The Yard, Reading

Planning Permission is being sought by our clients Moorgarth for this innovative interpretation of the container development. Typical of such concepts, this is a meantime use intended to occupy the South Court of Broad Street Mall in Reading pending more comprehensive redevelopment.

The site sits over a service delivery yard and redundant basement space. Our client wants to create an urban lifestyle destination that sits apart from but connects to the existing shopping centre at ground floor and first floor levels. It is also the first stage in the regeneration of Hosier Street and The Butts market area. The concept takes in a redundant basement repurposing it for community and cultural uses, At ground floor there is street food hall. Above there are to be local creative services and at top level, connecting into the upper level of the shopping centre, a terrace bar. The constraints of the structural capacity of the basement resulted in us turning to prefabricated lightweight timber strucutres at terrace level, giving the development a more festive, casual appearance, counterbalancing the industrial aestehtic of the container.