Works started on site summer 2016 and were completed in late spring 2018.

Overlooking open rolling countryside to the south, these five bedroom 3,000sqft+ homes have been designed over two floors with a stepped ground floor taking advantage of the natural topography of the site. This provides extra high ceilings to the main reception and living spaces at the rear of the house where the large glazed southern elevation allows light to flood into the interior.

Externally, the contemporary design takes its cue from simple traditional gabled barn structures and the mix of timber cladding and render compliment the slate roofing. Cantilevered first floors to the front elevation are supported on piers with ribbon windows to the bedrooms above.

Designed as a mirrored pair of Sussex vernacular homes, the houses take advantage of the long site and are set back substantially from the quite road, sharing a central access driveway allowing the existing mature trees to the front of the site to be retained.

Careful consideration of the local planning policies and a design that is sensitive to the local architectural style and character of the immediate area allowed for a smooth route through planning and positive feedback from the Pre-Application meeting with the planners. This scheme demonstrates that while it may be considered ‘garden-grabbing’ by some the planners can be supportive of well thought out and reasoned applications.

The pair of new semi-detached houses constructed for Gold Property Developments in Buxted, Uckfield, East Sussex have now been completed. For more details see the Projects page. The client came to BWP Architects with planning permission in place and we were commissioned to prepare the construction drawings only.

We also prepared a series of alternative designs, one of which is shown below, to improve the elevational treatment but the client wished to proceed with the current design in order to minimise any delays to the construction period.

Gold Property Developments bought the site with the benefit of planning permission for a pair of semi-detached houses on a sloping site. However, the draftsman who prepared the planning drawings failed to take into account several important aspects of the site and a redesign was required by BWP Architects followed by a Non-Material Amendment application to the local planning authority.

Following approval of the Non-Material Amendments BWP Architects were commissioned to prepare the detailed working drawings for the scheme to proceed to construction.

Designed around the concept of the traditional Village Green the layout has been driven by the needs of the pedestrian rather than by the car.

A new ‘village green’ is established in the centre of the development giving equal access to all plots. Radiating from this are a series of views and vistas along which pedestrian routes are set out.

Larger houses are clustered around the green, facing onto it, with smaller houses evenly distributed around the site together with affordable homes.

Key feature buildings are set up at the end of the long views to act as ‘full stops’ and to maintain the village perimeters.

Road layouts are deliberately convoluted with straight sections kept to a maximum of 60m to maintain speeds below 30mph. Mews areas and rear parking courts also take the emphasis away from front garden parking areas. Road and footpaths follow the building lines, while meeting the requirements of vehicle tracking, ensuring that the spaces created relate to the buildings and not the needs of the motor car.

A landscaped buffer is kept to the south-west Greenbelt land beyond and the existing mature planting to the boundary is also maintained.

Pedestrian links to the rest of the existing village are introduced to ensure that the new development is integrated with the current community.