Client:
Courtyard Property Group

Description:
This site is in the centre of Waterlooville, and is currently used as a car park for Raeburn House. The brief for this project was to provide social housing while retaining parking on the neighbouring commercial property.

The solution was to build over the car park and locate the access to the residential accommodation at the corners of the site. This maximises the space available for parking, and keeps circulation for the two functions separate.

The building is pushed towards the street edge to strengthen the dense urban fabric of the town centre. The massing of the building is derived from the surrounding developments. It sits lower at the south and east edges of the site where it addresses neighbouring residential properties, and rises up to 4 storeys at the entrance corner, next to the tall commercial buildings of the town centre, where the focus of the building lies. This corner addresses the street with large vertical areas of glazing identifying the entrance and circulation.

The design of the building takes cues from both residential and commercial contexts, reflecting the mix of uses on the site and the location on the boundary between residential and commercial areas. The arrangement of materials varies around the elevations, which helps to break up the mass and scale of the building.

Many of the apartments face south to take advantage of solar gain, with wide south facing balconies. A sedum green roof provides the benefit of reduced water run-off and increased biodiversity.

Planning Permission Granted at Appeal June 2008