Crowdguard helps Bradford secure a new urban landscape

In 2025, Bradford will be the UK City of Culture; an accolade that will set the stage for?1000 new performances?and events to come to the Yorkshire city, including?365?artist commissions and a series of major?arts festivals.

Meanwhile, the city is also undergoing a transformation thanks to its TCF (Transforming Cities Fund) programme of public realm improvements. This project involves pedestrianising key locations and enabling people to travel more easily on foot, by bicycle, or on public transport, while improving air quality.

With both of these catalysts for urban improvement taking shape, and the proposed #MartynsLaw making the security of publicly accessible locations (PALs) a priority, Bradford Council turned to Crowdguard for help securing multiple locations as part of a public realm HVM project.

Bradford City Park

Located in the heart of the city, Bradford City Park is a hard-landscaped, accessible public space with feature-lit fountains, surrounded by civic buildings and hospitality businesses. Bradford Council’s brief to the Crowdguard team was to secure the location for pedestrians and events at all six access points, while complementing the existing urban landscape, and providing the flexibility needed for deliveries to local businesses, and emergency vehicle access.

Working with BRADFORD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCIL to assess the site requirements in each location Crowdguard recommended the Unafor Core #HVM system, which involves installation of shallow-mount foundations and provides a flexible solution for semi-permanent or permanent deployment.

In four of the required locations, the Crowdguard team installed the Unafor Core bollards as a permanent, certified, static HVM solution, while in the remaining two locations, the bollards can be removed to provide access for authorised vehicles, deliveries and emergency services. Simple manual removal and reinstatement of the bollards in these locations can be done in seconds, ensuring Bradford City Park benefits from robust hostile vehicle mitigation, while answering the operational needs of local businesses.

A total of 36 Unafor Core bollards have been installed across the six Bradford City Park locations. Crowdguard worked with the Council to meet their design requirement for 1000mm bollards with a sloping top, providing stainless steel sleeves that enhance the public realm, while delivering a low-maintenance solution.

Northgate

In the Northgate area of the city, pedestrianisation has prompted a requirement for a swing arm barrier that can prevent unauthorised vehicle access, while enabling vehicles of any size to enter the location when permitted to do so.

Thanks to the service levels Crowdguard was able to offer Bradford Council during the specification and design phase for Bradford City Park, the Council asked the company to install the Terra 180 Swing Barrier they had already procured from Frontier Pitts.

?Ongoing Bradford TCF activity

As Bradford continues to work towards its ambition to become a greener, more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly city, Crowdguard is continuing to support the Council and protect in partnership with leading HVM manufacturers and distributors.? The company will be specifying, supplying and installing certified HVM systems from ATG Access , Marshalls Landscape Protection , and MACS AUTOMATION , in a scheme that is set to be completed by the end of 2024.

Chris Bedford , principal engineer at Bradford Council comments: “Our goal is to make #Bradford a more environmentally friendly, walkable city. The work being done now will not only enable us to hold events securely during our City of Culture year, but will also create a legacy during this milestone year in our history, that will benefit our public realm for years to come.

“Getting ready for City of Culture and implementing the TCF programme at the same time is hugely ambitious. We needed a partner that could match our ambition and offer us a service that achieves our security requirements, while helping to enhance the city; both practically and aesthetically. The work Crowdguard has done with us so far, the advice they have provided, and the team’s can-do approach have helped to put us on track, and it’s fantastic to see the transformation of Bradford’s city centre taking shape.”