Planning and architecture teams work hand in hand

• Posted by Karyn Middleton on 13th Aug ’07 at 11:12 UTC
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Redcliffe Homes is one of the few privately managed house building companies in the South West of England and Wales.

Concentrating on a small number of distinctively designed developments in carefully chosen locations throughout the South West, the company blends the traditional values of a family concern with the latest ideas and innovations in building. The company endeavours to offer its customers the best of both worlds, with a choice of homes that meet their needs in the most appropriate and appealing way.

The Challenge

Redcliffe Homes appointed Evans Jones LLP in August 2006 to obtain full planning permission and design of 24 units (nine of which were affordable housing) at Chartist Way, Gloucestershire. The site is located in Staunton and is an extension of an existing mid 1980’s housing estate.

Evans Jones is a Cheltenham-based architecture, planning and building consultancy, which has been in practice for over 30 years, providing professional consultancy services to the commercial sector. The firm specialises in development, project management, architectural design, town planning, disabled access and building surveying providing a complete end to end service for all construction requirements.

Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of the Evans Jones service, the Architecture and Planning teams were able to review the outline consent and advise Redcliffe Homes as to how the consented scheme could be enhanced to increase the number of units as well as uplifting the internal floor areas provided by the units.

The Evans Jones Solution

At the outset of the project, the site in Staunton had outline consent for 20 units. However, in developing the brief, Redcliffe Homes required an increase in the number of units from 20 to 24. Certain preferences and detailing styles were taken from the surrounding Chartist and other dwellings surrounding the site and as set out in the local vernacular in the Design Guide.

Initially six different house types were to be used from their standard range. However, having visited the site Evans Jones felt that a larger range would allow for a more varied and village type feel, the desire for which was expressed in the Local Authority’s Design Guide. Evans Jones also felt that certain changes and revisions to the standard house types were necessary to help the scheme sit more comfortably within its surroundings. As such, a total of ten house types were developed for the scheme, six from scratch and four with reference to the original six proposed.

It was a desire of all parties involved that the nine affordable housing units be integrated into the site and as such these were accommodated as a terrace of four units, a terrace of three units and a pair of semi-detached dwellings, which were integrated into the overall layout of the scheme.

Due to the changes that were proposed to the layout of the scheme and some of the units, Evans Jones re-consulted with the Local Authority. Primarily this was to address the increase in numbers. However, the issue of Design was also to be addressed as part of the Reserved Matter Application and given the proximity of some of the units to the listed Chartist Bungalows to the South of the site, it was important that the architectural detailing of the buildings took reference from the local vernacular architecture.

Representatives of both Evans Jones Architecture and Planning Divisions met with the Planning Officer and Conservation Officer to discuss the design of the units and the proposed variations to the site prior to submitting the application. Whilst it was acknowledged by all that due to the existing listed properties being bungalows, and the proposed being two storey, they were of a different scale. It was felt that due to inclusion of the vernacular detailing and careful choice of materials, the development was in keeping with the character of the surrounding dwellings and was responsive to the guidelines set out in the Forest of Dean Residential Design Guide.

In the end the scheme was recommended for approval and was dealt with under delegated powers.

Benefits Achieved

On completion of the Evans Jones contract, Redcliffe Homes had achieved:

• An increase in the number of units from 20 to 24 in total
• An increase in the amount of saleable floor area due to the uplift in many of the units, plus an additional four units
• A scheme which was approved under a Delegated Decision rather than having to go to committee where there was the potential for a refusal, even if Officers supported the scheme

Stuart Keene, Project Manager of Redcliffe Homes commented; “This project involved Evans Jones obtaining full planning permission and design for 24 units. The fact that their planning and architecture teams worked hand in hand to achieve this was a major benefit to the project.”