A new water feature, living green walls, and lighting which changes colour with the weather will be part of the transformation of Canal Walk in Swindon town centre.
The £3.9million scheme will see the removal of the existing paving, street furniture, and advertising hoardings to make way for new high-quality stone paving, with new benches and lighting. The overall design will have a ‘ribbon’ feature running through the paving for the entire length of Canal Walk, with historical text about the old canal set into the stones.
The centre piece, in Jubilee Square, will be a specially designed water feature which has been created by Walter Jack Studios, who have produced award-winning features in Bristol, Brighton, Manchester and Sheffield. The Jubilee Clock will be removed, and after being refurbished will be relocated to a new forecourt planned for Swindon railway station.
The money for the work, which will be complete by next February, has come from the South West Regional Development Agency and the government’s ‘Growth Points’ fund. Cllr Phil Young, Swindon Borough Council Cabinet member for Culture, Regeneration and Economic Development said, “This is another step towards a new, high-quality town centre for Swindon, and it won’t cost council tax payers a penny because it’s money the council has successfully bid for.
"Even though some of the bigger regeneration schemes have stalled because of the national economic slowdown, we’re not allowing things to stagnate, and this scheme will start to make a real difference to the feel of the town centre. Once this has finished, Regent Street will be next.”
The project will avoid minimum disruption to shoppers, with access to stores and shops maintained at all times.
The living green walls will be attached to the sides of the bridges which span Canal Walk from the Brunel Centre, and will be watered automatically by rainwater collected from the David Murray John tower, while lights set into the paving will change colour depending on local weather conditions, such as rain or wind, controlled from a remote weather sensor.
Much of the material removed from Canal Walk, such as the block paving, benches and lighting, will be re-used in other building projects.