Actions arising

The warm response received from the large majority of the thousands of people who have participated in events, has encouraged Human Nature to continue to invest in the work necessary in bringing the project forward. Latterly this has included significant additional expense in providing detailed design for flood defences, construction access and a block of housing. The relationship created through engagement will be sustained through the development process so that the project continues to benefit from local expertise and insights, so that local people are prioritised in housing allocations and where possible, sales, the training and employment programmes reach into local communities and that the new neighbourhood and its growing community integrate most effectively with the town.

Actions arising

This is perhaps the most demanding aspect of an already very demanding project. Lewes has a long history and benefits from multiple eras, ‘traditions’ and movements in design and construction. Please see Section 2 on the Why? of the Phoenix and our approach to landscapeled design.

Lewes is a living, breathing town not a museum of fine older buildings. The town clock did not stop at the Georgian era. In addition to identifying which parts of Lewes and which tradition should be honoured in new architecture, the designers of the Phoenix have had to weigh these aesthetic considerations with the need to: build modern apartments to be inclusive and better respond to housing need and demand (such a typology didn’t really exist in previous eras); to build cost-effectively; and in ways that address the imperatives of the climate emergency. Fortunately many of the much-loved finer old buildings in the town were built with materials found, excavated, grown and processed locally and this is akin to Human Nature’s approach to building with biomaterials.

Human Nature’s leadership lives in the town and is very familiar with its form and architectural highlights. Every architect working on the project has spent time in Lewes, walking, looking, experiencing the place and have included references in their studies.

It has been said that the scheme looks ‘European’. Some, such as the Chairman of the SDNPA Design Review Panel (RDP) meant this as a compliment, others less so. But what does it mean, is it ‘true’ and, if it is, why is it so?

Europe is a big and highly diverse continent. The mixing of populations over centuries (Lewes has a Norman castle of course) and the onset of international travel for many, has not just reinforced cosmopolitan experiences and tastes but led directly to imports of building forms, patterns and details from other countries and cultures. Classical and what some call traditional architecture has its roots in Greek and Roman designs whereas other more vernacular types were more visibly tied to forms and materials that addressed immediate climatic conditions and deployed materials found nearby. Lewes is of course a spirited and vivacious ensemble of both and more.

It is true to say that some cities in notable European towns and cities have particularly accomplished apartment block architecture, including contemporary examples. This tends to be more social than British interpretations, despite a recent upsurge in co-living typologies (we are deeply committed at the Phoenix to greater shared living) – in Zurich, for instance, c40% of all new housing is in cooperative groups and forms – tend to have finer courtyards, and be built better. Lewes has only very few modern apartment blocks of any kind, still less of distinction. Northern European cities have more walkable, bike-friendly and generally human-scaled and sustainable streets and urbanism than the UK. This is changing in cities like Bristol, York, Cambridge and some London boroughs but it is not yet well-established in Lewes despite a government push on streets and active travel. So, Human Nature’s proposals for streets at the Phoenix will tend to look… more European.

The Lewes Sourcebook identifies a set of Golden Threads, which provide the basis for understanding the identity of Lewes. This Sourcebook was prepared with assistance from experts in Lewes who know the town well. The analysis covers the full range of design matters, from plots and blocks which informed the layout of the masterplan, to materials which will determine material choice in the detailed design, not least in Parcel One which has been designed in detail for this application. The Design Code references the golden threads and Source Book throughout, and the detailed design for Parcel One has been informed by detailed advice from our Design Working Group on how the Source Book should be applied in a realistic and practical way. Both the Design Code and the Lewes Source Book are part of this planning application.

Masterplan

Issues

The masterplan has been subject to scrutiny by a range of consultees. While there is a lot of support for building at a “human scale”, the height, massing and density was a concern raised by some, with the impact on the views into and out of the site, not least the view of the site from the eastern bank of the river and the visual connections to the Castle and the Downs.

There was support for the mix of uses in the plan, with people being particularly keen on the public squares and the opportunities to meet people on the streets and in the social spaces.

The masterplan for the Phoenix has evolved in lumpy stops and starts, twists and turns as the design and technical specialists responded over 2 years to the interplay between multiple site constraints and other evidence, LVIA processes, the emerging design principles and concepts, design studies, heritage surveys and consequent Big Moves, themselves refined following further testing and analysis. A reasonably settled framework plan was presented to 3,000 people at the September 2021 Design Festival and anyone with special interest or enthusiasm for master planning had the opportunity to join talks and workshops with the lead designers. This was tested again at the April 2022 Public Exhibition and subsequently in a Design Working Group. There are too many different comments and even types of comments to capture in a simple summary here but the box to the right explains the principal masterplan changes made in response to comments.

Attendee at the Phoenix Design Festival

Actions arising

The starting point for the layout was the landscape and surrounding townscape, in particular the viewing corridors, the Conservation Area, the Causeway edge and the river. The maintenance and creation of views into and out of the site played a large part in helping to establish the block arrangements on the site.

But other factors were also important. The existing streets link into the rest of the town here, but also carry lots of important utilities including one of the major drains for Lewes. Any disturbance to the street arrangement risked adding huge unnecessary cost as well as disrupting the site’s historic links to the town.

Thirdly, the living cultural heritage of the site played a large part in determining the arrangement of the development parcels. The need to maintain the fire station in use, the Green Wall scheduled ancient monument, the desire to retain some links to the historic industrial uses of the site by preserving some of the historic structures, all played a part in determining the masterplan layout.

The uses in the masterplan then flow from the location of the buildings. For example, the central part of the site is the obvious place to locate the makers’ spaces and community activities, focusing on Foundry Workshops, Every Hall and the new event space. This new public square is one of the key locations in the plan and responds to a strongly expressed need for the plan to provide communal social spaces.

Achieving “human scale” is done by adhering to the premise established by Danish urban designer Jan Gehl, that a person standing on the ground floor should be able to see the eyes of someone standing on the top floor. Our buildings allow this to happen. The density was determined through review of the existing densities in the town, and taking into account the CABE report on historic densities (Better Neighbourhoods – Making higher densities work, CABE 2004). The Phoenix comes in at 90-95 dwellings per hectare, lower than parts of Lewes town centre and at the lower end of the range for what CABE calls ‘historic town infill’. Given the current emphasis on “brownfield first” this is also an important consideration in making best use of previously developed land to help tackle our current housing crisis.

People understand that the proposals need to be economically viable and that the principle of housing as many families/households as possible well and building as many affordable homes as possible is important; they also want employment and community facilities, essential public services such as the Foundry Heath Centre, and good quality public spaces. Accordingly, there is realism about the need for a massing and even height of buildings that combine to achieve a certain density and those that attended workshops saw that the density in the plan is at the lower end of what a government study on density refers to as, ‘historic town infill’.

As a consequence of these and other changes and community/public authority requests and requirements for additional amenities, the viability of the Phoenix proposals dropped below mainstream market profitability at 30% affordable homes.

In some locations, having listened to concerns and further analysed the impact of the buildings on daylight and sunlight, we have reduced the building heights, for instance at the Co-Mobility Hub, the Foundry Apartments, Brook Street Co-Housing, the hotel, Brook Street Galleries, Ouse Villa Apartments and the North Street Courtyard Homes.

Issues

The Town Council and Mayor raised this as a priority at our first meeting with them, and many others have done so through the consultation process. The lack of affordable housing in Lewes is a chronic problem, with the Neighbourhood Plan introducing the idea of providing “Lewes Low Cost Homes” at a price determined by household income rather than a discount to market price to tackle this issue. Sadly, there has been little take up of this approach in recent developments in the town.

But there is more to affordable living than the rent. Local activists raised all the issues of growing poverty in their communities, with food, heating bills, travel and clothing all becoming less affordable in the changing national economy. They challenged us to show how the Phoenix could be accessible to people in the town who are currently being driven away by the high house prices, as well as to show how the place can support people and families to live well and happily whatever their income.

Issues

People were concerned that the site was physically and socially disconnected from the town. Historically, the site has been an industrial site key to the town’s economy, but in recent years since the 2000 flood it has felt increasingly disconnected from the town as a result of its being partly derelict and underused.

It is also cut off physically from the town by the Phoenix Causeway, the remnant of the former Inner Relief Road for Lewes which represents a strong physical barrier between the town and the southern edge of the site.

We have received comments that the proposals will continue to feel cut off from the town because there is no proposed through-route for cars into the development from the Phoenix Causeway. People were also clear that the benefits of the new neighbourhood should be available to people already in the town who want to stay and build their lives and communities here, reversing the trend in recent years of the children of people from Lewes being forced to leave the town as a result of unaffordable house prices. This will ensure that the neighbourhood is stitched into the social fabric of the town through its redevelopment.

Attendee at the Phoenix Design Festival

Actions arising

On the advice of our Affordable Living and Housing Working Group we saw that by setting the rental levels at a level related to household income, based on the Local Housing Allowance, a significant number of the affordable homes fall into the definition of Lewes Low Cost Housing. These are 2 and 3 bed flats which, we are advised, meet the real needs of people both on the waiting list but also those younger people who are forced to move out of Lewes to find a decent affordable home.

On top of this, our housing mix has been weighted towards the provision of one, two and three bed apartments in order to make the market homes on offer more available and accessible to a wider range of people. Our intention is that this approach will help address not only the needs of those eligible to access affordable housing provision, but also those who struggle to afford market rent or sale prices. Apartments are, after all, generally more affordable than houses. The wider contributions to affordable living are built into the hardware of the development. Heating bills reduced by 80% as a result of homes being well-insulated, discounted utility bills from the specialist provider that will manage the neighbourhood’s utilities, and reduced household expenditure through being able to use the shared services on the site and the provision of a reuse centre, will all contribute to affordable life at the Phoenix. For example, being able to do without private car ownership will save households £3,000 per year.

Actions arising

The design team has introduced three new physical connections from the Causeway for cyclists, wheelers and pedestrians. Together with the junction improvements at the Eastgate Street/ Causeway junction, which makes crossing safer for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelers (having taken advice from Lewes Area Access Group and Cycle Lewes), this means that there will be easy connections into the site for residents, workers and visitors without the need to drive into the site from a new road junction.

The riverside walk and the new foot and cycle bridge to Malling Rec also serve to knit the site into the town in new ways, responding to the Lewes Neighbourhood Plan’s aspirations to make better use of the river as a connecting mechanism for the town. There will be a new dedicated cycle way from the Causeway to Malling through the site via the new bridge.

Road access remains as now, with North Street, Brook Street and Lancaster Street all continuing to provide road connections to the site, with the existing highways and junctions being able to manage the small increase in traffic movements generated by the development.

As importantly, the social connections to the town are crucial in integrating the new neighbourhood. By prioritising people with a Lewes connection for the new homes, by focusing on new and existing local businesses to take the work space, by providing the Health Centre, and by working with local organisations to provide the community services (such as the reuse centre), the new neighbourhood will be populated by local people, organisations and services as well as by new people coming to the town. In this way the new neighbourhood will “bring the site back to life” as one of the District Councillors put it.

Affordable housing provision includes affording housing at agreed Lewes Low Cost Housing level, and affordable living is built into the hardware of the development.

New cycle, wheelchair and pedestrian connections.

Improvements to Eastgate Street/ Causeway Junction for pedestrians.

The Belvedere and riverside walk provide continuous new public access and views along the length of the river as it passes through the Phoenix

Provision of new Health Centre to meet need identified by Foundry Healthcare.

LOW TRAFFIC, WALKABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Issues

There is strong support in the town to reduce the impact of traffic and congestion, and to make the town much more friendly for pedestrians, wheelers and cyclists. Cycle Lewes, Lewes Living Streets and the Lewes Area Action Group are playing a significant role in the consultation process, encouraging the introduction of measures to reduce traffic and make the first Low Traffic Neighbourhood at the Phoenix. There is strong support for the creation of a walkable neighbourhood, with all the requirements of everyday life being accessible within 15 minutes walking, wheeling or cycling distance.

Others are concerned about the perceived lack of car parking in the proposals, in particular the potential for increasing parking pressures on local streets and on the existing car parks in the town. There has also been concern expressed that by removing the opportunity for through traffic from the Phoenix Causeway to North Street within the site, the proposals reduce the connectivity of the site to the wider town and contribute to its isolation at the edge of the town. Amenity groups and local residents were concerned about the impact of construction traffic during the construction phase of the development.

Issues

Lewes is a town with a history of seeking to change the way we live towards a more sustainable way of life. In our consultation, we have had the benefit of advice from members of the many organisations in Lewes that promote new green ways of living, from the organisers of our farmers’ market to the people who run the Lewes Climate Hub, from Plastic Free Lewes to Transition Town Lewes.