Ainsley Gommon Architects

Client

Cobalt Housing

Location

Fazakerly, Liverpool

Value

£3.5m

Date Completed

Spring 2016

Development Overview

This project consisted of new housing on two nearby sites, and tendered as one contract due to the design of similar house types and construction details. The joint development of the sites assisted with the availability of project funding and the programme constraints.

The smaller, previously undeveloped, Haven Road site was being used as informal amenity space. The larger Falcon Hey site was designated a brownfield site due to previously being occupied by blocks of flats, which were demolished over 10 years ago.

The two sites together provide 34 new dwellings consisting of 2 bed houses and bungalows. The scheme is located in a primary residential area of existing post-war housing. Each property is designed to accommodate within curtilage parking, spacious private gardens for each of the dwellings and a new communal area of open space for the neighbourhood.

The amenity spaces include new tree and shrub planting selected from native species. An active frontage is created along the streets and the elevations are designed to be contemporary, while at the same time fitting in to the existing context.

Landscape is very important as it creates the setting for the buildings and helps to soften the urban environment. On Falcon Hey, soft landscaping is used to create private amenity spaces for all of the dwellings. Trees will be planted to create interest and variety in the streetscapes and to provide foraging and nesting opportunities for garden birds. This will help to encourage the natural and indigenous wildlife familiar to this part of suburbia.