Irwell Riverside

Description

The existing site is an open space lying between Bollo Bridge Road, Osborne Road and Berrymede Junior School to the east. The building and new street layout has been designed so as to retain and protect a band of existing trees to the west, which will form a woodland buffer between Phases 3.2 and 4. This 'woodland garden' will be a semi-private amenity for residents only, and accessed via fob-controlled gates. A play area is located to the north of the main wildlife area, containing both natural and constructed play elements. To the south, an open garden of grass and herb hedges will incorporate seating and barbecue facilities, and will be separated from Bollo Bridge Road by a loggia feature of brickwork and railings, over which wisteria and climbing rose will scramble, creating a buffer to the street. Biodiversity will be enriched through the incorporation of groundflora including bluebells, wild garlic, and hazel. Half-buried logs, retained from removed trees, will be incorporated as habitat for mosses, lichens and fungi. Nest and bat boxes will be hung from existing trees. Both the mansion blocks and the houses benefit from front gardens planted with a low maintenance, attractive herbaceous groundcover. A key element of the streetscape will be the 'garden hedges' on the pavement side of the front garden railings, intended to soften the impact of the railings and provide a well-maintained verdant frontage to each. Private gardens will be provided to the rear of the terraced houses, and the mansion block will benefit from either ground level or first floor podium spaces.

Planning History

The original brief was to prepare a reserved matters application for Phase 3.2 for around 110 mixed tenure apartments within the development envelope of an eight-storey apartment block. This became a detailed planning application because we introduced two additional terraces of family houses - which fell outside the parameters of the outline application. Our primary intervention was to identify that there was enough space within the plot to accommodate a row of terraced houses on the opposite side of the new access road -thus creating a proper residential street. This was viewed in a positive light by the existing residents, the client and the London Borough of Ealing regeneration and planning departments.