applying housing standards

8/9/2019 Applying Housing Standards

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Housing standards:evidence and research

Applying housing standards:London case studies

A report prepared by CABE with the

assistance of Richards Partington

Architects in May 2010.



CONTENTS 1 Introduction Page 1

2 City Quarter

3 Church Street Page 7

4 Barking Riverside Page 12

5 Mortimer Road Page 13

6 Curwen Apartments Page 15

A1 Appendix 1 – Compliant Typologies Page 16

A2 Appendix 2 – Further Details on Sites Page 19



2. CITY QUARTER

Analysis of the Current Proposal

City Quarter in the London Borough ofTower Hamlets is a 0.25 hectare site on the

eastern fringe of the City of London. The site

has the highest level of accessibility (PTAL

6b). The site is part of the wider

redevelopment of Goodman’s Fields. The

part of the project considered here

comprises the conversion of a listed

commercial building, The Sugar House, andthe construction of a new-build apartment

building alongside.

The current proposals have a density of 348

units per hectare. This is within the 215-405

units per hectare range set by the London

Plan density matrix.

In both buildings there are a significantnumber of units that fail to achieve the

overall sizes required by the LHDG.

Consequently, many of the internal rooms

are also too small. Many of the apartments

do not achieve the dual aspect requirement.

FIGURE 1 - CITY QUARTER EXISTING SITE AND PROPOSAL

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The drawings on the right show for the

typical floors in both building, those units

that do not meet the LHDG requirementsrelating to dual aspect or minimum floor

area. A significant number of units fail to

meet the minimum sizes and a small

number of single aspect 1-bedroom units

are north facing and therefore do not meet

the requirements.

Within the Sugar House the constraints ofthe existing structure are responsible for the

undersizing of three out of the four affected

units. Both buildings comply with the

requirement for no more than 8 units per

floor to be served by a single stair core.

FIGURE 2 - EXISTING PROPOSAL SHOWING UNITS NOT MEETING KEY LHDG REQUIREMENTS

Top – Hooper’s Yard typi cal floor Below – Sugar House typical floor

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Compliant Proposals The London Plan Density Matrix range of

215-405 units per hectare translates into a

range of 54 101 units for this site. Within thenew-build Hooper’s Yard a reconfiguration of

the layout allows all units to meet the LHDG

(see left). Within the existing Sugar House

building some improvement is possible but

the constraints of the structure mean that

some units are too small to qualify as 1-

bedroom flats. Because of listed building

status some units do not have the requiredexternal space provision.

Unit Mix

24 x 2-bed, 4-person flats

18 x 2-bed, 3-person flats

36 x 1-bedroom flats

12 x studios (less than 50m2)

TOTAL UNITS - 90

Note: The figures above are based on the

assumption that all floors have the same

layout, since full floor plans were

unavailable.

FIGURE 4- HOOPER’S YARD TYPICAL FLOORPLAN - LHDG COMPLIANT DESIGN

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Compliant Proposals Working within the listed existing structure ofthe Sugar House imposes certain

constraints that make it difficult to fully

comply with the LHDG. Despite the

difficulties it is possible to bring several of

the undersized apartments into compliance.

However, in two instances it is not possible

to enlarge the flats sufficiently to become 1-

bedroom flats and must therefore be classed

as studios. Due to the need to preserve the

outward appearance of the building it is not

possible to provide balconies on the street

side. Therefore, four of the flats do not have

any outdoor space provision. However, for

the other three, it is possible to provide

larger balconies on the courtyard side in line

with the LHDG requirement.

FIGURE 5 - SUGAR HOUSE TYPICAL FLOOR - LHDG COMPLIANT DESIGN

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3. CHURCH STREET


Church Street, Plaistow is a 0.2 hectare sitein a mixed urban setting in East London.The site has a high level of accessibility:PTAL 4.

The current proposals have a density of 264units per hectare. This is slightly above the70-260 units per hectare range set by theLondon Plan Density Matrix.

The accommodation is divided between twobuildings. The building at the rear of the sitecomplies with most aspects of the LHDGalthough there are some rooms that do notachieve the minimum required widths.

The building at the front of the site is moreproblematic, as it contains a significantnumber of single aspect flats including

several north facing one-bedroomapartments.

Generally, most units lack the necessaryprovision of external space.

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FIGURE 6 - CHURCH STREET EXISTING SITE AND PROPOSAL




The drawings on the right show for theground floor and a typical upper floor, those

units that do not meet the LHDGrequirements relating to dual aspect.

It should also be noted that the building atthe front of the site facing onto ChurchStreet has more than 25 dwellings servedfrom a single lift.

Whilst an additional lift in these situations isnot a mandatory requirement of the LHDG, itis recommended.

FIGURE 7 - EXISTING UNITS NOT MEETING KEY LHDG REQUIREMENTS

LEFT – Ground Floor / RIGHT – Typical Upper Floor

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Compliant Proposals The drawings on the right show for theground floor and a typical upper floor, those

rooms within dwellings that do not meet theminimum space standards.

It also shows those units that have no orinsufficient private outdoor space.

Despite these shortcomings, all dwellings doat least appear to meet the overall areasrequired by the LHDG.

FIGURE 8 - EXISTING UNITS NOT MEETING KEY LHDG REQUIREMENTS

LEFT – Ground Floor / RIGHT – Typical Upper Floor

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FIGURE 10 - CHURCH STREET LHDG COMPLIANT DESIGN

LEFT – Second Floor CENTRE – Third Floor RIGHT – Fourth Floor

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4. BARKING RIVERSIDE


Barking Riverside is a large development inthe Thames Gateway. The site has a

moderate level of accessibility: PTAL 2/3.

The BEBO block is one of the housing

typologies that form part of the overall

masterplan. Analysis of one of these blocks

has shown that the number of units achieved

falls within the 70-170 units per hectare range

set by the London Density Matrix, equivalent

to 167 units per hectare.

The analysis has identified that the design is

largely compliant with the LHDG.

Importantly, the overall units sizes, open

space provisions, floor to ceiling heights,

access arrangements and dual aspectprovisions are fully compliant. There are a few

minor issues to do with room sizes that it was

thought could be resolved without difficulty.

Consequently, alternative proposals were not

developed for this site.

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FIGURE 11

BARKING RIVERSIDE

EXISTING SITE AND PROPOSAL



5. MORTIMER ROAD


Mortimer Road, Brent is a 0.1 hectare site in asuburban setting of terraced houses. The sitehas a very high level of accessibility: PTAL 6a.

The current proposals for Mortimer Road,Brent have a density of 142 units per hectare.This is slightly above the 70-130 units perhectare range set by the London Plan DensityMatrix.

The three storey building has two stair coresand contains 14 units. Some internal roomsfailed to meet the required sizes and inparticular the bedrooms are too narrow.

The portion of the site available for buildingappears to be constrained by the generalbuilding frontage line along the street and aright-of-light for an adjacent property. The

height also appears constrained to threestoreys.

FIGURE 12

MORTIMER ROAD

EXISTING SCHEME

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Compliant Proposals

The London Density Matrix range of 70-130

units per hectare translates into a range of 7-

13 units for this site.The study shows that a range of units sizes

can be provided on the site that comply both

with the LHDG and the London Plan Density

Matrix.

In both cases the proposed building would

have 3 storeys. In option 1 there would be one

stair core. In option 2 there would be two.

Option 1

6 x 3-bedroom flats

3 x 1-bedroom flat

TOTAL UNITS – 9

Option 2

9 x 2-bedroom flats

3 x 1-bedroom flat

TOTAL UNITS – 12

FIGURE 13 - MORTIMER ROAD LHDG COMPLIANT DESIGN

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

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6. CURWEN APARTMENTS SCHEME


Curwen Apartments, John Street, Stratford isa 0.6 hectare site in a mixed urban setting in

East London. The site has a high level of

accessibility: PTAL 4.

The current proposals have a density of 172

units per hectare. This is within the 70-260

units per hectare range set by the London

Density Matrix. The analysis identified that the

design was largely compliant with the LHDG.

Importantly, the overall units sizes, open

space provisions, floor to ceiling heights,

access arrangements and dual aspect

provisions are fully compliant. There are a few

minor issues to do with room sizes that it was

thought could be resolved without difficulty.

Consequently, alternative proposals were not

developed for this site.

FIGURE 14 - CURWEN APARTMENTS, JOHN STREET, EXISTING SCHEME

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APPENDIX 1 –HOUSING TYPOLOLOGIES

To make the process of designing the case

study sites more efficient, a range of different

LHDG compliant building types were

developed.

Example 1 shows buildings which approach

the limit for the maximum allowable number of

dwellings that can be accessed from each

stair core, which is up to 8. These

arrangements work best for stand-alonebuildings and are less easily integrated into

tight urban sites. The orientation of these

blocks is important as the single-aspect 1-

bedroom apartments cannot be north facing or

within 45º of north.

EXAMPLE 1

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Example 2 shows how two compact 2-

bedroom units can be paried around a single

core. The units are dual aspect and at 70m2meet the minimum area set out in the LHDG.

A 7m2 balcony is provided and there is 27m2

of living space. The block has a relatively

shallow plan; only 9.5m and so is suitable for

sites with limited depth. Multiple blocks can be

joined together to form a continuous frontage.

This type is particularly suitable for low-rise

blocks as no lift is required if there are fewerthan 4 floors.

Example 3 shows how three units can be

paried around a single core. This type has the

advantage of easily providing a range of unit

sizes. The 2 and 3 bedroom apartments are

dual aspect. The 1 bedroom apartment is

single aspect and must therefore not face

north. The block has a medium depth of

13.5m. Multiple blocks can be joined together

to form a continuous frontage. Balconies are

provided in accordance with the area

requirements of the LHDG.

EXAMPLE 2

EXAMPLE 3

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Example 4 shows how three units can beparied around a single core. This type has theadvantage of easily providing a range of unitsizes. The 2 and 3 bedroom apartments aredual aspect. The 1 bedroom apartment issingle aspect and must therefore not facenorth. The block has a medium depth of13.5m. Multiple blocks can be joined togetherto form a continuous frontage. Balconies areprovided in accordance with the arearequirements of the LHDG.

EXAMPLE 4

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APPENDIX 2 – FUTHER SITE DETAILS

The following information relates to the original schemes proposed for each of the sites considered in this technical paper. It is provided for information andfor completeness.

SITE BOROUGH DEVELOPER ARCHITECT

City Quarter, Leman Street Tower Hamlets Berkeley Homes Sheppard Robson

Church Street Newham One Housing Group Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Barking Riverside Barking & Dagenham Homes & Communities Agency / Bellway Barton Willmore (Agent)

Mortimer Road Brent Crossier Properties Ltd Chassey Last Architects

Curwen Apartments, John Street Newham East Thames Group Greenhill Jenner Architects

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