A Scottish architect has won the contest to transform Oxford's Bonn Square from a haven for drunks into an inspirational meeting place for the 21st century.
Graeme Massie, who was recently commissioned to design a new town centre for the second largest city in Iceland, beat five other finalists to win the international ideas competition promoted by Oxford City Council and its partners, the West End Steering Group.
His design, which has been on public display for the last two weeks, will enable pedestrians to walk straight through the square, while stepped levels and benches will create an attractive meeting place and five large banners will be used to advertise city events.
The winning design Other ideas which made it through to the final six included an outdoor stage and projecting films on to nearby buildings.
But Massie has kept his design simple and intends to leave the Tirah monument and the graves below the square undisturbed.
He has suggested that some trees are removed from the square to be replaced by others creating a leafy grove next to New Inn Hall Street.
"It's a simple scheme designed to represent the conservation and tradition of Oxford, while creating an open, flexible events space for the 21st century," said Mr Massie.
"The new square will be constructed in local sandstone to correspond with much of Oxford's fantastic architecture and I have tried to resolve issues of antisocial behaviour and minimise impact on the archeological remains.
"I have been to Oxford several times and am now looking forward to many more visits and seeing the design become a reality."
Transforming Bonn Square into a contemporary city space is no easy feat. Neglected for decades, it has become overgrown and synonymous with vagrants.
But despite the challenge, 93 submissions came from as far afield as Germany, Australia, Japan, USA, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
Six schemes were shortlisted from the open first stage and their work put on public exhibition. These were then invited to present their schemes to the jury panel.
Mr Massie, who has his own firm of architects based in Edinburgh, convinced the panel he was the man for the job.
Work will now begin on raising the £1m needed to build the new square, which could be used to launch Oxford as a City of Culture in 2008.
Bonn Square project manager and Oxford City Council Principal Planning Officer, Fiona Bartholomew, said: "Graeme Massie has a clear understanding not only of the important history of the square but also what the council and the people of Oxford want to happen in Bonn Square.
"We were delighted to meet him and look forward very much to working with him in bringing the scheme to fruition."
Graeme Massie Architects receive £5,000 for winning the competition. Awards of £2,000 will be paid to each of the runners-up.
The six schemes will now be exhibited in Oxford at Modern Art Oxford, Pembroke Street, Oxford, from June 9-19. A second exhibition of the schemes will be shown at the RIBA in Gallery II during the summer months.
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