A SECOND flagship waterfront development has hit a major hurdle after it was criticised by the Government's design watchdog.
Less than a month after the Fourth Grace collapsed, designs for the Kings Dock regeneration have been described as potentially bleak, and concerns have been raised about the quality of some of the residential buildings.
The study by CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, says chunks of the masterplan need to go back to the drawing board.
The agency is a non-departmental public body set up by the Government in
The report states: "We think further thought about the nature of each of the spaces, and what makes them different from each other, would be useful.
"We are unsure about what some of the spaces will feel like to be in - there is potential for the large piazza space to feel rather bleak on non-event days, for example.
"Although clear diagrams of people movement were presented, we saw little to convince us that the route between the city centre and the site was likely to be a pleasant and therefore popular one, despite it being the most direct."
Last month, landowners English Partnership submitted a planning application for a £100m arena, conference and exhibition centre.
And, just two weeks ago, it emerged the Fourth Grace had been sacrificed to fund the Kings Dock scheme.
The CABE report goes on to criticise the design of the other buildings in the plan, stating: "We are not convinced that the residential accommodation around the car park is likely to be of very high quality; it either needs to be demonstrated that it is, or the design team should concentrate on designing an excellent car park in its own right."
But it added: "We support most of the major moves proposed in this revised scheme, and we feel that this has the potential to be a successful approach to development on this site.
"The next stage is to work through fully the consequences of these moves, particularly the primacy of the civic facilities in the masterplan, and continue to work up the detailed design of the civic facilities and the landscape strategy."
The Kings Dock designs were drawn up by award-winning architects Wilkinson Eyre.
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