Beach Road West Wins Planning Consent
May 11, 2015
The moment when you get to phone a client and notify them that they have received a planning consent is surely one of the best in the job as an architect! The months of waiting and patience are finally over, and the vision that you are pursuing together with your client has been given the green light by the authorities to go ahead. Today was one such day, and a sunny one to boot!
Last week I went to meet with several of the neighbours for the project who had a variety of concerns about the scheme. That too is something really important and an absolutely integral and essential part of the process that I really hugely enjoy. I wanted to hear their concerns first hand, and have the opportunity to explain carefully exactly what we are trying to do and why. It is so much better to undertake this process openly in a spirit of discussion, than behind doors where people do not have the opportunity to understand the context in which the many, varied and sometimes complex design decisions are made along the way. I was not able to convince everybody about everything that we are doing, but I hope I was able at least to be able to explain it in person and reassure that we are treating the site with care and respect.
Beach Road West is a fabulous site, with fabulous views, but DREADFUL access! To this end, many of the neighbours entirely understandable concerns were regarding the logistics of the building process - how are we going to safely demolish an existing building which currently adjoins their own? How will we remove waste without too much disturbance to the enjoyment of their garden spaces? It made me reflect that it is always the case that as architects, we do not just design buildings, but that we must also design building. After all, it is the process, which determines the product.
Now that we have a planning consent in place I will be working with Will Hallet and Natural Design and Build to work out how we will build, as well as what we will be building. For example, we are going to see whether we can remove demolition waste via the marshy beach to avoid disturbing the neighbours using special plant equipment and elevated skips. We will also be working on the details of the timber frame building to ensure that it is all resolved for a fast build with minimal disruption.
Watch this space!