Bradford's City Park
What is the City Park?
A six-acre park in the heart of Bradford.
A place to meet, walk, talk, relax and refresh.
The City Park, featuring the largest city centre water feature in any UK city, is a vibrant, flexible space bringing visitors, investment and businesses to Bradford.
The project is the central part of the ambitious Masterplan for Bradford city centre and creates a major events space in the city.
It has raised land and property values, connected the city centre, enhance the overall image of the city and attracted visitors.
The City Park has helped to set Bradford apart from other leading cities and is a key component of the city’s regeneration.
Where?
The City Park is right in the heart of Bradford city centre, surrounding the Grade 1-listed City Hall.
How big?
Six acres! Or approximately the same size as 2 football pitches or St Mark’s Square in Venice
What’s the mirror pool?
The mirror pool is the largest city centre water feature in the UK at 4200 square metres. Made up of individual pools and causeways, it also includes striking water features such as fountains, jets and causeways. In total, there are over a hundred fountains with the tallest reaching 30m high – equal to seven double-decker buses stacked on top of each other. In the smallest pool, 45 low-level fountains create a fun children’s play area.
It’s a highly flexible space that can be used both filled with water, but also drained and used for public events such as large concerts, carnivals, markets, sports events and theatre productions. With special effects such as lighting projections, sound and mist, the pool looks different each time you visit.
The mirror pool is a shallow pool of water, around 25cm in depth at its deepest point, grading gradually to the edge of the pool. It is made of granite and similar high quality materials, which is durable for use in events when dry and a non-slip surface when wet.
The water is sourced from a sustainable borehole, drilled 230m below the city. This water was originally used by the textile industry. The pool holds over half a million pints of water when full.
Most nights the pool is drained, the water cleaned and stored ready to be re-filled at dawn. The City Park is a well-maintained public space with road sweepers able to drive over the pool during the night and twenty-four staff present on site.
Why did we build the City Park?
The City Park has been an exciting opportunity to change the face of Bradford. It has been designed to bring jobs and prosperity to Bradford. The park has had a transformational effect on Bradford city centre and far wider economic, social and environmental benefits for the District.
The City Park has:
- Created a place for Bradford’s people
- Attracted investment
- Created a major events space
- Attracted visitors
- Raised land and property values
- Attracted Businesses
- Has been a catalyst for regeneration
- Raised the profile of Bradford
An independent report by Locum Consulting released in November 2008 looked at the impact the Park would have on the visitor economy, and stated the Park could attract up to 2.2 million visits each year to the District, bringing up to £80m extra each year to the Bradford economy.
What’s in the park?
The Park is a vibrant public space for everyone to enjoy, featuring a range of different uses. The Park provides a superb landscape comprising fountains, trees, public art and attractive green spaces making an ideal environment for meeting friends, relaxing and enjoying a range of events.
The centrepiece of the Park is the mirror pool, which is an interactive events space – looking different each time you visit.
Two buildings have been constructed in the park. The pavilion is a grass-roofed building that people can sit on and enjoy the view over the park. The building houses the maintenance office and storage tank for the water from the mirror pool. The media pod is a small building on stilts, lit up like a beacon, which houses the events control room and security facilities.
The City Park also creates the landscape for the proposed new central business district. This is a key development for Bradford, bringing vital businesses and skilled jobs to the heart of the city centre.