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Derby Assembly Rooms Shows the Future of City Centre Development
Derby City Council's recent consultation on the Assembly Rooms redevelopment is brilliant news for the city centre. The proposed mixed-use masterplan—combining retail, leisure, office, residential, and hotel uses—is exactly what this prime site has been crying out for.
We're genuinely excited to see this approach finally moving forward. It also happens to look rather like the scheme we've been pushing since 2015. Great minds, and all that.
When the Assembly Rooms went up in smoke back in 2014, JSA speculated on what could replace it. While everyone else was debating whether to restore the old building or rebuild it, we saw a chance for something more interesting. Our early proposals showed how the site could work as a proper mixed-use quarter: retail that benefits from people living upstairs, offices that keep the restaurants busy at lunchtime, and a decent hotel that brings visitors with money to spend.
In 2020, Derby City Council formally commissioned us to produce a feasibility study for the site. That work helped shift the conversation and lay the groundwork for what we’re now seeing emerge. We’re proud that some of the key ingredients we championed—including the push for a quality hotel—remain central to today’s vision.
The resemblance to Derby's 2025 proposals is uncanny. Same mixed-use thinking. Same understanding that trying to make this massive site work with just one use would be financial suicide.
Why Mixed-Use Actually Works
Our original masterplan came from understanding how Derby ticks as a city. The Assembly Rooms site sits bang in the middle of where people naturally want to go—between the shops and the river, between the cathedral quarter and the town centre.
We designed around three simple ideas: mix everything up to create life throughout the day, keep things human-scale so new buildings respect Derby's existing streets, and make sure everything does something useful at street level.
Single-use buildings created most of our current city centre headaches. Shopping centres that turn into ghost towns after 6pm. Office blocks that provide zero weekend life. Cultural venues that need constant council cash to survive.
Mixed-use is trickier to plan—you need to understand retail markets and residential demand and office requirements all at once. But it creates the kind of urban buzz that single-use projects never manage. Different activities prop each other up financially and socially.
What Happens Next
Derby's 2025 proposals suggest the city finally gets what its most important development site needs. After ten years of consultations and eye-watering consultant fees, the emerging masterplan shows proper mixed-use thinking that could inspire other cities facing similar challenges.
As British cities keep adapting to Amazon deliveries and working-from-home habits, Derby's Assembly Rooms could show how thoughtful mixed-use development creates resilient city centres. Places where you can live above the shop, work around the corner from home, and bump into people you want to see.
Sometimes good ideas take a while to become obvious to everyone else. We’re chuffed that Derby’s decision-makers have reached the same conclusions we mapped out years ago—and proud that our 2020 feasibility study helped move the dial. Now let’s get on with building it.
