We are branching out!

Due to growing work demands the Planning Design Practice is expanding to a second office within the East Midlands region.

The company is targeting the areas South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire, and an office located within the Chesterfield area is anticipated in the near future.

Please feel free to contact the Derby office if you have any planning or design related queries within these areas.

Regular updates will be included in our monthly newsletters.

June 2009 Newsletter

Sustainable Building Codes & Lifetime Homes – Development in Allestree, Derby

We have been commissioned to prepare proposals for the redevelopment of a large corner plot within a 1960s residential area in Derby. The brief is to increase values by developing housing which is attractive to the market but offers future residents significant advantages over current market offerings.

The area is popular with older residents, the area is quiet but with good access to a range of services and facilities. Using the new sustainable building codes and Lifetime Homes Standards, we have devised a set of proposals for 5 two/three bedroom dormer properties targeted at the over 55s with allocated parking, private and shared open space.

The design ethos is modern, with high quality finishes. Each property is designed with a ground floor bedroom and disabled bathroom or shower room and a large open plan kitchen/living space. On the first floor are a further two bedrooms and a bathroom. The buildings will be highly insulated, using block cavity wall and external insulated cladding. The windows will be timber but triple glazed and low maintenance; water use will be kept low by re-using clean roof water for gardens, toilets and washing machines. All appliances & lighting will be low energy and there is the option to incorporate either solar water heating or PV. Each property will have a gas or wood burning stove to provide a focal point and the buildings will incorporate full gas central heating. Energy use will be low, at about a third of current average levels.

The buildings will meet Sustainable Building Code Level 4 and Lifetime homes standard. The lifetime Homes Standard will ensure flexible accommodation suitable for occupiers as they get older. Parking spaces will for instance be wide enough to allow wheelchair users to access vehicles. The site has only a gentle slope, and with an open permeable layout, the development will encourage social interaction.

The aim is to provide a blueprint for future housing developments, housing which is adaptable in a world of diminishing natural resources

June 2009 Newsletter

Consent obtained for replacement shop front in conservation area



PDP recently secured planning consent for the replacement of an incongruous 1980s shop front with one of a more traditional design, at a fine art gallery in Derby’s City Centre Conservation Area.

The works will be carried out as part of a wider scheme to improve historic buildings in the Conservation Area, for which grant funding has been made available.

The design for the new shop front was informed by an assessment of the history of the building and surrounding area, and agreed informally with grant administrators and city council officers prior to the submission of the application.

In the absence of clear photographic evidence of former shop fronts at the premises, a simple but conventional design was favoured, incorporating the materials and component features of traditional shop fronts but taking its design cues predominantly from the existing building.

The proposed shop front, which will be constructed of painted timber, will incorporate a narrow fascia with individually mounted lettering, pilasters complete with pilaster bases, console brackets and cornicing, a brick stall riser topped with a timber cill, a central window display with central timber mullion, two recessed, traditional style doors with fan lights above, and an awning.

We look forward to seeing the installation of the shop front and with it the further enhancement of the Conservation Area.