REGENERATING SWINDON
Regeneration roundup – the evolving landscape of Swindon
In line with the Government’ s commitment to redeveloping the UK’ s urban centres and brownfield sites, Swindon has received substantial investment in its local regeneration schemes over the past few years. TBE has summarised just some of the main transformative projects currently reshaping the town and the wider area...
Fleming Way Swindon Borough Council has been working with partners to produce an ambitious new vision for re-inventing Swindon’ s town centre as a vibrant heart of the town.
The Council and partners are investing more than £ 100 million to kick start the centre’ s regeneration. The Council’ s new‘ Heart of Swindon’ vision will help guide further investment into the centre with plans already in progress to create a new entertainment venue.
A key project for the Heart of Swindon vision is the Councilled major upgrade and transformation of Fleming Way as the main gateway to the town centre. For both residents and visitors, the £ 33 million investment will improve connectivity between the train station and the town centre, creating a safer and easier-to-understand route through the district.
Work to transform Fleming Way into a new bus interchange with an improved public realm and a green corridor is entering its final stages. Other updates include creating vastly improved public open spaces and the introduction of new cycle lane facilities.
Major landowners in the town centre, FI Real Estate and Parade Swindon Limited have cited the regeneration work as a key reason for their investing in the area.
Simon Pullen, from Parade Swindon Limited, said,“ It’ s very exciting to see the Fleming Way scheme coming to an end and we’ re very hopeful it will have a transformational impact on the area.”
Kimmerfields Work is also underway to unlock the regeneration of a 20-acre former industrial site known as Kimmerfields( next to Zurich’ s new offices) which since March 2021 has been fully owned by the Council. This project involves bringing a 20-acre brownfield site back into productive use and creating a new‘ Cultural Quarter.’
Since July 2022, the Council has been overseeing the essential work needed to make the site suitable to support new development.
This £ 16.5 million investment in the site, includes a £ 7.5 million Government contribution. Analysis estimates the development of the site has the potential to generate an additional £ 44 million of economic benefit over the next 25 years to Swindon’ s local economy.
A new state-of-the-art performance venue within Kimmerfields STUFISH Entertainment Architects – the company behind the design of the ABBA Arena in London- recently revealed its design for Swindon’ s new theatre and concert venue as part of Swindon Borough Council’ s vision for its Cultural Quarter masterplan. The Council has committed to bringing forward plans to build a new multi-functional cultural venue to replace the town’ s ageing 600-seat theatre, which no longer meets modern demands.
This initial design concept envisions a flexible space with a capacity of 1,200 seats, expandable to 1,800 for larger events, aligned with Swindon Borough Council’ s vision of drawing regional audiences and hosting touring West End productions, musical performances, comedy and more. The state-of-theart theatre will blend Swindon’ s industrial heritage with contemporary design inspired by the ABBA Arena in London. Julian Russell, Director at Blue Horizon Ventures, said,“ By commissioning STUFISH and Theatre Projects to create an adaptable, state-of-the-art venue at the Kimmerfields site, Swindon Borough Council has embraced an innovative approach that not only meets the needs of modern entertainment but also fosters significant social value.”
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