Achieving planning permission within a National Park

Last week we won unanimous approval at planning committee for a replacement dwelling in Burley, right at the heart of the New Forest National Park. This was a brilliant win for our client and for our design, it also got us thinking about the process of achieving permission when your property is located within a UK National Park.

If you are looking to build a new property, make a significant change to a building (like an extension) or make a change of use (for example from agricultural barn to residential house) you will probably need planning permission before you start any construction on site. If you are luck enough to live within a National Park this can sometimes add another layer of complexity to be taken into account.

How to get planning in a National Park

To account for the sensitively of each National Park, they all have their own planning policy document and rather than submitting planning to your local authority (as you would with a standard planning application) you have to submit the planning to the individual National Park Authority.

If your design proposal is relatively straightforward then planning might not be too difficult to achieve, however an experienced architect who understands the local planning policy document can really push your design and maximise the potential of the site.

Successful planning approval

In the instances where the project is slightly more daring, working with an experienced architect can really pay off to help you see your designs come to life. To have the knowledge of articulating design to third parties, can help to enable planners to fully understand the concept behind your project. Often it is a collaborative effort to get tricky planning approvals, a good architect should have a network of specialist and trusted collaborators such as Planning Consultants, Energy Consultants, Landscape Designers and Structural Engineers to name a few. By working together, the expert team can demonstrate how the design preserves the unique, natural beauty of the National Park.

New Forest and South Downs design

The team at Studio BAD have successfully achieved planning permission for schemes within the South Downs National Park and the New Forest National Park, including an extensive extension to a bungalow, a contemporary extension to a Listed building and a new build replacement home.

The concept of National Parks is relatively new, with the government only having established National Parks in 1949 with a purpose to conserve, enhance their natural beauty and provide recreation opportunities for the public. There are now ten National Parks across England, and we are fortunate to be located between the New Forest and the South Downs National Park, both situated on the south coast where our studio is located.

If you have a project you would like to discuss, get in touch with our team today.

 

 

 

 

 

Studio BAD Design Award – University of Brighton

Guest blog by Roger Tyrrell.

‘There are cracks in Everything – that’s how the light gets in.’  Lyric by Leonard Cohen

As Darren and I travelled to Brighton by train, we reflected upon our contemporary world discussing politics, economics and ethics amongst other things. Given these ‘dark matter’ discussions, we each alighted perhaps with heavier baggage than when we each boarded that train.

We were in Brighton to judge the 2024 Studio BAD Design Awards, presented to final year Interior Design Students at the University of Brighton. It proved the ultimate antidote to our mood.

For students had been nominated for their work and we had the great opportunity to talk with three of them. We began with Mia who had designed a mindfulness retreat to enhance female mental health. She articulated beautifully the ambitions of her project and as the narrative unfolded it was clear how she had engaged not only with issues surrounding female mental health, but as importantly, how spatial design holds the potential to heal and provide hope. Of particular note was her focus upon materiality and the sensorial capacity that appropriate material choice holds to enrich our lives. Her drawings were beautiful; evocative, sophisticated images populated with textures and tones that truly reflected the ambitions of the project.

Next, we met Yen, an International Student from Malaysia who designed a project focused upon the needs of ‘new people’, individuals who had relocated and need to integrate into their new home. A place to ‘bloom’ as she explained. Her project was both thoughtful and thought provoking, a design that resonated in sensitivity and sophistication. As with Mia, her drawings exhibited a refinement, entirely appropriate to the project objectives.

Finally, we spoke with Diyanah who presented her project entitled ‘Tapping into the Devine Feminine’ – a woman’s centre located in Brighton. At every level, her design met the objectives of that powerful title. As a space of hope and healing her understanding of the circumstances of her clients was humbling and the design response was focused and inspiring.

Unfortunately we were unable to meet a forth candidate, Lara, who had been called-away for domestic reasons. However, even in her absence, her work resonated with maturity and sophistication. The ‘Hive’ is designed as a retreat for immigrants, it was thoughtful, sensitive and resonated with empathy.

Across each of these conversations our mood incrementally lifted. We left Brighton inspired, uplifted and with a huge sense of hope that the future is safe in the hands of these four young women. Each demonstrated the potential held by spatial design to hold social purpose, provide individual and collective betterment, and improve the world.

Mia, Yen, Diyanah and Lara, thank you. You reminded us of the innate power held by young people to challenge orthodoxies and accepted norms and articulate a socially responsible design paradigm for future generations.

 

What is a Contemporary Home in 2024, MESH Energy Talk

Darren was invited by MESH Energy to present the talk ‘What is a contemporary home going to look like in 2024’ earlier this month, looking at our projects to discuss and explain the current trends we are seeing in the design of sustainable homes.

As a business we believe in using architecture to create sustainable homes, we understand that ethically and morally it is our responsibility as architects to use design to make contemporary houses that are kind to our clients, the surroundings and the planet. To build a new build house can produce up to 31% more embodied carbon than refurbishing an existing structure, which is why as a business we believe in reusing and reimagining existing dwellings where it is possible. Throughout the design process we have energy efficiency at the forefront of our minds, by adopting a fabric first approach, following Passivhaus principles and feeding as many of the UN sustainability development goals into each of our projects.

At our Brockenhurst project the clients were pushing the sustainable approach from the onset. At the early stages of the design process, we collaborated with MESH Energy to get an Energy Strategy Planning report done on the existing structure which was an extremely useful report which informed the design solution for the home and also offered the client a helpful breakdown of upfront costs compared to annual savings.

The project is currently progressing well on site, the work includes a contemporary rear extension that ties into the garden, key energy efficiency solutions include full over cladding, new triple glazed Internorm windows, insulation upgrade to walls and roof and addressing overheating concerns with sun shading introduced over large glazing in the garden.

It is always a challenge to push the sustainable agenda on clients, as this does have an impact on the budget but it is important to be able to show the initial costs and highlight the potential savings and impact. Understandable a major challenge on all refurbishment projects in the issue with VAT, many find it difficult to justify a refurbishment if they can save having to pay 20% VAT with a new build home. Interestingly, we have worked with some savvy clients who have deliberately purchased houses that have been empty, as there is often a clause that can get the VAT reduced down to around 5% for homes that have been unoccupied for many years.

When working with existing buildings things are not straightforward, clients need to be passionate about the sustainable agenda to move these projects forward. We have also found that working with good builders in very important, we try to recommend builders who will stick to the drawings and specification, especially if we are not retained onsite during the build, to ensure the completed home is as energy efficient as it was designed.

Our Burley house is unfortunately a structure that is past its best, so on this occasion we have looked to rebuild with an upgraded structure. Architecturally the replacement dwelling is contemporary vernacular, drawn from the natural agricultural aesthetic of the surrounding area. Sitting on a long and skinny plot, the house is arranged around a series of courtyards that connect with the landscape, brings in natural daylight, ventilation and offer shading.

Designed to be constructed from cross laminate walls and roof touch, the home will touch the ground lightly by sitting on screw piles, without a need for concrete foundations, reducing the impact to the landscape and allow trees and planting to be conserved on site.

You can hear the full webinar here, or get in touch to discuss your next project with us.

Winning Design for Art Commission

We are absolutely thrilled to have won the commission by the charity Allegra’s Ambition and SPUD to deliver a new piece of public art, to be located outside the Winchester Sports Centre which opened in 2021.

The brief was to design a new sculpture as a place for people to gather and sit, adjacent to the playing fields at the new recreation centre. The piece needed to versatile, to be interesting visually, create a natural gathering point, but also to offer some form of seating, and to ideally incorporate the charity within the design, all within a budget of £50,000.

Our answer was the ‘Tactile Seating Structure’ crafted from hardwood timber fins. Each fin could be a different hardwood to offer a variation on tone, positioned at a slightly different angle to create an organic ripple, reflective of the ribbons within the charity logo. The shape of the wooden structure creates a welcoming enclosure for people to gather, encouraging people to sit or lounge within, or climb and crawl over the undulating surface. Conceived out of reclaimed natural timbers, sourced locally, to create a robust, warm and durable structure which can sustain the public interaction with minimal on-going maintenance. The structure will be integrated with landscaping and outdoor apparatus, offering everyone an opportunity to participate in physical activity and activating an underused public area outside of the leisure centre. Public consultation workshops will be carried out to ensure that the structure incorporates a wide variety of uses for all ages and abilities.

The Allegra’s Ambition charity aims to encourage and empower young and disadvantaged people to fulfil their potential through participation in sport, the charity was set up in memory of Allegra, a keen sports person who died suddenly at the age of 16. SPUD is an arts and education charity located in the New Forest, they aim to create opportunities for people to engage with art, architecture, design and the environment.

Cedar Wood near completed onsite

We are really proud to see our Cedar Wood project nearing completion, it is great to see our designs and ideas come into reality onsite and we cannot wait to see this home finish very soon.

The designs have retrofitted the existing home; extending and reconfiguring the space to transform the existing house and make it more suitable for the family life of the owners. As the home is set within a sensitive rural location the designs had to carefully alter the home without impacting the original mass or form, to reduce to impact on the surrounding area.

Once the work has been completed Cedar Wood will be a comfortable, low energy family home with flexibility built into the design so it can adapt to the many phases of their family life.

We look forward to sharing professional photos of the completed home very soon.