Luton's St George's Square opens to the public

A recently unveiled St George’s Square in Luton is now open to the public following its completion by urban and landscape designers Gillespies.

The new £2 million space represents the first major step in the regeneration of the town centre and is a precursor to a highly significant 3 billion pound programme of regeneration. The success of St George’s Square is crucial for the town as it will set the quality benchmark for the rest of the works to follow.

The project, which has evolved from a series of close consultations with the local community and stakeholders, has seen the current square extended to include two of the surrounding roads that have now been largely pedestrianised. This has had the effect of increasing the accessible area of the square from 5,600 to 8,300 sq metres. A high quality, flexible events space in the central area forms a key part of the design and this will play host to concerts and markets, as well as the famous Luton International Carnival.

The square has been designed to be fully accessible for people of all abilities and features a range of access points and seating opportunities. Distinctive LED lighting of the steps and a striking new 20 metre high lighting column combine to create a safe and memorable space that is able to be used at all times of the day and night.

Gillespies project manager David Head says: “Due to the dedication of the council and the contractors the square has been completed to a very high standard. It is great to see that the residents of Luton are flooding in to use the square, which had previously been a sort of ‘no-go’ area in the town centre. It has become the heart of the town again where people are not afraid to stop and relax. "

Luton council’s director of environment and regeneration Colin Chick said: “The new look St George’s Square makes a bold statement about the future of Luton. It is a high quality space that is already well used by the community and has acted as a catalyst for change bringing new confidence to the area which has encouraged millions of pounds worth of new development by private sector partners. It is all helping to reshape the face of the town.”