The Hall Gardens, Duffield

Description

* The central courtyard space encourages use by all residents as it acts as both front gardens for the houses but also a central space for communal interaction. * To the rear each house has a comfortable garden, either utilising existing mature trees on or beyond the boundary, or water course to add character and create focal points that can be experienced from beyond just the individual garden.

Planning History

* The site was the location of a “walled garden” of a hall that became a girls school in the 1920s. The garden was then demolished to make way for an office building when the hall converted to offices in the 1970s. * The housing scheme formed part of a wider development to remove the office block and convert the hall back into a residential dwelling. * Following consultation with both Amber valley Borough Council and English Heritage (now Historic England) the character of the development developed to be one informed by the significance of the hall. * This lead to adopting the character of a “walled garden” which had previously been on the site, encouraging a low key and subservient group to avoid being overly dominant or suburban in the context of the grade II* listed hall.