Yesterday evening we attended an eye opening masterclass about Biodiversity considerations within developments, with Dr Steve Holloway, the principle Ecology Consultant from SLR.

Age old prejudices between developers and ecologists were disbanded as it became clear that both sides were seeking a pragmatic solution. Every developer in the room had run into difficulties with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) over biodiversity matters in the past. All of which seemed to largely be attributed to the local councils being without the specialists to provide site specific information and solutions. If the LPAs can be provided with the correct evidence, put into local and national perspective, and the proposal provides a proportionate and directed response to that, the council can have no objection.

The revealing undercurrent of the discussion was the need for a good Architect, who is able to combine the best ecological solution with the most profitable and constructive development strategy. This will allow site specific surveys from an Ecological Consultant to be balanced with an understanding of the developers market and brief.   A talented architect can address the biodiversity issues in a targeted way, allowing intervention to enhance or offset the ecological needs in a sensible way.

Top Tips for getting planning permission on a challenging, biodiverse site –

1. Get some site specific Biodiversity Surveys

2. Get in contact with an Ecology Consultant to put that survey data into proper perspective. Yes, all bat species are under an umbrella of protection… but not every species is rare. The Ecology Consultant can provide the evidence the council need to put the current wildlife data, and the impact the new proposal would have on these, into proportion.

3. Don’t just provide Biodiversity Enhancements for the sake of it, work with the Ecology Consultant to define the areas and species on site which are worth maintaining and will flourish in future improving. This could well save you throwing away money or valuable land to a wildflower meadow which may never even see a butterfly.

4. Think more widely about the areas surrounding the site. Is there a remarkable area next to your site, which you can improve further? This offsetting of ecological value will mean less restriction to your development plans on site.

5. Consider the boundary edges of site or connecting pathways through site can be more help to the local wildlife than a designated expansive area.

6. Include a long term plan. Show the LPAs your scheme goes above and beyond by including a maintenance plan.

7. Know your literature. The  S41 List will be a great place to start, revealing all habitats and 943 species of principal importance. But for actual legislation you will need to look elsewhere. Get hold of a copy of the British Standard 42020, and prove that you are compliant with the codes.

8. Present your evidence well. If you have carefully considered what interventions will be most beneficial for the site, show evidence of it, and show it clearly.

Alex Baker, Architectural Designer, Living Space Architects

This is the first in a series of blog posts looking at the theme of design for later living, or how we could be designing for an increasing ageing population.

Over the last 10 years, like many young architectural practices we found ourselves cutting out teeth within the private residential sector.  As we have moved on to larger and more commercial projects we have found that our knowledge of this sector has given a huge amount of valuable research that can be translated into larger projects.

We have had the opportunity to develop detailed briefs for over 400 private clients within the residential sector and over 70% of these have been older clients.  This has bee a fantastic resource for a larger retirement projects and proved fruitful when we became finalists in the McCarthy & Stone re-imagining ageing competition last year.  We have subsequently written articles for the architectural press and provided research for clients such as Pegasus Life and other later living developers.

We have spent time analysing themes and trends within this sector and are now getting the opportunity to translate these into projects on site including our work with J&M homes in Tavistock where we are helping them create a development of 14 later living apartments and houses.

The next 5 posts will look at the themes we have been looking at and the research we have gone on to complete.  Themes include how to encourage active ageing within design, trends within relocation, looking to other countries such as the Middle East who are ahead of the UK in their approach to design for this sector and if retirement villages are the right solution for housing our ageing population.

Why Living Space Architects
The name relates to our own desire as architects to create spaces that are alive with energy and activity. It is after-all the activity and events that happen in spaces that make them special and our architecture is a backdrop to this, an enabler if you like. I think a lot of people think we chose the name Living Spacearchitects because we specialise in residential architecture, in fact we don’t specialise in this area at all although naturally as a young practice we do a lot of residential work.

As a student I was fascinated by writings by Architects like Tschumi – event cities etc. Tschumi said architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action, and what happens in space. I designed an ice factory in the back streets of west end London with an ice wall that crashed to the ground every day nada yearly ice festival. It was the idea of history, memory, and event making a place special through its architecture and buildings being a dynamic part of this not just bystanders. Obviously as a student you were expected to make a scale model of said ice factory along with real ice, which I then decided to hang from the ceiling. Questions like how much does a sq m of ice really weigh and what is the load bearing capacity of the studio ceiling had to be asked as well as what happens when it melts on the floor.

Living space follows on from this with its practice, creating spaces not just as a backdrop but as places where people can interact and where things happen, ideas are created, friendships are formed and strengthened and life lived to the full. This may be a dining room extension or a more complex design for a performing arts centre, but the essence of a dynamic, living form of space remains and enriches our design process to create forms that resonate with our clients and the building users.