Plans are developing for the city’s new “cultural gateway” at the former Ikea building.
The project to convert the former Ikea building into a major cultural focus for the city has taken two steps forward. A public consultation event was held at the end of February and since then Coventry University has announced that it will be taking up two floors of the building.
The “consultation” was somewhat less than a consultation. Perhaps better described as an exhibition, the plans were put on display for the future use of the building.
The name City Centre Cultural Gateway (with the snappy acronym CCCG) has not found universal favour. One CovSoc member said “why does all new development have to have the word ‘GATE’ in it – like Gateway, Friargate and Watergate? To me when I hear ‘Gateway’ I first think of Gateway to hell or heaven, both involve death.”
Nor has the black colouring with gold framed windows won universal acclaim.
If you blinked and missed the exhibition, you can see the boards here.
CCCG will provide a new home for nationally recognised collections and include a space for new research facilities. Existing partners of the project include CV Life, Arts Council England and the British Council.
Coventry University is the latest organisation to become part of the “Gateway”. They will be utilising floors five and six by creating a cultural hub which would see a range of facilities on offer, including teaching areas, research space and attractions.
The two floors will house a gallery, café, library and exhibition space, dance studio, conference area, artists’ studios, post-production filming facilities and a shop where students can sell their artwork.
Many of these facilities will be open to the public or will be available to hire. If the plans are approved, the hub could open as early as Autumn 2025.
It will provide a new home for Coventry University’s FabLab, which supports local people and businesses to learn new skills, and could lead to a range of new arts and heritage courses, including short courses, being offered.
Professor Judith Mossman, Pro-Vice Chancellor at Coventry University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, said: “This is all about allowing everyone, whether they be students or members of the community, to engage with culture at any level. This will be of huge benefit to Coventry, it will be accessible to the public. The university is a big part of the city, and we want people to feel they too can use the campus.
“The space itself is enormous but it’s incredibly flexible, it was divided into different rooms when this was set up as IKEA, so it can be fitted out in different ways. In my opinion this is a handsome building and a landmark building in the city, it was sad when IKEA left but we believe we have come up with an imaginative solution to bring it back to life to the benefit of students and the wider community.”
The Coventry Society welcomes the project and in particular the recent changes that create more opportunities for community involvement.