Mary Arches Car Park, Exeter

Residential-led regeneration proposals for the Mary Arches Car Park site in Exeter city centre are currently at draft design stage. This consultation website has been launched on behalf of Eutopia Exeter Arches Ltd (‘Eutopia‘) who are seeking to deliver these new proposals to help local residents, businesses and other interest groups find out more about the emerging plans and provide their feedback.

Eutopia prides itself on providing unique homes which are designed by leading architects to respond to the special character of each site. The company has a particular strength in bringing forward high quality brownfield regeneration and has done so in diverse towns and cities throughout the country including Gloucester, Salford, Birmingham, Sittingbourne and Chatham.

Already constructing two major projects on the former railway sidings at Exmouth Junction off Prince Charles Road, just north of Exeter city centre, Eutopia and its award-winning architects, Darling Associates are seeking to respond directly to the City Council’s long-held aspirations for its landholding at the Mary Arches Car Park.

Background and existing condition

The site is a prominent landmark at a key gateway to and from the north of the city and is dominated by the concrete multi-storey car park constructed in 1972 in the ‘Brutalist’ style which creates an unattractive street scene in a highly visible location.

The site extends to around 1.2 acres, currently containing the multi-storey car park (0.75 acres) to the north east and an associated surface car park (0.45 acres) to the south west. Combined, they provide some 481 car parking spaces.

Access is via both Bartholomew Street to the north and Mary Arches Street to the west.

It is well-located, being within walking distance to a range of city centre facilities and amenities as well as Exeter Central Station (0.4 Km away), while the main University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus is also within reasonable proximity.

With the city centre location, neighbours to the site include a range of offices, residential, leisure and retail uses, including the Guildhall Shopping Centre to the north east.

The entire site is owned and operated by Exeter City Council which decided late in 2022 that it presented an excellent regeneration opportunity given that its continued use as a car park was obsolete and required almost £4 million in Council funding to refurbish it and extend its useable life.

Aside from the public benefit of introducing attractive and well-designed new buildings, the City Council concluded that the disposal of the site, demolition of its existing buildings and subsequent residential-led regeneration would not only deliver much-needed homes in the heart of Exeter but also reduce anti-social behaviour.

Planning context

The Publication Plan (‘Regulation 19’) of the Exeter Plan (December 2024) identifies the site as a specific housing allocation: 'Mary Arches Multi-Storey and Surface Level Car Park’ under emerging policy H2.

The allocation of the site under emerging Policy H2 is further supported by a Development Brief for the site (April 2024) prepared by the Council's Planning Department to enable the site's sale on the open market. Eutopia’s bid to acquire the site was chosen by the Council following the usual competitive process.

The Development Brief sets out several 'Design Principles' to help shape the future regeneration of the site.

In broad terms the Brief states: ‘These Car Parks are considered to make a negative contribution to the Central Conservation Area and the setting of nearby Listed Buildings and to be poorly located from a traffic circulation perspective. The multi-storey is a poor-quality visitor experience. Hence the site is an opportunity for redevelopment to meet the current needs of the City and improve the built environment'.

The evolving scheme By Eutopia seeks to adopt the vision of the Brief and deliver positive change in this part of the city centre.

Key features of the proposed development

Eutopia and its design team are seeking to work with the City Council and the local community to develop a shared vision for the site based on the following principles:

• Deliver an independently branded co-living community of around 300 units (with an agreed proportion offering discounted rents to provide more affordable homes on site) with high-quality amenity spaces for residents;
• Design a scheme of the highest quality that maximises the site’s development potential and is in keeping with local character;
• Create a sustainable proposal that promotes a strong community and increases biodiversity; and
• Knit the development into the existing urban fabric and respect nearby heritage assets.

Recent dialogue has taken place with the City Council including a presentation to its Design Review Panel. This generated helpful feedback which has resulted in refinements to the original concept proposal.

The current draft proposals envisage two separate buildings on the site, which are connected by a single storey pavilion. Further information on the proposed design will be shown at the live online presentation by the architects on Thursday May 15th.

A greener, more biodiverse and inviting place

Specialist landscape architects have been appointed by Eutopia to arrive at a landscape strategy, which provides a range of spaces required to foster a strong and welcoming co-living community.

In addition to retaining the existing trees found at the site as far as possible, various landscape interventions are envisaged. These will introduce attractive green spaces, improved connectivity, the activation of street frontages, enhanced public realm, places for play, recreation and social interaction as well as net gains to biodiversity.

Other elements in the landscape strategy include a sunken courtyard, pocket parks, playspace, green amenity spaces, a garden courtyard, roof terraces and greening of the site boundaries.

The aim is to achieve a transformed landscape experience for residents and passers-by alike which will be a dramatic and noticeable improvement to the current degraded and uninviting condition when encountering the site.

The proposal has also been designed to be car-free, given its highly accessible location in the city centre. Residents can easily access key local facilities and public transport by foot and there will be generous on-site provision for cycle storage.

The reduction on reliance on the private car coupled with other sustainable measures to provide energy, the proposal will reduce carbon emissions and address the Climate Emergency.

Building massing and appearance

As part of the new Exeter Local Plan process, significant work by external experts has been commissioned by Exeter City Council to help shape the scale, massing and nature of future development in the city centre. This has included a detailed Views, Density and Heights Study and a Heritage Impact Assessment which seeks to ensure that important designated and non-designated heritage assets are protected.

Eutopia’s proposed design approach seeks to fully respond to the key findings of this comprehensive body of work as well as responding to existing major street frontages, the changing site levels and neighbouring buildings like the bingo hall.

Various options were tested for the site layout, but the preferred approach envisages two separate buildings. The first, a U-shaped building (Building A) using the existing multi-storey car park footprint and site levels is linked by a single storey pavilion providing amenity space to a second T-shaped form (Building B) facing Mary Arches Street, replacing the existing surface car park and respecting the existing trees.

As the design work progresses for the site, we will share plans and visuals on this website and we intend to gather feedback from the local community and interest groups via presentations led by the architects. We’ll be showing more at the live presentation on Thursday 15th June. our ‘How to have your say’ section below you get more information on how you can find out more about the emerging plans and give your views.

What is Co-Living and who lives in it?

Co-living attracts a diverse range of people from across the age, social economic and wider demographic spectrum. Generally, though, a high proportion of those living in co-living schemes are under 35 years old and are seeking two key benefits from their choice of housing:

Convenience: The best co-living developments are in well-connected locations combined with simplicity and protections of all-inclusive monthly payments that cover utilities, Wi-Fi, shared amenities and living spaces. Contracts of a flexible length are also appealing.

Community: The opportunity to make new social and professional connections is a key draw for residents in co-living communities. This is facilitated by a blend of well-designed communal space along with a creative, compelling, and vibrant events programme.

The appeal of co-living is also driven by the current constraints of the housing market in urban areas which offer optimum access to work and leisure.

Purpose built co-living accommodation typically comprises of self-contained units arranged with living and bedroom space, a small kitchenette and ensuite bathroom, with each unit benefiting from additional communal space within the scheme. These areas can range from kitchens, common rooms, terraces, gyms, laundry rooms and co-working space.

In the typical co-living model, bills are all-inclusive and lease lengths are more flexible than in the traditional private rented sector.

The purpose-built nature of co-living blocks allows for optimal design and space management. Specialist co-living input has been sought by the design team in ensuring that the co-living community which will be created has well-designed, quality spaces which address the needs of residents.

Key principles:

• Private rooms which give each residents their own space to relax, sleep and store their belongings. All rooms should be well ventilated and provide as much daylight as possible;
• Communal kitchens with ample space for cooking, eating and socialising with other residents;
• Gym and other fitness facilities;
• A resident lounge for activities, entertainment and socialising;
• Co-working area providing a designated workspace, particularly useful for hybrid workers;
• A designated dining area for more social eating;
• Laundry facilities;
• Media/Games/Entertainment spaces; and
• Outdoor terraces & courtyards with space for allotments and organised activities.