Draft guide for HAZ areas

New Design Guide aims to help protect and enhance historic features that contribute to character of town centres

Newport and Ryde Commercial Frontages Design Guide is a guide for shopkeepers, building owners, designers, planners, councillors, and anyone else involved in caring for shops and other commercial buildings in Ryde and Newport town centres.

The design guide sets a new standard for commercial properties in our town centres, ensuring the frontage of shops, pubs and other buildings enhances the conservation area.

It will help protect and enhance historic features that contribute to the character of our town centres, preserving our heritage for future generations.

Designed to be accessible and useful
It also looks to the future and gives guidance on adapting buildings to new uses while ensuring they still make a positive contribution to the street scene.

The guide is designed to be accessible to everyone while also useful to building design professionals.

Gibson: Regeneration of our High Streets is crucial for their future
Martin Gibson, Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone Project Manager, explained,

“Regeneration of our High Streets in Newport and Ryde is crucial for their future and our new Design Guide will play a key role in helping to keep them vibrant and relevant.

“The design guide will help building owners and their advisors to improve shopfronts and other commercial frontages, so they enhance the conservation area and create streets that look great.

“We want to ensure Newport is an attractive place people want to visit whether for shopping or catching up with friends over a coffee – and the Design Guide will help to make the most of what Newport has to offer.”

Make commercial centres more enticing
There’s been much talk about the future for high streets and how important the look of our town centre streets is to the future success of our towns.

The Design Guide shows how we can build on the history of our important commercial centres and make them enticing and relevant for future generations to enjoy.

Thompson: A blueprint for how Ryde town centre can be improved for future generations
Sally Thompson, Ryde High Street Heritage Action Zone Project Manager, explained what the Design Guide will mean for Ryde,

“The Design Guide is a significant project for Ryde High Street Heritage Action Zone because it is a blueprint for how Ryde town centre can be improved for future generations to enjoy.

“By making the shop fronts as attractive as possible, we can help to keep our High Street vibrant and attract more independent shops. We want the High Street to be a place that people choose to spend time there, not just pop-in and leave.”

The guide is easy to access, with topline general information and more technical advice for architects and crafts people to follow.

We have an interactive Web version or you can download the full guide as a PDF.


News shared by Kate on behalf of Ryde High Street Heritage Action Zone. Ed