Bishop Lucey Park is significant as a vital counterpoint to its prevailing urban context, acting as the central ‘soft space’ within the City Centre, but acknowledging the site’s urban historic context
This is achieved by inserting a plinth like object into the center of the site, a new urban figure which shares a relationship with the other primary civic forms which populate the city, a ’new ruin’, embedded into the topography of the park to define a continuous surface. The plinth is orientated to align with the existing Arches on Grand Parade – its plan profile staggered to define varying widths of surface in response to the site’s shape, geometry, the restrictions defined by the site’s archaeology and the Root Protection Areas of the existing trees to be retained. It is settled within the soft planted park, and flexibly adjusts to serve immediate context and function – seating, play, steps, ramps, sculpture etc.
Four distinct structures emerge from the plinth – thereby differentiating a number of key thresholds to the park:
1. Tower: A small tower or campanile (redolent, perhaps, of the towers that once punctuated the city’s walls, and the steeple that once adorned the adjacent Christchurch) overlooks the square and South Main Street to the west. It will have the flexibility to hold banners/lighting rigs for a variety of events throughout the year.
2. Pavilion: to the east, a low linear structure (with wildflowers growing on its roof) has horizontal qualities which relate to both the Medieval Wall and the lateral expanse of Grand Parade
3. Shelter: A more modest version of both the tower and pavilion, it offers a sheltered space to the northwest corner of the park, addressing Christchurch Lane.
4. Bridge: Adjacent to the Pavilion lies a Bridge – spanning across the Medieval Wall from the park to Grand Parade. The Bridge underscores the shift of conditions across the Wall – moving between eras of Cork’s history.
The proposals celebrate the presence of the Medieval wall within the park, by further exposing its length, and excavating a set of tiered steps adjacent to the existing arches. These serve a dual function, to provide a point of congregation adjacent to the wall, and to visually connect the wall back to Grand Parade.
To find out more details on this Church & Community Development in Cork Applied for on 2021-07-21 take the free trial here.
