8. OBJECTIVE 3 - DESIGN & CHARACTER

POLICY 3a. HIGH QUALITY DESIGN

POLICY 3b. SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - DESIGN GUIDE

Development will be of high-quality design and will need to be sensitive to the existing Character of the Area, large parts of which

are covered by Conservation Areas. The proportion, scale, massing, materials and rooflines of new developments shall have regard to the buildings in character area. Outside the Growth Area, there shall be a clear presumption in favour of preserving the distinct character and appearance of the Area, as well as the views across it. In the Growth Area, development shall be sensitive in creating a new layer of place identity for the Area.

POLICY 3a. HIGH QUALITY DESIGN

Development proposals for buildings, extensions and alterations to existing buildings within the Fortune Green and West Hampstead Area must demonstrate high quality design that responds to and intergrates with the local character of existing buildings, the streetscape and the landscape context. To be supported, proposals will be required to demonstrate the following:

A positive interface with the street and streetscape in which it is located. A positive contribution to the character, pattern and grain of the surrounding buildings and structures. A scale that respescts the existing relationship between buildings and street level activity. A material palette and detailing which reflects or is in harmony with the Character Area An assessment of the impacts on any Heritage assets including; Conservation Areas, non-designated and localy identified assets and a statement explaining how the design proposals will mitigate imapcts on their setting. A height that is in keeping with the context and adjacent buildings. Tall buildings within the Growth Area will need to have regard to their impact on the setting of the adjacent Conservation Areas. A building frontage and curtilage to the street that maintains the existing character and quaities of the context and contributes to creating a high quality public realm

The FGWH Design Statement provides specific guidance on these design attributes and the character of Fortune Green and West Hampstead.

Tools and stakeholders for Policy 3a. and Policy 3b. are listed on the page 46.

POLICY 3a.

This policy sets out the key design principles for all new development. The Design Guide, which describes the Character Areas within Fortune Green and West Hampstead, is to be used alongside policy 3a to guide the development of design proposals within these Character Areas.

The policy requires development proposals to demonstrate that they have responded to the design principles set out in Policy 3a. and the FGWH Design Guide. This does not mean development must copy what already exists, but it must demonstrate how the design will respond positively to the Character Areas and justify any departures from the policy.

Victorian terraced housing, a number of which are painted, a common feature of the built environment in the Area.

CRITIQUE OF THE 2015 NDP

The 2015 NDP did not provide additional supporting material for the policy on Design & Character, its use of character photos had no supporting text and are not referenced on a map. As a result it is hard for developers and the planning authority to determine what design attributes need to be considered in new development. In addition, the policy does not recognise the different character areas within Fortune Green and West Hampstead, instead it only assumes a general character of red brick and village feel. Again making it unclear as to what design attributes need to be reflected in new development.

JUSTIFICATION

A policy on design and character can be valuable in protecting the feel and identity of an area which is often an important objective for neighbourhood plans. However, given the complexity of design such a policy needs to be supported by some form of design guidance if it is to remain simple, clear and functional. A Character Area Assessment is often used as an evidence base for the production and justification of a Design Guide and it is important that both these documents are simple and accessible if they are to be successful in providing unequivocal design guidance for developers to develop their proposals and for planning authorities to assess them.

CASE STUDY: ODIHAM NDP

Odiham Neighbourhood Plan Policy 5: High Quality Design (2014), sets out key design attributes that development must demonstrate it has considered. In the supporting text a design statement (Odiham Parish Council, 2014) is referenced to support the policy and provides a detailed level of guidance through images, text and maps. This is a successful example of how a design and character policy can implement a supporting document to strengthen its objectives.

Odiham Village Design Statement, policy on High Quality Design.

used to support its

The local high street at Mill Lane, a key feature of the ‘village’ feel in FGWH.

POLICY 3b. SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - DESIGN GUIDE

A Design Guide will be produced by the FGWH steering group in collaboration with the local community, Camden Council planning authority and professional consultants. It will provide an analysis supported by a written description and images of the eight distinct Character Areas within Fortune Green and West Hampstead and their key features in terms of scale, massing, materials, detail and landscape. Development proposals will be required to demonstrate through a Design Statement how they respect and are in keeping with these key features of the Character Areas.

TOOLS

Design Guidance

Consultation

STAKEHOLDERS

1. Camden Council

2. Conservationist

3. Residents

DESIGN GUIDE OVERVIEW

Based on the Forum’s consultation and the extent of the Conservation Areas, the visual impact of new developments is a principle concern of residents. This Plan seeks to promote good design which is in keeping with the Character Areas and the Conservations Areas rather than the replication of historic styles which can be innappropriate and have a negative impact.

In this respect the Design Guide will be neutral in terms of style concentrating instead on promoting development that makes a positive contribution to the Character Areas by providing clear guidance on the qualities of these areas and requiring a Design Statement as part of a planning application that explains and justifies the design approach.

By being non-prescriptive in terms of style, the Design Guide will also provide the flexibility for development proposals to respond to increasing sustainability standards which may influence building design in terms of form, orientation and fenestration. An example of how the design guide will look is shown on pages 50-51.

OVERVIEW OF THE 8 CHARACTER AREAS:

1. Growth Area

The east of this site is currently occupied by approximately 5.5 acres of car park and two warehouse structures home to a garden centre and car dealership. The west has more recently been developed, consisting of apartments blocks that are typically much taller in height than surrounding areas.

2. South Hampstead Conservation Area

The north-west portion of the South Hampstead Conservation Area; the area is characterised by large, semi-detached and terraced late-Victorian properties, in red or gault (white/cream) brick, with a particularly distinctive and attractive roofscape including turrets, gables, and tall chimneys.

3. South-West

Primarily three-storey Victorian terraced housing with private front gardens and larger rear gardens.

4. Railway Tracks

The Character Area is divided into two separate areas. The area to the west is characterised by a former industrial estate, where a primary school has recently been built. The west of both areas is comprised of two-storey post-war social housing.

5. North East

Residential area comprised of well-preserved two to three-storey semi-detached Victorian housing. The western portion is sheltered from the busy Shoot-Up Hill by much larger mansion blocks.

6. Central

This Character Area is a largely residential and leafy area, comprised of well-preserved two-storey Victorian terraced housing. Each house has a small private front garden and larger rear garden

7. West End Green Conservation Area

The character of the area is defined by the West End Green village: the busy commercial ‘spine’ street and the Green. Two-three storey late Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing dominate this area.

8. Finchley Road

A major route connecting the M1 to Central London, this road is comprised of mansion blocks of up to eight storeys. The mansion blocks have a uniformity that is a positive contrast to the individuality of the character of the houses. Details are bold and repetitive, boundaries and hedges are neat.

CRITIQUE OF THE 2015 NDP

Given the concern raised in the 2015 NDP over recent developments that are antithetical to the ‘village feel’ of West Hampstead, a limitation of the previous document was the complete absence (beyond a loosely defined design guide) of any mechanism of addressing this issue.

JUSTIFICATION

In order to address the Forum’s concerns regarding development that is antithetical to the ‘village feel’ of West Hampstead, the Plan proposes a more stringent design guidance than what is offered in the 2015 NDP. It is a seperate document in order to provide a higher level of detail and is referenced in Policy 3a. to ensure it is used by developers and the local planning authority.

CASE STUDY: OPDC COMMUNITY REVIEW GROUP.

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) include a ‘Community Review Group’ of elected members, giving local people the opportunity to express their views on urban design decisions. The members have a strong understanding of the local area, which feeds directly into new developments: discussions on development proposals are turned into formal reports that are then included in the OPDC Planning Committee’s decision-making process.

Meeting of the OPDC Community Review Group.

CASE STUDY: NEWCASTLE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT

Newcastle City Council have developed a comprehensive Character Area Assessment which is mapped on the Council’s website. Each character area is subdivided into much smaller clusters and the Assessment details which aspects of the area are most valued by the community, and which are not. Each small cluster is scored overall on its ‘character strength’, providing an indication to developers on how stringently to apply the relevant design guidance, and where innovation would be more welcomed: successfully circumventing the lack of heritage status of areas which the Council wish to see protected. Individual landmarks are evaluated, providing guidance as to which features should and should not be replicated. Further detail includes the urban grain, materials, colours, movement, ecology, adjacent land uses, etc.

Excerpt from the Newcastle Character Assessment.

EXAMPLE DESIGN GUIDE: CHARACTER AREA 6

EXAMPLE FROM DESIGN GUIDE

The Design Guide will provide information on the design attributes that make up each Character Area through the use of descriptive text and accompanying photos, a Character Area map shows where these design attributes are located. Below is an example of how the design guide may look.

CHARACTER AREA 6.

This Character Area is a largely residential and leafy area, comprised of well-preserved two-storey Victorian terraced housing. Each house has a small private front garden and larger rear garden

Fortune Green and West Hampstead Character Area 6: Central.

EXAMPLE DESIGN GUIDE: CHARACTER AREA 6

BUILDING TYPES

Character Area 6 is predominantly residential housing with private back gardens and a consistent building line set back 1.5 m from the road with front gardens bounded by 1 m high brick walls.

MATERIALS, FORM AND DETAILS

Building typologies are mostly two-storey terraced housing of red brick and London stock brick with sash windows and bays. Some of the homes have been painted in a white or pastel colours which contributes the distinct character of the Character Area and Fortune Green and West Hampstead as a whole.

Roofs are pitched with ridges parrallel to the road and grey or brown slate tiles predominant. Roofs form a protruding point at the top of the upper bay window and chimneys are a major feature in the roofscape.

NEW DEVELOPMENT

Modern style homes are being built along Mill Lane, materials and heights vary although buildings do not rise above two storeys. The surrounding character is one of red brick edwardian housing of four storeys with extensions at the rear. Whilst the new development is in contrast to the existing character it proposes an opportunity to build upon this new ‘modern’ character and show Fortune Green and West Hampstead as a forwards thinking area in terms of housing and design.

Terraced housing.

Red brick.

London stock brick.

Colour palette of painted homes.

Pitched roofs, tiled and painted bay windows. Modern houses on Mill Lane.