Nash Partnership has a new office in Bristol. Studio Bristol is on Wine Street, at the heart of the city and it’s regeneration opportunities, providing our Bristol based clients with easy access and establishing a convenient base for projects in the West Midlands, South Wales and the SW Peninsula. The office will operate very much as a flexible space for our teams, supporting growing work in these areas and complementing our Bath headquarters.

Our conviction is that the post- recession development market requires new skillsets and through this new office we are able to add capacity to our integrated planning, regeneration, urban design and architecture offer for clients. The new office went live in July so look out for more news on this and our Bristol based activity over the coming months.

SeTTiNg uP a NeW Office - STudiO BriSTOl

WelcOMe to Nash Partnership’s Summer Newsletter 2011.

as we move into the middle of Summer, it feels right to shake off the dust of the recession – to move more firmly on to the front foot. However, economic conditions remain challenging and few sectors have felt the squeeze more severely than the housing market.

it is clear now that there has been a long term shift. The days of demand fuelled by cheap and easy credit have gone. different approaches to the delivery of development are therefore needed, against the backdrop of a growing housing shortage.

So, for this edition we thought we’d put a bit of a focus on delivering new homes. But, first there is some news on other things, including our new office in Bristol.

NeWSleTTerSuMMer

Justine leach has recently joined us in the new role of design director for urban design and landscape. Justine is very experienced and widely regarded across the country and beyond. She brings an impressive portfolio of projects undertaken for major london firms, including many years as an associate at international practice edaW, and recently as an independent consultant. Justine is well attuned to the emerging neighbourhood and localism agenda and much of her recent work has been anticipating future delivery using these approaches. She has been involved with housebuilders and housing delivery nationally through her roles as an enabler for the

recently renamed design council caBe and as a member of their design review Panel. an inaugural member of the South West design review Panel Justine is passionate in her role championing design quality throughout the region.

Having already hit the floor running on current projects set up by our existing urban design director, amanda Taylor, Justine brings additional urban design and landscape skills to our team, building on the added depth provided by our understanding of the economic, social, cultural, commercial and political dimensions of design work.

arcHiTecTurecONServaTiONPlaNNiNg regeNeraTiON urBaN deSigN

NeW deSigN direcTOr

1st floor, Prudential House, Wine Street, Bristol BS1 2PH | T: 01225 442424 (Main Switchboard) | e: mail@nashpartnership.com

Contemporary Apartments, Equus House, Bath

The Nash website has been redesigned with all the latest news and features from our recent work, along with new profiles for our team leaders.

Take a look and find out more about our approach to planning, regeneration and design at: www.nashpartnership.com

as our planning team goes from strength to strength, two Nash projects have received prizes at the rTPi National Planning awards.

The development of the Kingston Mills site in the heart of Bradford on avon, with our client linden Homes/galliford Try, was awarded best local regeneration and renewal project, while the development of a major new visitor attraction at Blists Hill in the ironbridge gorge won a commendation in the heritage category. in addition, Nash Partnership was a finalist for National Small Planning consultancy of the Year.

complementing these planning awards, Nash Partnership also picked up the 2010 South West Property insider’s architects Practice of the Year and was Bath life Magazine’s Professional Services award winner for 2010.

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laTeST NeWSas we go to print, our Bllists Hill project in the ironbridge gorge has also been announced as the winner of the West Midlands rTPi regional Planning award.

This project has played a crucial role in regeneration of the gorge, dramatically raising the educational relevance and profile of its economic, social and cultural identity.

NeW WeBSiTe lauNcH

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From l-r Richard Summers - President of the RTPI, Duncan Powell, Edward Nash &Mel Clinton - Nash Partnership

Blists Hill Visitors Centre, Ironbridge

Kingston Mills, Bradford on AvonNew Homes - Reynolds Wharf, Coalport

EcoHomes Excellent - Littlecombe, Dursley

From l-r left Paul Ellingham - Alliance Planning, Mark Walton - Chair of RTPI West Midlands Mel Clinton & Kevin Balch - Nash Partnership, Richard Summers - RTPI President.

Former Railway Land, Radstock

fiNdiNg & SecuriNg SiTeS in the context of a cautious market there is stiff competition for deliverable sites. We therefore actively seek out and assess opportunities, working with clients to help them secure sites. at the former lime grove School site in Bath, we have undertaken a detailed assessment of planning risk and potential S106 obligations for Bloor Homes, simultaneously using our integrated design skills to set up a path to delivery. Our work was fundamental in allowing Bloor to successfully bid for the hotly contested brownfield site, and Nash Partnership is now leading the project team, with a planning application recently submitted for high quality two and three storey family houses in this desirable location.

Similarly, in radstock, a former mining town to the south of Bath, we have provided planning and regeneration advice to galliford Try/linden Homes through a successful tender process for appointment as development partner to the Norton radstock regeneration company, owner of the town’s former railway land. Here, a mixed use development will provide over 200 new homes plus shops/restaurants, community facilities, a Sustrans cycleway and managed wildlife habitat.

More broadly, we are compiling intelligence on a variety of towns and localities to help identify and assess potential development sites for house-builder clients.

While industry analysts and commentators remain vigilant, scrutinising market indicators for signs of revival, the fundamental requirement for new homes remains. Most eyes are on the national picture, assessing economic prospects, availability of mortgage finance and changes in the planning system.

The development climate remains challenging but there are some more positive signs. indications of stabilisation in the mortgage market are emerging and a leaked draft of the National Planning Policy framework (NPPf) suggests a likelihood of greater planning clarity in the near future. Much of the content of the draft NPPf has been trailed for some time, including for example the presumption in favour of approval for sustainable development.

However, it also includes provisions such as a need for the 5 year housing land supply to incorporate additional capacity of at least 20% and sets out an obligation for local planning authorities to ensure that policy and developer obligations do not threaten viability and delivery.

vital though they are, we shouldn’t simply await top down improvements for unlocking the necessary delivery of new homes. local solutions also have a key role to play. By identifying and bringing forward development which creates places that people really want to live in we can help to build local market confidence and drive the requirement for finding and delivering mortgage solutions.

at Nash Partnership, we have always placed an emphasis on actively seeking out development potential, identifying and growing value, understanding the evolving planning and political context and pursuing approaches that show how policy agendas can be fulfilled. Our work aims to enable clients to minimise risk from the outset, establish competitive edge for developments in a cautious market and enable delivery, often where schemes have previously failed.

We do this through integrated application of our skill-sets - planning, research, regeneration, urban design and architecture.

deliveriNg HOMeS iN a TOugH MarKeT

Lime Grove Site, Bath

safeguarded in current planning policy entirely for employment use and again new planning policy is emerging. Our approach here is therefore regeneration and urban design led, to set out a future view of the town and how development of the site can contribute to this, showing how planning policy aspirations can best be fulfilled.

The proposals, for 176 new homes and live/work accommodation, a community building, small office units and a new link to the town centre, have been submitted for planning permission. The planning application sets out a rationale that identifies provision of new homes as a key component for regeneration of the town, showing how the residential-led development can help to establish a more sustainable pattern of use, create a sense of place, retain and attract skilled and enterprising people, develop the town’s quality of life profile and support off-site provision of new business premises.

he government’s localism agenda has brought forward a variety of responses. in the world of development the prospect

of Nimbyism and delay is a common concern. However, working with local people and other stakeholders has for us always been a key ingredient in achieving delivery of new homes and other development. uncovering and building upon elements of local identity is also a common feature of our projects, both as a means of establishing local support and to help grow value.Often we find that projects start in the wrong

Planning policy is subject to political change and lengthy lags between its drafting and application. Quite often it can fail to deliver what communities and places actually need. in the early stages of projects we therefore analyse and identify the intent and context of underlying policy. This provides a basis for setting out a compelling rationale for development, showing how the aims, if not the letter, of policy can be delivered. for example, at the 12.2 ha Starvehall farm in cheltenham, proposals for over 300 dwellings, a care home and public open space on a greenfield site, raised significant policy issues. The site is not allocated for development but planning policy is in transition. Shifts in housing numbers and the status of the regional Spatial Strategy have required an in-depth analysis of housing needs and land supply. This we integrated with broader regeneration considerations to set out the case for development to both make a significant contribution to the supply of new homes and to help support the local economy and the sustainability of established communities.

in the market town of Midsomer Norton, we are commissioned by linden Homes to lead on a residential-led mixed use redevelopment of the former alcan factory site. The site is

T place, focusing on design and planning at the outset. We prefer to first understand the place, its economy, key influencers and its housing market. from here we can work out what the locality needs and the development opportunities this creates in order to then develop the planning strategy and establish the project design brief. The approach is exemplified at Kingston Mills, in Bradford on avon, winner of the 2010 rTPi national award for local regeneration and renewal. Here, against a background of community disenchantment following three

failed schemes promoted by others, through a series of workshops around a scale model, we worked with a wide range of local and statutory interests. This culminated in local groups leading the final round of consultation and championing the project. despite the recessionary climate construction started in 2009 and a new quarter of the town is taking shape, to provide a mix of uses, including 175 new homes. The first homes are now occupied and there is a restored confidence in Bradford on avon’s future.

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Proposed Homes at the Former Alcan Factory Site

Alcan Site Masterplan

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With the Hca stretched to deliver 300,000 affordable homes over 5 years (all to the tune of a 65% cut in the Social Housing grant), the need to find design efficiencies that allow developers across the private and public sectors to deliver affordable housing is now more pressing than ever.

Our teams have been successful in making affordable schemes succeed through working creatively with local stakeholders followed by a careful balance of cost-efficient layout, material and detailed design. The long-term benefits of good design are vital if we are to avoid the demolition of housing stock 30 years down the line, as we are witnessing with many badly designed 1980s estates today. good design is also important to the long term costs of managing and maintaining properties. This requires a recognition of where high quality is most vital and where design and construction efficiencies are most necessary.

We work with innovative rSl’s and bodies that recognise this and are, as a result, at the forefront of affordable housing delivery and design. at St Pauls in cheltenham, working for cheltenham Borough Homes, on a site where poor quality housing had been demolished, our role as planners, urban designers and architects, was to rebuild 48 affordable homes and renovate existing housing stock in line with high-level sustainability criteria.

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The project also aims to help level inequalities in one of the town’s most deprived neighbourhoods, where close collaboration with the community has been an essential component of the design and planning process. We were able to exceed funding requirements such as Scheme Quality Standards, lifetime Homes, Secure by design, Housing Quality indicators and Building for life. Though often conflicting in their detail, our in-depth knowledge of their application allowed the necessary flexibility when it came to design and procurement. On the basis of the scheme’s success our client has since sought advice from our planners on how to build community support for contemporary design approaches and used our exemplary consultation framework to drive a similar affordable housing project in neighbouring Whaddon.

Stakeholder Workshops at St Pauls, Cheltenham

The New Riverside Quarter, Bradford on Avon

WOrKiNg WiTH cOMMuNiT

a well considered landscape helps to establish identity, creates amenity and adds value. landscape also underpins the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability. it is commonly a key consideration through the planning process, which if not addressed from the outset can result in delay and additional cost. With her particular strengths in landscape design, Justine leach, our new design director, brings added emphasis and capacity to consideration of landscape context, constraints and opportunities. This is integral to our assessment of sites and our approach to urban design.

On our Starvehall farm site, the masterplan establishes a development structure that responds to the unique topography of the site, and high quality landscape setting, building on and displaying the qualities of its views and urban fringe character. We incorporated the natural landscape into our design code from the outset and used the site’s unique and varied topography as a cue for some impressive features that will enhance the area’s identity. as well as new green open spaces affording views across the cotswolds, other landscape features include a swale and a wildlife corridor which will bring sustainable drainage and ecological enhancements to the site and its surroundings. Our integrated skill-sets have been central to this, enabling effective and efficient management of all the design inputs.

laNdScaPe deSigN fOr HigH QualiTY liviNg eNvirONMeNTS

Starvehall Farm Illustrative Masterplan: Five areas of high quality open space respond to pedestrian routes, topography and views of the Cotswolds. Green routes are an integral part of the landscape strategy linking open space and the pedestrian network.

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Terraces enclosing shared spaces & enabling views

The lanes respond to site topography

Informal Courtyard

More flexible and fluid patterns of living, working and doing business are developing. With smartphones, tablets, laptops, Wifi and remote network access now integrated in the way we do business, the employees of successful new-economy businesses are no longer tied to the conventional office or slave to arduous and environmentally damaging commutes. and, with over 40% of the country’s businesses now being run from home, the new economy needs new types of homes and business premises that complement the changing lifestyles and business ethos that are fundamentally altering working patterns. The boundary between spaces for living, working, meeting and trading are being blurred.

Places that are switched on to these changes will gain competitive advantage whilst those sticking to the old model are likely to lose out. for the most dynamic housebuilders this means more than just adding a spare room to homes – it means designing in flexibility.

BuildiNgS fOr THe NeW ecONOMY

residential sites frequently come with a requirement for the provision of business premises and this can be a real impediment to delivery. Often the issue is that the conventional business premises market will not see viability in the location and in such circumstances a different approach is needed. This requires development partners with a track record of creating new markets through an understanding of the needs of emerging new economy businesses and the role that identity and amenity play in generating demand and growing values. in a variety of locations, including the Bath/Bristol area, Somerset market towns and the Stroud valleys we are working with clients to establish partnership arrangements that will enable delivery of the business space that is necessary in order to realise the residential development potential of such sites.

LookiNg AhEAd

Proposed Live/Work scheme, Alcan Site, Midsomer Norton

Place aNd SiTe PrOfileSSometimes clients want a quick and low cost assessment of a place or a site that goes beyond simply stating what the planning policies and constraints are. We have therefore distilled the approaches we routinely use to help secure sites and build the rationale for development to provide succinct site and place profiles for clients. Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to find out more about this service.

WHaT BrOugHT YOu TO NaSH ParTNerSHiP?

The opportunity to develop my planning career within a multi-disciplinary practice that has a reputation for quality and delivery.

Tell uS aBOuT THe TYPe Of PrOJecTS YOu are WOrKiNg ON?

a mixed workload which covers a number of project areas typically involving urban regeneration, conservation and listed buildings, housing, leisure, rural developments, and local development frameworks. They range from small projects such as barn conversions to developments of 300+ new homes.

My work takes me throughout the South West and beyond. right now i am about to submit a hybrid application for a residential development of 36 new homes and 4 retail units on a brownfield site in the heart of Wellington town centre.

HOW dOeS PlaNNiNg fiT WiTH THe OTHer TeaMS aT NaSH?

We work very closely with these teams. as well as projects that require design and conservation input, these skills are really valuable in the early stages, when for example assessing site potential and risks for clients. it is essential to step back regularly and appreciate the wider picture. The advantage of the overlap is that other specialists can offer different insights and solutions to important planning questions.

aNY vieWS ON THe cHaNgeS BeiNg Made TO THe PlaNNiNg SYSTeM?

interesting times! a key issue is the potential tension between localism and growth aspirations at a time when many places do not have an up to date planning policy framework. added to this is the presumption in favour of approval for sustainable development proposals.

early engagement with communities is therefore vital. This must be seen as part of an evidence based delivery process, helping to show how development can contribute to a sustainable future for places and communities. it is an approach we have always followed and it works!

vieWPOiNT- aliSON PrieSTleYalison joined our planning team just over 6 months ago, following stints with cSJ Planning and working freelance.

at Nash Partnership we are keeping a close eye on these trends. This recently found our director of Planning and regeneration on the expert panel at a seminar in gloucestershire on flexible working, led by Tim dwelly of the live/Work and Workhub networks. at one end of the spectrum is bespoke live/work accommodation. But, looking ahead there are clear prospects that the effects of change will be felt in the mainstream housing market – bringing opportunities for those developers looking to get ahead of the game.

fiNdiNg cOMMercial ParTNerS

Paintworks Phase III, Bristol

cONServaTiON cONSTrucTiONPlaNNiNg & regeNeraTiON urBaN deSigN arcHiTecTure & deSigN

On the basis of global news coverage, it is difficult not to sense that the growth of china’s urban environment is one of the most significant geographical events in modern history. at Nash we now find ourselves grappling with the challenges and possibilities generated by delivery of development in this fast paced setting.

Overlooking the Yellow Sea on the west coast of china, Qingdao is a city of over 7 million people. it is identified as one of the World Bank’s six ‘golden cities of china’ and has a reputation for growing prosperity and a high quality of life.

Nash Partnership is leading on the design of a new mixed use quarter for aBP, a major player in china’s development sector who, for the last seven years, has been trialling an innovative business headquarters development model within Beijing. aBP’s approach is to cluster major corporate organisations together in a single urban quarter to form business community hubs. following the success of the concept in Beijing, it is now being rolled out by aBP to the chinese regions.

5 MilliON SQuare feeT Of Mixed-uSe

The scheme includes a 5 star hotel, international conference facilities, 30 headquarters office towers and 90,000 square feet of retail space

The development project is on a grand scale with a total construction cost of £1 billion. Much of the architecture of Qingdao is of a european style and here, for the aBP site, we are developing

a standout identity using the georgian model, typical for example of many london blocks, fused with contemporary elements.

While much of the coverage of china relates to headlines around growth and carbon emissions, and there are certainly major challenges to address, Quigdao has a reputation for its positive approach to sustainable development.

To date, much of the focus has been on technological solutions to issues such as energy and waste. However, there is a great deal that can be brought to the future planning and design of development in Quingdao and elsewhere in

china, that learns lessons both from european experience and the historical development of chinese towns and cities, to embed more strongly the human and spatial elements of sustainability. as we take these discussions forward and introduce our skillsets, it is very likely that there will be reciprocal lessons that we can in future apply to development here in the uK.

NEW hoRiZoNS - chiNA - 新的地平线-中国

cONTacT uSBath Office: 23a Sydney Buildings Bath Ba2 6BZ

Bristol Office: Prudential Buildings, Wine Street, Bristol BS1 2PH

www.nashpartnership.com | 01225 442424 (Main Switchboard) | mail@nashpartnership.com

daniel lugsden Kevin Balchrobert lockeMel clinton duncan Powell Justine leachBruce clark

SeNiOr ParTNer

edward Nash