Laurels Avenue Development

We have appointed Zebra Architects to develop our proposal for the site.

Below are details of the brief we gave them. Overall the site should promote community pride, happy living and be low carbon.

Connectivity 

We wanted the site to:

• Allow a framework of routes to connect the site to the wider Offenham area.
• Promote Leasowes Road as the key pedestrian/cycle route to the village centre.
• Retain and enhance the vehicular route to Laurels Road.
• Create legible and safe connections within site.

Legibility

• Improve the site boundary definition.
• Create a positive development frontage along the northern boundary.
• Create a sense of arrival at the site entrance.
• Provide a central spatial focus.
• Street-scape design to provide strong active frontage, reduce gapping with integral parking.
• Landscape design to clearly define public/private spaces.

Identity

• Showcase exemplar architechture with high quality landscape design.
• Create a sense of place, inspired by the site's rural setting.
• Provide a variety of building heights and roof styles with architechtural accents to corners and junctions.
• Front boundary treatments to be a variety of hedges, low walls and railings.
• Architechtural character to be unmistakably Offenham.

User experience

• Minimuse overlooking to existing neighbours.
• Orientate new houses back to back with neighbouring properties.
• New houses to be 1 to 1.25 storey.
• Retain access to number six Leasowes Road.
• Provide high quality central open space for informal recreation.
• Ensure site is not car dominated, discreetly locate parking with varied parking solutions.
• Screen poor outlook with planting to western edge.

Performance

• Provide biodiversity net gain and encourage local wildlife.
• Ensure 20% green infrastructure.
• Consider south facing roof pitches with PVs.
• Apply low carbon fabric first approach.
• Include sustainable drainage system.

Below is the site plan indicating the layout of the development.

The 23 proposed properties would be broken down as follows:

• 8 one bed, two person homes with four for social rent and four for private rentals. Two of them will be bungalows.
• 7 two bed, four person homes with three for private rentals, one for social rent and three first homes. 
• 8 three bed, five person homes with seven for private rentals and one for social rent.

Explanation of home types

Private rental units: These homes will be available to rent.

Social rent:  These will be managed by Rooftop Housing. Rent is set according to a government formula and is significantly below the rent paid in the private market. Only those who qualify for social housing will be able to apply to be housed in these properties.

First homes: These properties are aimed at first-time buyers and are usually sold at a discount of between 30% to 50% compared to the market rate. Qualifying criteria applies. Find out more about first homes on the Government website.

We want to establish an identity for the site that provides a sense of place, inspired by the rural setting.

This will be achieved by:

• Bold and varied use of limited material palette (mainly brick as a predominant material within village).
• Use of strong repetitive shapes and patterns, inspired by both local residential, agricultural and greenhouse buildings.
• Repeating house types, identifiable by varied brick type to create sense of ownership.
• Architectural accents to corners and junctions. Repeating window types to create sense of familiarity.

The visuals below give you an idea of how the development will look.

The image below gives an idea of the look of the development including proposed shapes and potential materials that could be used.

Overall the site should have a rural village charm, progressed character, common themes and repating patterns throughout.

There will be:

• Simple modern exemplar design to provide functional modern living.
• Maximised south facing roof pitches with PVs.
• Changes in brick types to portray the varied rural-inspired material palette of the village.
• Feature brickwork to provide subtle architectural accents to corners and junctions.
• Gables and chimneys inspired by common themes found within Offenham.
• Sheltered entrances, also provide facade articulation.
• Repeating house types to reflect the repeating patterns identified throughout Offenham.
• Car ports inspired by local agricultural workshops - street-scape gapping minimised.
• Reoccurring features such as window types to provide regularity, rhythm and ease of construction.

We held a public exhibition on 12 February to gather feedback from residents to help inform the formal planning application. 

Thank you to everyone who submitted comments. 

We will update this page when the planning application is live and available to formally comment on through the usual process.

We had hoped to submit the planning application in March but we are still making changes to the design of the site, based on feedback from the public exhibition.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Andrew Husband, Wychavon District Council

Tel: 01386 565227

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Andrew Warner, Rooftop Housing

Tel: 01386 578752

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