Paradise Project, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Liverpool is due to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. Working towards that end the Paradise Project is a massive regeneration program in the centre of the city to provide a new face to Europe.

Liverpool has had a chequered reputation in the past but is now set to confound its critics and shine at the heart of the European cultural scene, much as Glasgow had done before in 1990.

The Paradise Project is an innovative £920m urban regeneration project, set to transform the city centre. The site will consist of six distinct districts, and will host the best retail brands, residential and leisure facilities.

The 42ac site will contain 30 newly commissioned buildings, designed to sit comfortably alongside grade II listed buildings. It will feature:

• 165 new shops
• 500 new apartments
• Two hotels (one luxury, one budget)
• Leisure and entertainment facilities (including 14-screen cinema)
• Offices
• A revitalised 5ac park
• Restaurants, cafés and bars
• A new public transport (bus) interchange
• Parking for 3,000 cars

The developer, Grosvenor, has identified two areas that the Paradise Project is addressing; improving the range of shops available and making significant enhancements to the city centre environment.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT INTERCHANGE

The new bus interchange is the first part of the Paradise Project to open. The interchange opened in November 2005 opposite the Merseyside police headquarters. The completion of the interchange, which has a dedicated travel centre as well as a nearby multi-storey car park, means that £200m has been spent on the Paradise Street Development Area project so far.

The new central interchange is expected to handle around ten million passengers per year. The new interchange features a roof covering consisting of two waves of stainless steel plate supported by sustainable timber roofing.

The interchange has also been designed to incorporate the proposed Merseytram, which is expected to run every three minutes. An added security measure at the interchange is security doors, which will automatically open when buses arrive at the bays. The bays will also be able to handle 'bendy buses' in the future. Laing O'Rourke was responsible for the construction of the interchange.

LIGHTING SYSTEMS AT THE INTERCHANGE

LAMP of Spain was the contractor chosen to supply the lighting systems for the new bus interchange. The lighting elements included the basic family of modular lighting systems for fluorescent lamps. The elliptical shape provides a perfect fit for environments such as the interchange.

The extensive range of accessories allowed the modular system to be suitable for different areas of the interchange with different service requirements. Basic luminaires are noteworthy for their excellent performance and their range of options for lighting control, with white louver or even a methacrylate diffuser, which also provides IP42-grade protection.