Planning & Design Practice have successfully secured planning permission for the construction of a new home in Mackworth, Derby. The site consisted of a parcel of unused land located within a residential area.
The proposals sought to ‘infill’ this gap within the street scene with a one-bedroom detached dwelling. The application proposed an open plan living/ dining space with a large kitchen across the ground floor, with a bathroom and bedroom on the first floor.
The location of the infill site presented a number of important planning considerations that needed to be mitigated through the dwelling’s design. An access road serving two bungalows to the rear was located on the western elevation, as well as a dwelling on the eastern elevation. These existing dwellings and car movements informed the internal layout of the new home.
The ridge height needed to be of a similar scale to the adjacent dwelling to ensure that the bungalows to the rear did not have their access to sunlight impeded. The sloping nature of the street meant that the proposed dwelling needed a lower ridge height in order to facilitate this.
The design also had to protect the privacy of both the existing neighbouring residents as well as prospective residents. This informed the location of the dwelling’s windows, as well as ensuring suitable separation distances were achieved with the bungalows to the rear. Despite these constraints, the dwelling exceeds nationally described space standards for both the internal rooms and garden space.
The site is well integrated into the built framework of Mackworth. The proposal sought to maintain the existing character of the area in a location that will provide future occupants with easy access to local green space and the facilities and amenities of Mackworth, including easy access to several bus stops.
To ensure the design integrated well within the local area, the new home replicated the architectural features that are present along the street. These included replicating the elevations, materials and roofscape of the surrounding properties, and be similar in size and scale.


Infill, Conversions, Extensions – Your complete residential Planning experts
Planning & Design Practice Ltd is a multi-disciplinary team of Chartered Town Planners, Architects, Architectural Assistants and Heritage Specialists. Gaining planning permission is a key step in almost any development. We can take a project through from inception to completion, but we also offer the flexibility to engage a client’s own architects and provide a planning service, whilst our design team can also work with clients who have engaged other town planning professionals.
Planning & Design Practice Ltd are well versed in researching and understanding local Council’s policies to ensure the best possible case if put forward for our clients.
For a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 01332 347371 or enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk.