Author Topic: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment  (Read 408502 times)

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Offline Nemesis

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Re: The Snack Kiosks on Colwyn Bay Promenade
« Reply #285 on: March 07, 2013, 01:17:19 pm »
Maybe your right over toilets etc. we could also have the same as the ones at West Shore llandudno, coin operated so at least generating some funds towards upkeep. As far as any new building of kiosks are concerned the leaseholder at one of the Kiosks at rhos says he has
never heard of that plan and its never been mentioned to him. Is the plan with the proposed kiosks available? if so where?. This controversy was televised last night on the Welsh news and im pleased to add supported by an enormous amount of people,also see the Colwyn bay FB page for the tv coverage. I do know for fact they wont go without a fight.
I did see all the prep and start of the sand work today on a grand scale, hope it wont take long as I want to walk pushing my NEW GRANDSON in his pram, born (almost on the beach at West shore whilst we walked , brave daughter left it a bit late) lol. 4th March at 6.30 pm .Got back with just 2hrs grace. It must have been the beautiful sunshine on the water and 2 swans making the whole beach look so tranquil. {}{}

Congratulations Linda-- must be something in the water-- I too had a NEW GREAT- GRANDDAUGHTER born recently. She has been quite ill, but hopefully all is now well.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #286 on: March 08, 2013, 07:58:58 am »
To my untrained eye, I can not think of any modern buildings that look good, yet I love Art Deco buildings and also the Victorian (and earlier) architecture looks great! So why can no modern buildings compare?
This monstrosity imposed on us on the seafront is supposed to make us think 'wow look at that!' But we are not fooled by it! I just hope that the designers of it were not trained using public money! If they were I demand a refund!  &shake&
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas


Offline Yorkie

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #287 on: March 08, 2013, 08:01:58 am »
Does not Beauty lie in the eyes of the beholder?   No doubt some will regard it as something fantastic - probably the jet skiers, who will now be paying through the nose to use the facility and repay the exorbitant cost.   _))*
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Fools have to say something.
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Offline Ian

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #288 on: March 08, 2013, 08:50:31 am »
Modern architecture - like modern art, I suppose - is a fairly subjective matter.  But the original design I thought looked good.  What's happened is in-build variations have taken place, almost certainly on cost grounds, and I imagine the architect who designed the original is ready to disown it.

I can think of many modern buildings that look astonishing;  but they're usually really big-money projects, and well outside the scope of this project. A great shame, however, and we can only hope it doesn't look dreadful when it's all finally landscaped and finish
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #289 on: March 08, 2013, 10:09:47 am »
There must have been a budget to build it to, so you would think that the cost of building it would be included in the design? Seems like the saga of the railway bridge that went over budget and over time! However much has all this cost?
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Linda

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Re: The Snack Kiosks on Colwyn Bay Promenade
« Reply #290 on: March 08, 2013, 01:03:24 pm »
Thank you Nemesis for the congratulations, and I sincerely hope alls well with your great grandaughter.
As regards the two remaining Kiosks on the Promenade, yes the Coffee pot has the edge, but the the other one does a great teacake and hot chocolate, so handy if i have got my 2year grandson off for his nap in the car. I can have a relaxing drink and enjoy the scenery.
I could not do that at Ninos or Fortes, although I meet my friends at ninos for latte's etc.which is great when the weather is bad.  So many folk like to sit on the front and also at the tables in the fresh air when weather permits. I also bring my elderly mother down who would have problems walking to the Cafes in Rhos if i couldn't park close enough.
The Kiosks are what they are, cheap and cheerful and folk with children on the beach can get an ice cream without finding parking at Rhos a problem.
Incidentally I don't eat chip 'Baps'  :)

Offline rhos.rover

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #291 on: March 08, 2013, 10:24:09 pm »
I like Victorian architecture, even at its most gothic horror spender. (Too many Hammer horror films…) and that is one reason that I love this area.

Saying that, I’m not a stick in the mud purest. I also like ‘modern’ (is that really the best term to use?) buildings, when they are suited to surroundings.

Please note the museum of slavery on Liverpool waterfront; which not only looks like two letterboxes badly stacked, but it leaks water, does not in anyway sit comfortably next to the Liver Building and the other two graces, and cost a bloody fortune. 
 
When I saw the passed design for our prom, I really liked the drawings of what could have been a striking structure. I liked its 1960’s vision of the future. Like something from Thunderbirds or that fantastic Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house in Hitchcock’s film North by North West, or Cresswell’s Biscuit factory from Chiggly. (haha, no ones going to get that obscure reference.).
I could have lived with that quite happily.

I agree with BMD. Just because it doesn’t fit into the spectrum of classical, pre war concept it doesn’t have to be regarded as bad design. Sadly, when something like this appears it’s deemed as modern rubbish. I’m sorry, but that’s the designer’s fault, not the fact that modern can’t be appealing.

Sadly, now it looks like the kind of crap that sprung up during Soviet administration. The slab sides add to this.   
What I can’t understand is this:
When it became obvious that the plans were not going to be followed, why wasn’t it put before the public again for re-design? Or am I missing something?

When I was a car sprayer, and asked to respray a car black for a customer I wouldn’t tell my boss that it was too expensive and ask to do it in brown. Regardless of his decision, I would ask the owner. He is paying for it.

Well, we were the owners and paying towards it. Were we asked?



Offline BMD

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #292 on: March 09, 2013, 01:19:17 pm »
In December 2011, I emailed the architects (K2 Architects, Liverpool) to query the design changes. I explained that I lived in Colwyn Bay (I also mentioned - in passing, you understand - my architectural qualifications, and that I'd written columns for the Guardian newspaper, etc)...  No reply.

By then, planning permission had already been granted (for the altered design). The "public consultations" were confusing: glossy leaflets handed out (as late as Dec 2011) still had images of the original design, as did a large display outside the 10/12/2011 "consultation". Most people I spoke to at that time - including the Clwyd West MP - were unaware of the extent of the changes made to the design. Even the people hosting the "public consultations" seemed uninformed about the changes.

At some point, it must have been realised (by the architects, planners, council) that the design had moved too far from the original. A crude, featureless zinc-cladded slab is not a "design enhancement" of a glass-walled structure with curved, projecting roof - and no amount of spin will make it so. Tragically, what we're getting (at large cost) seems to be a monument to poor decisions made in private meetings. (Developers will have profited, but that's another story).

It's a beautiful location, next to a once-lovely pier, in a town rich in Victorian architecture. Bottom line: there can be no excuse for building something reminiscent of a storage facility or giant recycling container/skip.

Having said that, it's there for good - so I'll try to make the best of it. I don't own a jet-ski (how many people do?), but I'll certainly enjoy walking up the ramp onto the roof - and I'll appreciate an indoor café.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #293 on: March 09, 2013, 05:27:18 pm »
It's certainly a great disappointment but, as you say, we're stuck with it.  :( I just hope that, in ten years time, the roof doesn't start leaking badly and we will then be told that it needs to be rebuilt....  ???

Offline DaveR

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #294 on: March 16, 2013, 03:51:43 pm »
Current progress on Watersports Centre:

Offline hollins

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #295 on: March 16, 2013, 05:23:18 pm »
Gosh, that has come on a bit since I saw it last. The first photo looks like one of those computer generated images.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #296 on: March 16, 2013, 05:51:05 pm »
The car and the trees look good, as for the rest..... &shake&
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Offline Fester

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #297 on: March 17, 2013, 10:59:41 pm »
The car and the trees look good, as for the rest..... &shake&

You have something against the lamp posts??  :o
Fester...
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Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #298 on: March 18, 2013, 07:13:42 am »
 _))* the lamp posts are ok, but ugly compared to some nice Victorian posts!  :laugh:
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline DaveR

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Re: Colwyn Bay Waterfront Redevelopment
« Reply #299 on: March 18, 2013, 08:25:30 am »
What I do find disappointing is the lack of greenery. The old prom was a vast expanse of concrete and tarmac and this new area is not much better. Many of the areas of paving etc visible could have been planted out with shrubbery instead to soften the look of the area.