of the development planted rain gardens, street trees, green walls and green roofs will be incorporated to maximise biodiversity value and create a green neighbourhood to achieve a biodiversity net gain of 5% minimum.
Harder landscape
The urban landscape treatment will use sustainable, durable high quality materials tying in with those historically used in the West End. A sense of safety and inclusion of all ages and abilities will be at the heart of our design, with seating and pause areas, smooth surfaces, and lighting and signs to aid way finding round the site.
Connectivity and Movement
Moving towards a low carbon future is a major element of the Oxpens plan and with a largely car-free development, making Oxpens as accessible as possible by public transport, walking and cycling is at the very heart of the scheme.
Integrating Oxpens into Oxford
Oxpens Road was designed to be part of a planned post war inner ring road for Oxford and now needs to be re-prioritised towards pedestrians and cyclists, with harmful emissions reduced. As part of the Connecting Oxford plan, Oxpens Road is proposed to become a Zero Emissions Zone. OxWED’s proposals are shown on the diagram below:
Reduce the speed limit along Oxpens Road to 20mph
Widen the cycle lanes
Narrow the vehicular carriageway
Enhanced pedestrian and cycle crossing from Westgate to Oxpens
New controlled crossing point mid way along Oxpens Road.
Well connected, 10 minute walk neighbourhood
The development will add a distinctive new network of streets, lanes and spaces that will connect to the existing network. Oxpens will be a largely car-free, pedestrian and cycle friendly environment with low traffic generation.
Reconnect this ‘forgotten’ part of the City to surrounding areas
Be low carbon, and substantially car free
Prioritise walking, cycling, wheeling - linking to a new bridge connection over the river
Support access to nearby public transport, parking and servicing
Have low traffic generation, mitigating any impact on the local network.
Parking at Oxford Ice Rink
‘The effect of the proposed removal of the Oxpens Road car park on the ice rink’s operations will be considered by the City Council, Fusion (the rink’s operator), and the various user groups, to understand their core parking and accessibility needs. The City Council will work with those groups to develop a strategy for parking and loading space on land owned by the City Council.’ Oxford City Council
Energy and Carbon
OxWED’s objective is to minimise energy and carbon as the world moves towards a ‘Net Zero’ future. With the National Grid rapidly decarbonising and technologies fast improving, a no gas, electric-only development has been part of the strategy from the outset.
The Oxford Local Plan 2020 sets a policy requirement of a 40% improvement over current building regulations for all new residential developments and BREEAM Excellent on all non-domestic buildings (offices, labs and hotels), rising to 50% in 2025 when the Oxpens development could start to be built. We are exploring how we can go beyond policy at the detailed design stage using the following approaches:
‘Hybrid’ - passive with technology appraoch
Using a mix of passive design (meaning a low energy approach is embedded into the fabric of the buildings) with efficient technologies it will be possible to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the new buildings over current standards, with a particular focus on three main technologies:
The Oxpens masterplan will balance ‘green’ roofs for biodiversity with the provision of solar panels to generate electricity.
All the buildings at Oxpens will combine heat pump technology (air or ground source) with ventilation (with heat recovery) and highly efficient lighting with strategies tailored to the use and position of each building.
The all-electric approach at Oxpens will come into its own as the grid’s energy is increasingly provided from renewable sources. What is best for each building will depend on its use, but the carbon from all buildings is projected to reduce dramatically, contributing to Oxford’s overall low carbon future.
Construction Carbon
Carbon emissions from construction materials and methods must also be considered. This is a fast-paced changing area within the building industry, which is learning as it goes. We will look at this at the detail design stages.
Character and Feel
The built form has been sensitively conceived to balance a range of factors including connectivity, occupying use, orientation, design and fit within the wider setting of Oxford’s historic townscape. A key consideration is improving the vista along Oxpens Road through carefully designed new buildings, landscaping and strategically planted new trees.
21st Century Neighbourhood
Oxpens will be a welcoming place where people will live, work and visit. The uses combine a diverse mix of city centre housing, workspace and offices, a hotel and restaurants, shops and cafes. Additional activity will come from events such as temporary exhibitions, displays, occasional performance events and community based activities.
Oxpens will be a safe and inclusive place. Desiged to encourage people to spend time meeting and relaxing within its vibrant spaces. The area will be well lit and secure.
Skyline and Views
The skyline and key views towards the proposed Oxpens scheme out towards the hills from central Oxford are being carefully considered to inform the position of the masterplan within Oxford’s skyline.
Skyline articulation
The predominant scale will be within a 5 - 6 storey range. There will be detailed variation of the roofscape with occasional features to sit within the character of the skyline ad reflect the diversity of uses in the proposed masterplan. The images below show an example of the skyline view testing being undertaken to inform the development of the masterplan.
Existing view from Raleigh Park
View from Raleigh Park of the proposed masterplan
Existing view from Oxford Castle
View from Oxford Castle of the proposed masterplan
A new Tower or Spire?
Oxford is famed for its ‘Dreaming Spires’. The varied nature of the City’s skyline is a key feature and provides both interest and beauty for residents and visitors alike. The existing spires and towers have developed over centuries - they perform a variety of purposes ad take different architectural forms. The OXpens development provides an opportunity to consider a new tower or spire for Oxford which would need to be of the the highest quality by design and positive in terms of its purpose, impact and role. We are continuing to explore this idea and welcome your thoughts.
A day in the life at Oxpens
The ground level activity will be transformational, adding a new place experience for Oxford, at the interface between City and river. Safe walkable streets and lanes will connect to new spaces and the ground floor activities of buildings, with cafes, restaurants and shops.
What’s on at Oxpens
The character of Oxpens will be active, safe and engaging at ground level. On the ground floor you will find shops, cafes, leisure facilities, residential and workspace entrances. A typical calendar of events at Oxpens may include:
A vibrant weekly food market
Monthly sporting activity such as a boot camp
Spring and autumn theatre performances
Summer outdoor film screenings or concerts
Occasional visual art displays and live music
Family events such as art and crafts or story telling during school holidays
Annual science and innovation festival animate the area, with coming and goings helping make it safe and comfortable for all.
Feedback and next steps
This stage provides a key opportunity for you to offer further feedback and ideas, and to inform the detailed thinking behind the masterplan that will the basis of the Oxpens planning application. You can feed back in person at the exhibition, or online here by the 30th November 2021. We will analyse all contributions and publish the output on the website as we did for the previous consultation.
Planning application
OxWED is planning to submit a ‘hybrid’ planning application in early 2022, which compromises an Outline Planning Application for the masterplan (parameter plans, design codes and supporting documentation) and a Detailed Planning Application for ‘Enabling/Infrastructure’ works that need to be undertaken before work on any new buildings can start, in particular the flood works to the Meadow and amphitheatre.
If approved, the next stage would be to work up detailed designs for the masterplan and then submit a ‘Reserved Matters Application’. The Enabling/Infrastructure works permission approval would allow those works to proceed subject to compliance with the conditions set out in the Detailed Planning Permission.
On-going community engagement
We want Oxpens to be relevant to as wide a range of Oxford’s communities as possible. In parallel with the planning application submission we will kick off the next stage of engagement with local communities and groups to help inform how some of the ground floor uses and public realm at Opens will work. We will also look at different ways the spaces can be designed, used and managed to maximise local participation in both the development stage, and also once the scheme is complete.
Indicative Timeline
