I pushed my way through the undergrowth, nearly slipped down the steep slope, looked at the massive trees, the listed buildings on both sides….
‘I’ve just bought this’ Matt said, ‘for a family home. What do you think? Will the planners go for it?
‘Err…yes, it’s great’ I said….
The challenge was set.
It was a big site, 40m long, 16m wide with a steep two storey slope down from street level. We knew the new house had to have minimal impact at street level, would need to be dug into the hillside, and be very respectful of the neighbouring buildings.
And we needed 280sqm floor space in a clean contemporary building, with good flow to the layout with good flow and good daylight...The single most useful piece of information was a 3D model of the daylight envelope, and credit to Matt for investing in that recommendation. It gave us a volume to design within where we knew daylight to the neighbouring buildings would be acceptable. On top of this we layered the spatial constraints and arrangements and shaped the new house to compliment the two listed buildings. The split-level plans allowed us to tie the building into the existing topography and daylight envelope and added subtle spatial definition internally.
Planning permission was granted at committee, where one councillor’s opening comment was ‘I don’t like it, I love it’…
The challenge was met. And ground has been broken.
“The contemporary design is deeply contextual, ingenious, and clearly of a high quality...it responds to the heritage setting in form, materiality and landscaping. We consider that the design quality is exemplary; in this fashion the development represents a strongly positive addition to the site...and will integrate harmoniously in a sensitive setting.”
Conservation Officer“Al’s attention to detail and ability to research a site and a setting is key to his ability to get planning approval on what would otherwise be a very tricky site. He has an excellent way of communicating the proposed scheme to planners, ensuring it falls within planning policy.
I love working with Al as he is calm and easy to talk to and he always comes up with jaw dropping concepts and ideas. I also like the quality renders that he always provides which really give you a great sense and appreciation of what he has designed and proposed.
Al and I have a 100% success rate on everything we have applied for planning for and I put this down to Al’s approach, attention to detail and his ability to communicate in a highly knowledgeable yet considerate manner.”
Matt Bailey