View looking across the new buildings on Diglis Basin showing the Cathedral in the background

The site is that of the historic Royal Worcester Porcelain Factory in Worcester, close to the city centre in the shadow of the Cathedral and bounded by the Worcester and Birmingham Canal on one side and the River Severn on the other. So as to ensure that Royal Worcester Porcelain retains a prominent presence on its historic site, John Simpson & Partners were commissioned by Berkeley Homes and Royal Worcester Porcelain to design a Masterplan consolidating the company’s premises into part of the site and designing a mixed use development for the rest.  The masterplan provides for 537 new homes in a sustainable mixed use urban development which includes 4417 m2 of B1 space, 4725m2 of space for restaurants, pubs, cafes, a gallery, a museum and a hotel.

The project builds upon the historic urban structure of the site and incorporates a number of the historic buildings into the design.  It involves setting out two new canalside squares together with a bridge across the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. New moorings along the northern edge of the basin and the creation of a new structure to enclose an existing drydock are also proposed as part of a strategy to open up the canalside to public use.