This development of 49 contemporary homes for Taunton-based developer, Strongvox Homes, on a vacant site at Weston-super-Mare, recently achieved planning approval and construction is now underway.
The development includes an apartment building containing 15 two-bedroom apartments, 19 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom dwellings. In addition, garages, cycle stores and waste collection areas form part of the scheme. LED Architects also undertook the Homes for Life Assessment.
The site was particularly challenging as the layout had to accommodate a series of existing drainage rhynes and alleviate the risk of potential flooding. The design also had to take account of a neighbouring residential development including privacy and amenity requirements.
The site provides access to an existing adjacent wildlife zone and incorporates an integral ecology corridor around its perimeter with maintenance access for the retained drainage rhynes.
The design approach for the site has been to create a controlled pattern of house types that form a friendly, safe and characterful neighbourhood with a sense of ‘place’.
The layout of the roads and houses is intended to achieve a ‘pedestrian friendly’ development. Streets are designed to encourage low vehicle speeds with shared surface roads, allowing them to function as pedestrian spaces. Parking is integrated carefully into the layout so as not to dominate the street.
Other factors, such as landscape character, ecology, flood risk and green infrastructure also helped inform the final layout and building form across the site.
