I’ve been wanting to look at this Urban Splash scheme for quite a while and a trip to see Michael Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Lowry enabled Mrs P and I to take in some architecture. Chimney Pot Park is a great example of how to make housing regeneration into Architecture. Very clever upside-down housing conversion of beautifully preserved streets in Salford. The rear alleys are turned into undercover and secure parking, with garden decks above. All fully occupied and the remaining streets just waiting for the end of the recession. Radical structural alterations see the roofs replaced by a steel structure, incorproating the kitchen hung inside the roof. All in all, very uplifting housing.

Housing minister John Healey said the fee freeze would save developers £23 million this year, money which can be reinvested into new projects that will sustain the UK construction sector through what is predicted to be a stale year for the economy.

Announcing the freeze, Healey said: ‘At a time when investing in new developments is difficult, and when access to funding is hard, it would be wrong to increase the costs of developers who will help drive economic recovery.

‘I recognise that as we start to work through economic recovery, we need to do what we can to keep builders on construction sites and keep plans on the table.

‘It is important that we react to the economic circumstances and listen to the needs of people, industry and developers and we have done just that.’

From the Architects Journal 21 January 2010.

Wallpaper that can glow with light and bendable flat-panel screens are a step closer thanks to research into organic LEDs (OLEDs), which are widely hailed as the next generation of environmentally friendly lighting technology. See the Guardian report here.

Turley Associates, with whom we work on planning matters, attended a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference this week, hosted by Lexington Communications. The guest speaker was Bob Neill MP, the Shadow Minister for Local Government and Planning. Following various announcements and comments in the press by Party members, he provided an update on how the Conservative Party intends to approach the planning system, should it gain power at the next election. This approach has potentially wide-ranging implications for the development industry.

• Neill confirmed that the planning system is likely to see further change, to refocus its operation to accord with the Conservative “localism” agenda
• As previously announced by the party, Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) would be abolished, removing strategic development and land requirements with the intention that these be determined locally
• The requirement for a 5 year supply of housing land would be retained, although the Party will offer clarification on how this calculation should be undertaken to ensure consistency. How the local requirement would be decided, in the absence of Regional guidance, was not addressed
• Local development would be incentivised through a commitment to Local Authorities that any development in their area would produce direct funding through the retention of Council Tax (at 100% for open market housing and 125% for affordable housing) and business rates (at 100%) at a local level, for a period of 6 years. This would replace central funding as a direct incentive for allowing and encouraging development in the area. The funds would not be ring-fenced
• There was no mention of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
• The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) would also abolished, to be replaced with a system based around the existing Planning Inspectorate and Ministerial control
• National Planning Statements (NPS’s) would be retained as a clear statement to help guide nationally significant projects, and to provide political accountability for major decisions. The agenda of reducing delays in the provision of major infrastructure would be retained
• Reducing delays would also be a wider theme in the new system, with the suggestion being made that sanctions may be introduced for key Statutory Consultees (Highways Agency, Environment Agency, etc) who unnecessarily or unduly delay planning applications
• A commitment was made to retain the elements of the system that work and to further examine how smaller-scale applications can be removed from Planning Officer’s schedules, to allow them to focus on important schemes where their skills are needed
• Finally, the assurance was given that transitional arrangements would be put in place to make sure that further delays would not result from the changes being set out
  

More than 40 locations are being considered as sites for new homes to ease a shortage of affordable housing in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) received 118 suggestions of potential sites after an appeal to landowners. It has drawn up a shortlist of 44, which are now being investigated. The YDNPA said the response to its appeal had been “very good” but it wanted more suggestions. It specifically wants to hear about potential sites in the Grassington, Hawes, Reeth and Sedbergh areas. The YDNPA’s housing working group will eventually draw up a draft housing development plan which will go out to public consultation.

Housing officer Peter Stockton said: “The final list will depend on the response from technical consultees like the highways authority, the Environment Agency, our archaeologists and ecologists.

“It will probably be a lot shorter than the 40 or so sites currently going for further investigation.”

When it made its appeal to landowners in January, the YDNPA said the lack of affordable housing in the national park was a “serious problem”.

It said local people were being forced out of the area because of high house prices.

From BBC News Website 28 September 2009

HBN 11-01 Facilities for Primary and Community Care has now been issued. This superceeds any previous guidance on primary care, and provides information on new room sizes which have changed significantly from the previous guidance.

It also provides a new direction to establishing sizes of primary care premises, finally superceding the old “Red Book” [which really ceased to be relevant in 2003!]. Available from the KIP site, or via Technical Indexes for subscribers.

P+HS have a working spreadsheet for calculation of consulting and treatment rooms, in accordance with the methodology outline in the guide.

Diana Cole, our Marketing Manager, has just achieved Chartered Marketer status.

Chartered Marketer Status is the benchmark for highly skilled marketers.Chartered Marketers status demonstrates ongoing commitment and competency. Many marketers have a relevant marketing qualification, but Chartered Marketers must ensure that they maintain and develop the currency of their marketing skills and knowledge. Chartered Marketer status is an effective measurement of business competency and expertise, which will ultimately contributes to better business performance. It is also a reassurance that the marketer will be ethical, experienced and can demonstrate first class marketing skills to give employers improved business advantage

Well done Diana!

The housing industry and architects have welcomed the London Housing Design Guide, published last week by London mayor Boris Johnson’s office, despite some feeling that new proposals on space standards do not go far enough.

Read more in the AJ online article by Christopher Sell.

For those looking for the guidance on how to brand our buildings have a look here.

For those who didn’t get to the RIBA, this is the link to Tim Soar’s series of architects in their offices for the AJ - all the great names… [including P+HS of course!].

The Department of Health has reinforced its position on bed space standards for in-patient accommodation to combat hospital acquired infections.

Bed spaces width is 3.6m to provide suffucient space for clinical activities, meet manual handling requirements including hoists, meet disability access requirements including wheelchairs and provide a suitable environment for privacy and dignity. Refer to HFN 30 - Infection Controlin the Built Environment. The standards relate both to new build and to major reconfiguration schemes.

Breaches of health and safety could lead to imprisonment, a top law firm has warned

The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 comes into effect today (16 January 2009).
See complete article in the Architects Journal here.

Author: Kaye Alexander.