On Thursday last week, the Isle of Wight council hosted their second annual Regeneration Conference at Lakeside Hotel in Wootton.
Following a presentation by Architecture Masters students from University of Portsmouth’s School of Architecture, we sat down with their lecturer, architect Walter Menteth.
It was fascinating to hear details of the year-long research project that 
Masters students from the School of Architecture have been involved with and to see the output of their findings (see the design paper below).
Developing a tourist economy
Walter explained that two of the Masters students are from the Isle of Wight, half from the UK and just less than half are international students.
It was eye-opening to hear that as part of the analysis, after their first visit, the students all said that they would not choose to holiday here. Why? Because the offering had nothing to do with their culture.
For anyone looking to secure a sustainable tourism industry for the Isle of Wight, findings such as this are vital to take note of.
Take three towns
You can hear the interview in full below, but in summary, Walter explains that the students have been analysing and researching three specific towns on the Island; Newport, Ryde and Shanklin.
The objective and forward-thinking views on how each of the towns could be adapted for a sustainable future are incredibly refreshing.
Inspiring ideas
The ideas for Ryde, for example, include; introducing shared spaces on the Pier; having a tram run up and down the pier, able to stop at these shared spaces; moving the harbour to the end of the pier so it becomes a deep water marina; move the Hoverport to the other side of the pier; concealing the parking underneath the terminal so it’s out of sight; introducing a new town square at the bottom of Union Street; a new bus station; and finally, restoration of Ryde beach, linking it more closely to the town.
The podcast
The podcast lasts around 32 minutes and covers the ideas for each of the three towns in the research. It’s a great listen for anyone interested in what could be possible in the future.
(There are a couple of sections where voices of others in the room can be heard, but they don’t last long)
See the exhibition of ideas
Between 20th-30th July you can see an exhibition of the Masters students’ ideas at 30 High Street, Newport, along with entries from the recent Young Designer Awards and this year’s Isle of Wight Youth Conference.
Design Research
Read the Design Research paper in full (shared under CC BY-ND 2.0 ). For a larger version, click on the full screen icon.
Main Image: © Ida Rorvick
