The development is on the site of the former Mearns Primary, close to the town centre and Mearns Cross. The developer needed to maximise the density of the development so that they could put in a competitive bid for the site, so we needed to negotiate carefully with the planning department to make sure that the buildings fit in with the surrounding area and were of a sufficient quality to merit approval. During a process of discussion with the planning department, we reduced the apparent mass of the buildings with large, overhanging roofs and reducing the massing as four “villas”. We also introduced projecting kitchen bays with pitched roofs over them which varies the massing which helps give a “domestic” scale to the buildings.
The dining kitchen of each flat is within the projecting bay, with an adjacent living room with a set of glazed doors opening onto a large balcony. All these balconies and living spaces face south-east or south-west to maximise the views and natural light, increasing the quality of the individual spaces.
A stone-effect masonry was used to reflect the neighbouring buildings, and the light-grey cladding on the top storey reduces the visual impact of the building. The overhanging eaves also help to emphasise the horizontality of the buildings rather than the height, and the eaves are set just above the head of the windows which again reduces the apparent height of the buildings.
Work is due to progress on complete in December 2017.
Practice:
Unum Partnership
Client
Westpoint Homes
