Church Gresley
The site was the former centre for St Johns Ambulance, which had been vacant for a number of years, and had become an area where anti social behaviour had begun to take place. The proposal for the site was for the dwellings to be owned and managed by a housing association, who would rent 12 of the dwellings with the remaining 3 dwellings sold under a shared ownership scheme.
Our aim was to produce a modern development, which blended in with the existing Victorian terraces to produce a seamless street scene.The buildings were designed to respect the scale of buildings within the area and have detailing and proportions which give ‘kerb appeal’ achieving Aesthetic Architectural Quality.
All footpaths, parking spaces and vulnerable areas were designed to be overlooked to provide an environment which feels safe, which gained commendation from the Police Architectural Liason Officer. The dwellings were also designed to achieve a minimum of Code for Sustainable Homes level 3.
The planning application was originally met with disapproval from local residents who were concerned about the extra traffic the development would bring. Urban Designs reassured residents that the development was a far better plan than the anti social den the site had become. Since being built local residents have heaped praise on the scheme, and the development has won the LABC Warranty ‘Award of Excellance’ for ‘Social Housing Development of the Year 2012.’
