34 WESTELEVATION to Holloway Hill SOUTHELEVATION to Rock Place EASTELEVATION to walled garden NORTH ELEVATION to Relief Rood RM 230389/2 The proposed house design developed by Surrey County Council architects A NEWHOUSE FOR THE SITE This Surrey County Council Development Section study sought to determine an appropriate form of development for the small plot of land surplus to the relief road. The prominent site created presents a new design problem .... or maybe a design opportunity. It is small, difficult to access and potentially noisy. It marks the western entry to the relief road, and simply to dedicate it to landscape seemed rather a feeble option - serving to underline the intrusive quality of the new road in a tightly grained old town. The inevitable urban destruction of a major highway scheme is perhaps better repaired by an urban solution. This site presents a chance to establish a new element of townscape deliberately related to the road. Together with similar sites it will help stitch the new road into the fabric of the town. The County Valuer naturally encouraged this approach. Waverley Borough Council was anxious to see a detailed proposal for the site before lending support to removal of the cottages - prompting preparation of this scheme. On completion of the relief road, the site will be offered for sale with detailed planning permission, though it remains open of course for the purchaser to resubmit his own scheme. Waverley Borough Council is, however, pleased with the suggested design by the County Council and will seek a development of similar or higher quality. The ultimate success of the exercise thus awaits demonstration. Principal design constraints • The site is small, placing the dwelling very close to the new Relief Road and making privacy and noise shelter difficult to achieve. • Although the most prominent view of the site is from the north west, the building will be visible from all directions and must present four public elevations. • The scale of the building must be sufficient both to establish its presence beside the relief road, and to reduce the impact of the newly exposed rear elevations of existing houses on the hillside to the south (Crofr Road). • Vehicular access is permissible only along the narrow lane to the rear (Rock Place), offering very restricted manoeuvring space. • Pedestrian access must be sited at the north west corner of the site, by the traffic lights, to discourage casual parking. • The site is exposed and requires an unconventional design to create privacy and amenity. It is inappropriate for the Council to prepare a full specification for the proposed design, but a few critical points warrant early mention: • The proposed buildings should appear integral with the flank garden wall; expansion/settlement joints must not therefore signal the junctions of garden wall with the main buildings. Spurs of garden wall, at least 900 mm long, should instead form part of the structure of house and garage. • The sloping brick revetment continues a detail used elsewhere on the relief road, and must be constructed to the specification of the County Engineer. The interlocking geometry of the revetment about the base of the chimney stack is vital to locate the house convincingly to the new road. • Brickwork is proposed to complement materials used elsewhere on the relief road. A slate roof is suggested as a crisp contrast in colour and texture to the brickwork. Selected secondhand slates could be used, but artificial slates need not be regarded as an inferior alternative. Suitable artificial slates would be of small size, and without imitation texture .. • Roofs, other than the garage, are designed to prc;:sent a 45 ° hip slope. This requires a pitch generally of 54 ° 45', but 45 ° to the semi-circular staircase turret. The garage roof may be of substantially lower pitch. • Eaves and roof verges should be neatly detailed without bargeboards or fascias. • Distinctive elevations would depend on careful fenestration. Purpose made metal window frames are proposed and will require meticulous detailing and execution. • Noise vulnerable windows will require appropriate sound insulation. CONTEXT 29
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