Requirements

In developing their design proposals, teams should:

  1. Respond to the aspirations listed under Section 1.
  2. Exploit its relationship with the adjacent Conservation Area. Consider a link via St. Ignatius’ Place. The Council’s Conservation Officer suggests that the scale of the new development needs to be carefully considered in relation to the adjacent listed buildings in St Ignatius’ Square, that the scheme should not damage the views/setting of the Church and could look at reinstating street frontages onto Meadow Street and St Paul’s Road.
  3. Seek to enhance the urban setting of the site by creating a more cohesive street scene, and a fresh new image for the area. Meadow St. is a particularly important axis.
  4. Consider the retention of some or all of the trees on the site, as street trees are a particularly attractive feature of the Conservation Area.
  5. Consider how vehicular access and car parking can be sensitively handled, to minimise the impact of the car on the street scene. The Planning Officer has indicated that car parking should be provided at an average of 1.5 spaces per unit across the scheme but that consideration might be given to a lower level depending on the final mix and number of units; this would need to be negotiated/agreed with the Planning Officer. Teams are encouraged to include proposals for alternative pedestrian and bicycle access.
  6. Ensure that the accommodation provides good quality space that is flexible enough to adapt to changes in future use/lifestyle/working patterns, and meets Lifetime Homes standards. Provision should be made for the specific requirements of the local BME community.
  7. Whilst maintaining the sustainable ethos for the development, consider modern methods of construction and materials. This would help to reduce the amount of disturbance and disruption to local residents.
  8. Consider current or future recycling strategies, particularly community initiatives such as on-site composting etc.
  9. Note that the development will comprise properties for rent. The indicative mix is shown below:
    3 bedroom 5 person houses           40%                                                                                                                                                          
    4 bedroom 6 person houses           40%
    2 bedroom 4 person bungalows     20%
    Density should meet the requirements of Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing.
  10. Note that CGA will be seeking grant for the dwellings from the Homes & Communities’ Agency and units should therefore meet the standards required for such funding including the relevant “Design & Quality Standards”, achieve a minimum of Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 and be to Lifetime Homes standards
  11. Provide landscape proposals for the site.
  12. Note that CGA will work with its Developer Partner, Adactus Housing Group, to bid for grant and develop the scheme through their Framework Agreement. This will normally mean that the architect will be employed directly to complete work upto RIBA Work Stage D and then be novated to a contractor to work on a “Design and Build” basis. Competitors should be aware of this when deciding upon their design team which might normally include the services of an architect, landscape architect and quantity surveyor. They may also wish to include a services engineer to validate the energy/sustainability formulations provided as part of the design submission.

Indicative budget & commitment to build

The overall development should be capable of being delivered within the client’s works only budget of £1.1 million pounds (based on July 2009 costs), but may vary depending on the number of units proposed, their size, mix and configuration, together with any other attributes the scheme may bring.

All applicants are to note that an empirical breakdown of the costings will be required to enable their submissions to be assessed and evaluated.  The initial consideration of the design submissions and selection of the winner will be based on the design content and quality - then informed by the status of the cost information.  It is, therefore, important that the cost information, including the proposed fee structure, is provided within a separate document to the main presentation material in order to facilitate the two independent assessments.

There is a firm commitment to build the development subject to planning consent and a successful grant application to the Homes and Communities Agency

Services required from appointed team

Applicants are to note that, as outlined earlier, the scheme will be procured by CGA in association with Adactus Housing as Development Partner and its Framework. It is normal for projects to be constructed under a “Design and Build” contract with the architect being novated to the contractor after RIBA Work Stage D. CGA/Adactus will therefore employ a QS/Employers’ Agent selected from the Framework. The successful design team - this is to include, as a minimum ‘core’ - the following disciplines:

  1. Design up to RIBA Work Stage D (employed by CGA) followed by novation to the contractor for provision of working drawings and other services as agreed between the design team and contractor (employed by the contractor) to progression onto site and contract completion.
  2. Any Specialist design services - design submission dependent.
  3. Evidence of input of associated disciplines will be evaluated during the assessment stages.
  4. All consultants and inputs into the Design Team are to be ‘in place’ to satisfy the programming performance criteria.
  5. All designers (as specified under the CDM Regulations) will be required to undertake their respective inputs into the Health and Safety documentation - the Architect will be considered as ‘Lead Designer’.

The appointed design team will be expected to arrange for minimum Professional Indemnity Insurance of £2 million in respect of the Meadow House Affordable Housing Development.

Other sources of potentially useful information

Attention is drawn to the following publications/web sites that may also contain relevant information:

  1. Census data - www.statistics.gov.uk/census
  2. National Housing Federation web site - www.housing.org.uk
  3. Homes and Communities Agency – www.homesandcommunities.co.uk
  4. Code for Sustainable Homes -www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/legislation/codesustainable
  5. Planning Policy Statement 3 – http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/planningpolicystatement3.pdf
  6. Planning Statement 5 - http://www.preston.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAyADIANQAyAHwAfABGAGEAbABzAGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1
  7. Lifetime Homes – www.lifetimehomes.org.uk
  8. Building for Life - www.buildingforlife.org
  9. Beating the heat: keeping UK buildings cool in a warming climate (UKCIP/Arup, September 2005) - see www.ukcip.org.uk
  10. St. Ignatius Conservation Area - www.preston.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/design-and-heritage/heritage/conservation-areas/st-ignatius-conservation-area/
  11. CABE – www.cabe.org.uk
  12. Community Gateway Association – www.communitygateway.co.uk
  13. Preston Tithebarn Project - www.prestontithebarn.com

List of information included

Photographs of the site

Click here for a printable verison of the brief

Meadow St West View