Plans submitted for £17m residential development in Hull’s Fruit Market

A planning application has been submitted for more than 100 new homes as part of an urban village in Hull’s Fruit Market.

The plans have been submitted by Wykeland Beal, which is working in partnership with Hull City Council.

The application says the Fruit Market is “an extraordinary site located within this historic quarter, characterised by a diverse range of form, scale, use and character,” and that “the time is now right for the successful regeneration and rejuvenation of a key area within the city, to make it an area to be proud of once again”.

The new homes will be mostly of townhouses and arranged over two and three storeys, blending traditional and contemporary styles using different bricks, design details and colours to create what the architects describe as “a modern and visually stimulating interpretation of the history and heritage of the Fruit Market”.

The £17m investment includes the reinstatement of two historic squares – Scott’s Square and Horner’s Square – which had been lost due to demolition in the area. Horner’s Square dates back to at least the mid-1800s while records show Scott’s Square was created from 1757 by local builder Joseph Scott who constructed cottages in the narrow passage between Humber Street and Blanket Row.

Restoring these historic squares will create pedestrian links between the new homes and the centre of the Fruit Market in Humber Street.

The plans are for 109 one, two and three bedroom homes arranged in mews style around private courtyards in four blocks. Three of the blocks are bounded by Queen Street, Humber Street and Blanket Row, while the other is to the north of Blanket Row, on land bounded by Finkle Street, Queen Street and the A63 Castle Street.

Most of the area proposed for housing is undeveloped and currently used for car parking or compounds for the programme of public realm improvements across Hull city centre.

The application says the plans submitted for the residential development offer an opportunity to reconnect the city to an “important heritage asset” while creating new homes for people to live in the Fruit Market.

As well as the residential development, the application includes four rebuilt commercial units fronting on to Humber Street, either side of Horner’s Square, described as being suitable for small retail units, restaurants or cafés.

Richard Havenhand, director of Framework Architects, who has designed the residential development, said: “There are seven or eight core types of properties in terms of their footprint, but there are subtle variations in design, materials and colour which give each building its own individual style in order to create a rich and varied street frontage. These are homes for today and the future, fit for contemporary living, that present a modern and visually stimulating interpretation of the history and heritage of the Fruit Market.

“That is achieved by the selection of materials, the reinforcement of local details, the scale and proportion of the buildings and the look and feel of the street scenes. The design is absolutely bespoke to the location.”

The residential development is to play a major role in the rejuvenation of Hull’s cultural and creative quarter, which is being driven forward by the joint venture company formed by Wykeland Group and Beal Homes, in partnership with Hull City Council.

Richard Beal, chairman and managing director of Beal Homes, added: “The proposals are born out of the passion to create something truly distinctive in a very special area of Hull by two local companies each with almost 50 years of experience delivering high-quality developments in the city and wider region.

“We are proposing something that can and will be delivered. This is an achievable and sustainable scheme to create an urban village with a unique character and appeal. “We’ve worked really closely with the city council to develop proposals that we believe will realise the full potential of the Fruit Market as a unique, vibrant, cultural quarter where people live, work and play.”

Subject to the granting of planning consent, construction of the Fruit Market residential development is expected to start towards the end of 2016, with all the homes due to be delivered by 2019.