Hi,
It would be good to start a topic about the lighting of some of shrewsbury's buildings/public art.
I have noticed that some buildings are not lit up at night for example the train station, the Guild hall at frankwell and the new quantum leap sculpture to name a few.
we need to show off these area's as other cities and town's would !!!!

All about cost Jake I would say. Councils throughout the country are hard stretched, some are switching off street lighting at night now to save money. Good idea but who would pay for the cost?

yeah true but how do other town's /cities fund the cost ? for example went to Cardiff the other week and their city looked amazing at night especialy the millenium centre and surrounding areas.Why can't our town be like this at night as it looks dull.

The Millenium stadium is a commercial project I think. I know the costs of the floodlit Abbey at night is sponsored by local shops so perhaps there is an idea there.

This is one of the downsides of having a massive unitary authority. Shrewsbury councillors might want parts of the town to be lit up, but councillors from a village on the Welsh border, a village on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire or from Ludlow would almost certainly not be that bothered with the problems of lighting up a building in Shrewsbury. And might think: "Why should my ratepayers be expected to fund that?"

well because Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire and we need to give an impression that this is a town that needs to be as great as the City centre's and move forward in the 21st century and to showcase some of the brilliant buildings at night which are not being shown off to their full beauty.
The Castle,Library and Rowleys house are shown to their full potential by having uplighter's why cant the train station,Guild Hall at Frankwell and the new quantum leap be the same ?

Jake, I agree with you. But when all the urban and rural district councils and part of Much Wenlock Borough Council were all lumped together to make Wrekin District Council in 1973/4, the same thing happened. The larger the authority, the less likely it is for individual problems to be properly addressed. Or addressed at all.

For example before 1974 the towns of the Wrekin area like Wellington, Oakengates and Dawley, had Christmas lights funded by their Urban District Councils. As soon as the larger Wrekin District Council took over, the funding of Christmas lights was not considered a priority, so they stopped doing it.

I can see where your coming from but it's so frustrating why these buildings/public art are left in the dark and other citie's/town's seem to get all there building's lit up and they look so amazing

Jake, it is very frustrating.

Of course, this is one of the downsides of the unitarity authority that the people who promoted it failed to mention. It was all going to be milk and honey and Heaven on Earth. Were they liars or just stupid? Though, of course, they could have been both. ;)

Why on earth would anyone want to light up the Guildhall? We were the laughing stock of other councils when it was built.
The railway station belongs to a private company so it is up tp them. The castle is lit. The library is lit. The Abbey is lit Rowleys House is lit.
The Quantum Leap will be lit when the landscaping is completed.

I quite like the Guildhall. An example of good modern architecture. Unlike the wood-clad theatre, next door!

I like the Guildhall, the new theatre and the Quantum Leap sculpture. I also like the Moreton Point apartments and the Mansers building, and I can appreciate the new Tesco's building.

Will I be banned from the forum? :unsure:

On a related note, is anyone else distracted by the photos of injuries used to illustrate the services of those have-you-been-injured-in-an-accident-that-wasn't-your-fault solicitors in Frankwell? They occupy that shop with the nice curved windows by the main traffic island.

..........should have gone to specsavers! :huh:

Every generation thinks they have an eysore in their midst,a good example was the old Victorian market hall,many at the time hated it.Every piece of architecture is a statement to the time it was built,i for one think the brick market hall clock tower is unique and should stand for ever,not so good the rest of it though,but in itself a reminder of the 60s.We have to move on and not live in the past ,so that future generations can make up their minds about early 21st century archicture and i hope they like it the same as we now like the old buildings we now have .

Architecture is about good design not weak copies of styles from the past.
Mansers works well because it takes your eye boldly around the sweep of the road which in itself is a wide stretch of highway but then the building take on a more deferential and respectful aspect to the listed terrace on it's right but doesn't mimic it.

The Victoraian Market Hall was a dreadful amalgamation of architectural bling but the quality of materials in those days when stone, slate and marble were easy and fairly cheap to obtain means it probably would have been converted today rather than demolished.
The replacement Market hall is a nice example of 1960s building but should have addressed the street at ground level to remain more successful. I would love to see the upper floors properly renovated and turned into apartments with 360 degree views over the town rooftops.

The Guildhall was such a waste of a terrific site where the views up the river could have been wonderful, the building more light in it's structure and glimpsies of St Georges in Frankwell through the building.

The Theatre was voted in the top ten worst new buildings in the country. With the excessive amount it cost and the continued empty football ground site which would have been far the preferable and definately more successful location I think SABC have a lot to answer for.

Moreton Point is delightful to look at except that the old wall was not rebuilt and is very nice to live so I have been told. Light, good layout, quirky rooms due to shape of site but not the usual poky, tiny, low ceiling, depressing stuff the developers churn out.

Nexus is a great building, again the room layouts are really nice except that you have the ghastly Pride Hill Centre to look at the one side and the roof design contrasts beautifully with the old weathered mediaeval buildings that surround it.

Quantum Leap will look better when landscaped and is at least unique though not the best sculpture we could have had. Look at the Iron Man in Birmingham, brilliant.

There is next to no 21st c architecture in Shrewsbury Avronb. We should be designing houses that are sustainable, nice to live in and without the sentimentalising of past style with fake chimneys and plastic dormers which sadly only serve to demean the quality of genuine period houses around them.

We need a planning committee that is less self serving and is forced to earn their allowances by attending courses about design and how much it really matters to us all.

Squeezer for president! :P

Sorry folks went to a planning meeting today and they mostly leave you feeling why do we bother having local councillors at all?
I was just an interested observer I might add. :(

Spokesperson for neighbours is actually old firend of developer/applicant

Councillor has own agenda which is unrealistic and misses the point so acheives zilch.

Locals to development could have got something back to their advantage in the proposal (and the community) but lack of knowledge (should have come from long serving councillor) and blinded by nimbyism they play straight into hands of now very happy developer.

Result for our town and children's future yet another bland uninspiring development that claims to be of the highest quality and will undoubtedly be expensive to buy.
The neighbours know this isn't really good design and some have said so but they are trapped by that successful outer sugary coating of the houses looking a bit Victorian/Edwardian/Georgian whatever which will always cause the least problems with our planners and committee.

Sadly, that is how it goes. All too often.

I like what they are doing ot the old theatre building.

What the music hall?

The building called the Theatre Royal on Shoplatch. I couldn't remember what it was called the other day! :D