Allerton Bywater (Area 3B)

Character

The sloping south-facing site has been used to give every dwelling a southerly aspect and, in the case of some houses, excellent views from balconies on upper floors. The scheme’s distinctive identity derives from the houses’ light and modern appearance, in sharp contrast to neighbouring houses whose masonry construction displays a more traditional character.

The scheme’s southern edge at the eastern entrance to the new community was identified by the design code as a “key frontage”, and its three storey terrace is set back above the road behind a landscaped attenuation basin which forms its setting when seen from the main road. Three storey houses also line the new Boulevard to the north which will form the main east-west axis of the completed village. Following the design code, corners of buildings are articulated with projecting windows or changes of materials. Great care has been taken to retain the “knoll”, a group of mature trees forming a landmark on the axis of the entrance to the two rear courts.

The way new development connects to the existing is always critical but although the code shows a connection to the older Station Terrace adjoining the south west quadrant, this link has not been implemented because of the way the development sites have been parcelled.

Roads, parking and pedestrianisation

A generous two-space parking allocation, insisted on by the planning authority, is provided on plot for most dwellings allowing two vehicles to be parked in tandem by using side or rear driveways or car ports. Half the dwellings are arranged in two terraces fronting the Boulevard, which gives access to car parking spaces for three of these. The remainder have parking in back gardens reached from two internal courts designed as a home zone. Five houses have front doors opening onto these courts, and this configuration mixes the Homezone and Atelier block typologies as defined in the design code, although site constraints have resulted in shorter terraces than specified.

While the back courts have a pedestrian route through, which opens up the backs of most houses, the five fronting them and the four first floor atelier units overlooking them provide a high degree of surveillance. Garden walls adjoining the backcourts also allow surveillance while giving some privacy to rear gardens. The front doors of the six-unit terrace on the southern edge are reached by a pathway which gently ramps up alongside the landscaped drainage basin.

Design and construction

The houses are constructed on a reinforced concrete raft, the underside of which is protected against site contamination by a gas proof membrane. External walls are formed from Fusion Building Systems’ load-bearing light gauge steel panels with integral expanded polystyrene insulation, and are clad either with fair faced brickwork, self-coloured rendered board or cedar boarding. Internal walls are also formed from light gauge steel panels clad either with ply or plasterboard. Each house was erected in two days so while capital cost were higher, on site costs were significantly reduced.

Layouts are notable for the way habitable rooms, especially those at ground level, can be used as living rooms, bedrooms or home work spaces. This also enables the ground floor to function as a virtually self contained unit.The four ateliers also allow a variety of functions although these are restricted by the absence of toilet facilities and may not be used as bedrooms.

Windows are exceptionally generous, especially when compared with recent more traditional developments, and allow high levels of natural lighting as well as providing opportunities for overlooking surrounding streets and courts. Skylights piercing the low pitch zinc clad roofs illuminate central stairwells and, unusually for houses, there are upper floor balconies. Large windows, combined with 2.7m high ceilings and the small heating radiators allowed by the scheme’s high thermal performance, create spacious and airy rooms. Large casement windows require high performance from timber-framed double glazed units and solid walls, and solar gain is maximised by ‘sunspace’ rooms at ground and first floor level on the houses’ south-west corners which pass the collected heat into the home. Sliding doors into these conservatories have the same high specification as external windows.

High efficiency condensing boilers in each house are supplemented by south-facing solar roof panels, which supply pre-heated water through a solar powered electric pump on the roof. “Green” roofs of car ports and ateliers have been planted with a sedum and grass mixture, greatly improving the view from upper windows and reducing surface water run-off.

Environment and community

As part of the advanced infrastructure EP spent £2m refurbishing the school and miners’ welfare hall, and building a new training centre plus cricket, bowling and skateboarding facilities. At present there are local shops around half a mile away but as the population increases additional shops and other facilities will benefit both newcomers and residents of the original village which was badly affected by the colliery closure. The development adjoins new workspace units provided by EP to provide 100 jobs. A new children’s playground has already been built in the centre of the new village and there is a nature reserve to the south of the scheme.

With Castleford 2.5 miles away offering general facilities, the Leeds-Castleford bus service currently runs past the development and will be extended into the village as the development progresses. A rail station 4 miles away gives rapid rail access to central Leeds (12.5 miles away), and is also accessible from the site via a cycle route created along a disused railway line.