Calne Phase 1
Bank Site Housing, Calne, Wiltshire

The first phase of the regeneration of this market town in Wiltshire was the creation of two new street elevations lost when the factory was demolished and the town sought a means of re-creating itself.

Bank Site is one of three town centre sites, built in phases. This project involved the linking of two listed buildings and the enclosure of a public car park. Consisting of twenty-two houses six flats and three shops, it succeeded in healing the scar left by the removal of the five storey factory building. The bacon and sausage curing industry, which grew up and devoured the heart of the town, closed down in 1980. This phase was the first to bring hope that the long awaited regeneration of the town would be finally realised.

The housing is for the affordable rent sector including some for shared ownership.

Cost £1.7m n Date 1990

Calne Phase 2
Mixed Development, Calne, Wiltshire

This project, on the site of an old meat factory, began as a national competition, organised by the town and which the practice won in 1989, in partnership with a commercial developer The scheme went through a number of redesigns, each of which was presented to the town at public meetings for comment and discussion. Eventually the recession of the early 90’s put paid to plans for the completion of the project in a single phase and the district council took on the role of developer with several different partners. The architects remained a constant factor through the development of the town during the last ten years.


After the completion of the Bank Site (see earlier) the District Council decided to undertake the final phase of
the project and the practice was commissioned to design a new library, retail units and flats. The major part of
the project involves the diversion of the River Marden in its path through the town centre, together with new
town gardens.

The buildings have been designed to be energy efficient and take into account Local Agenda 21 issues where possible.

AWARDS
1990 RSA Art for Architecture Award
1995 Wiltshire County Housing Design Award
1998 National Housing & Town Planning Council Partnership Commendation

Cost £6m Date 2001

Locksbrook Road, Bath

A redundant British Telecom depot sandwiched between an area of open space and the rear gardens of a terrace of two storey Victorian houses was the unlikely setting for an experimental housing layout based on the principles of the Dutch “Voernoorf” or “outside room”.

The increasing need for housing and the problems of integrating people and costs in any development has let to experimentation in housing layouts which are no longer dominated by highway design. This required the concept of a shared surface where cars and people occupy the same space without the need for pedestrian sidewalks and roads as distinct and separate surfaces. The edges can become blurred, provided that traffic calming is introduced to reduce the speed of the car to that of the pedestrian.

When Aaron Evans Architects were asked to examine different layouts for the site, all the factors currently affecting the planning of social housing were brought into play:

n Secure by design – the need to design out areas where people are vulnerable to attach on person or property.
n The provision of parking close to properties – to eliminate the possibility of vandalism on vehicles ‘tucked away’ in garage courts.
n Urban design – the provision of terraced housing overlooking green space, to maintain the amenity of the development.

These, and other issues, were illustrated for the purposes of public consultation. Prior to making applications for planning permission members of the local community were invited to a public meeting and a consultation process began which resulted in the incorporation of a number of the concerns by the local residents.

The resulting development was built in two phases and has successfully integrated a large housing scheme into the existing community.

Cost £2.7m