Derby City Centre Archives - Planning Design Ltd

Planning success for new yoga studio

28th November 202217th November 2021 by Gary Stringer

Planning & Design Practice are pleased to announce that permission has been granted for a new yoga studio in Derby city centre, converting a classic terraced house from a small family home into its new business use. The first floor has been opened up to create the yoga studio itself and the stairway and entrance hall have been reconfigured to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment.

Special attention has been paid to preserving the heritage of the street scene when choosing a new fire escape window with an in-keeping sash window being installed to serve the first-floor studio.

The property is close to the city centre and whilst predominantly residential the street itself contains a number of other small businesses. Our client is a well-respected and experienced certified Iyengar yoga teacher with an established client base, many of whom live in this part of the city. The building has been in the family for some time and the purpose of the application was to create a small centre for the teaching and practice of yoga and the delivery of complementary therapies. Whilst this was an application for small business use, as part of the application, the applicant would also like to be able to revert the building back to being a dwellinghouse at some point in the future without having to re-apply for planning permission.

As yoga is considered both a health and a leisure use, it now forms part of Class E of the amended Use Classes Order. Many people use yoga for their physical and mental health, mindfulness and wellbeing, but there is also a recreational element to yoga, it is an opportunity to meet and to undertake a shared exercise experience. Class E also includes former B1 uses which can take place within a residential area.

The proposed development represents an exciting and sustainable re-use for this building. The site benefits from being a sustainable location with a range of transport options available to clients. The parking restrictions on the streets surrounding the site will prevent the development from having a negative impact on the highways. The quiet nature of the studio and the proposed hours of opening will protect the amenity of neighbours. With no exterior alterations to the building being proposed its contribution to the Strutts Park Conservation area, and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Buffer Zone will be unaffected.

Planning & Design Practice have a wealth of experience in designing and securing planning permission for commercial projects. We have the required skills to design both small- and large-scale schemes in-house and tailor the design to our client’s unique specifications. If you are unsure of your site’s potential, we are also able to provide our professional opinion on the planning potential of your property at the outset. For a no obligation consultation to discuss your project or property please get in touch on 01332 347371 or at enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk.

Main Image: Photo by Elina Fairytale from Pexels

Office block redevelopment creates multiple new homes

29th November 202216th March 2021 by Gary Stringer

Planning permission has been approved to convert an office block into 6 separate Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) spanning across each of the 3 floors of the building. Each HMO will consist of 6 bedrooms with their own ensuite bathroom and a shared kitchen and living area.

The site is located at the western end of Macklin Street close to the junction with Abbey Street. The site lies within a sustainable location on the edge of Derby City Centre. Derby Railway station is located 1.4km away.

The property comprises a three storey office building of brick construction, formerly occupied by TSB Bank.

The proposal involves conversion of the office block into 6 separate HMO’s spanning across each of the 3 floors of the building. Each floor will contain 2 separate HMO’s, all of which will consist of 6 single person bedrooms with their own ensuite and a shared kitchen and living area. No external alterations to the building are proposed.

Twenty two apartments were approved by the Council under Class O of the GPDO under application reference 05/18/00662 in June 2018. The change of use was never implemented, and the building has remained vacant. Since the previous application, there has been an update to permitted development legislation that states that all residential conversions must meet national space standards. The proposed development is a significant improvement to the previous scheme where a number of the units would not comply with the new standards.

The internal layout of the proposed development has been designed to meet the requirements set out in the Derby City Council ‘Amenities and Space Standards for Houses in Multiple Occupation’ document.

To the rear of the building, there is currently an area of hardstanding which was previously used as a parking area when the building was in office use. It is proposed to retain 6 parking spaces, with the remainder of the space able to accommodate a bin store, cycle store and outside amenity space for the future occupants.

The building has remained vacant for a number of years. The sustainable nature of the scheme in terms of its effective re-use of a redundant site in a central location and the provision of housing represents an appropriate alternative use which will safeguard the building’s long term viability.

The site is located in a largely mixed residential & commercial area and the development would make full use of the transport network and work opportunities in the area. The proposed conversion would also provide additional custom to the retail outlets within the city centre and provide additional accommodation, making use of the currently vacant space.

In the meantime we have finished our Building Regulations and Construction design and also submitted the tender package.

We work with developers of all sizes, from small companies working on one property at a time to large housebuilders and commercial organisations where multi-million pound schemes are the norm.

Since being founded in 2002, we have established a strong reputation for providing honest and sound commercial advice, skilled presentation, advocacy and negotiation.

Our core planning and architectural expertise is supported by specialists in Heritage and Urban Design. We always think innovatively and a collaborative approach is at the heart of what we do.

For more information, and a free half an hour consultation to discuss your project, please contact us.

Robert Evans – Save the Assembly Rooms

29th November 202216th February 2021 by Gary Stringer

PDP_Rob Evans Save the Assembly Rooms, Derby Assembly Rooms

Writing for Planning & Design Practice Ltd, Architect Robert Evans from Evans Vettori outlines why he believes Derby’s iconic Assembly Rooms should be saved and repurposed as the heart of the city’s Market Square.

As a local architect, in practice in Derbyshire for over 25 years, I strongly object to the current proposal to demolish the Assembly Rooms. I have spent many happy evenings in the venue enjoying music, pantomime and beer festivals. This building is arguably the finest 20th century building in the City of Derby.

Whilst its so-called ‘70s Brutalist’ style is currently unfashionable, as time passes, it will inevitably be re-evaluated as has happened with other once controversial styles. There can be no doubt that Post-War architecture is increasingly appreciated by a wider public.

The Assembly Rooms is a carefully designed building in the centre of the city and is recognised as a historic asset that contributes to the appearance and character of the City Centre Conservation Area. The submitted documents that accompany the application for demolition state clearly that demolition will harm the Conservation Area and therefore the city centre. With nothing to replace this building, demolition will be an act of vandalism that will further damage Derby and its image across the country.

Market Square is the very heart of the city. The building itself is very robustly built and is in good structural repair. The Structural condition report states that the building is suffering only minor structural defects. The application to demolish it seems timed to hastily bulldoze the building before its current Certificate of Immunity from Listing expires in May.

Derby desperately needs a large venue, befitting this important regional city. Assuming you had a budget of say £30m, and two options, which makes the most sense?

Option 1: At great cost, demolish a huge amount of reinforced concrete, creating vast quantities of landfill and releasing embodied CO2, then pay for a temporary tart-up of an empty city-centre site. Use whatever is left in the hope of starting from scratch on a site further away from the Cultural Quarter.

Option 2: Use all the available money to upgrade and refurbish the perfectly robust and useable venue that you already have.

It seems blindingly obvious to me that option 2 represents much better value for tax-payers money. Many people who care about Derby, both locally and nationally, feel the same way as I do. Below is a link to my petition, now exceeding 1,400 signatures, which will be delivered to Derby City Council before the planning meeting, scheduled for 8 April.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-assembly-rooms

Robert Evans, Founding Director, Evans Vettori

Becketwell first phase gets planning go-ahead

29th November 202219th January 2021 by Gary Stringer

Detailed planning permission has now been granted for the first phase of Derby’s £200 million Becketwell regeneration scheme and development work is expected to begin this spring. At a recent meeting of the Derby City Council planning committee, councillors voted unanimously in favour of developer St James Securities’ landmark scheme.

Phase one of the scheme includes the construction of 259 build-to-rent apartments on the site of the former Debenhams store on Victoria Street. A new public square, on the site of the former Central United Reformed Church, remains the centrepiece of the development and will also be delivered as part of the first phase.

Work is already underway to bring forward a second phase to comprise a new 3,500-capacity performance and conference venue on the site of Laurie House offices and the former Pink Coconut nightclub. Future planned phases of the scheme include a range of other complementary uses of the site, including up to 25,000 square metres of grade A offices and commercial space, a hotel and a multi-storey car park.

More than 2,000 jobs are expected to be created by the development, with completion expected at the start of 2023.

Councillor Matthew Holmes, deputy leader of Derby City Council, said: “A thriving city centre is vital for Derby’s future economic prosperity and this project will be transformational – allowing hundreds of people to live in high-quality homes in the heart of the city and breathing new life into an area which has been challenged for many years.”

Marketing Derby Managing director John Forkin said: “There is much talk about the need to repurpose city centres and by creating new quality homes for 500 people in the heart of Derby, St James Securities is doing exactly what is required.

“This is an important piece in a bigger jigsaw that will not only develop the Becketwell site but also act to build confidence for further investment in Derby.”

Commenting on the news, PDP Director Richard Pigott, said “repurposing city centres, especially in the wake of the pandemic, is crucial to their futures and in this respect Derby is no different. We are pleased to see that the council unanimously supported the proposal despite some local concerns about the scale of the development. This is a bold development which should act as a catalyst for further investment, ensuring that the transformation of the city centre goes from strength to strength”.

Ambitious plans for Becketwell move forward

30th November 202222nd September 2020 by Gary Stringer

Joseph Cattmull, Architectural Technologist at Planning & Design Practice Ltd talks about the ambitious plans for the Becketwell area of Derby, as redevelopment plans take a major step forward.

For many years the old Debenhams building in Derby has stood out, but for all the wrong reasons. I still remember arriving in Derby as a student back in 2014 and being amazed by the buildings prominence on a street of otherwise high architectural quality. After many years it now appears that a much needed redevelopment will finally take place.

A new multi-use proposal, put forward by St James Securities in partnership with Derby City Council has received backing and looks like it will be going ahead. The former Debenhams building has been demolished and finally the area can be rejuvenated with a modern multi use purpose and architectural design to lift the surrounding area. A combination of residential and commercial building have been put forward, ensuring a high level of footfall through the area.

The residential development has been reduced in scale, and probably for the best. Formerly being 19 storeys on the public square side, now reduced to 11 providing a better balance to the site and helping to blend the development in with the street scene. 259 apartments (136 one bed, 93 two bed and 30 studio apartments) being built alongside ground floor commercial spaces provide a brilliant opportunity to create a lively hub for Derby residents to gravitate towards. There could be real potential for the area to become a social hub, with the site being surrounded by various bars and restaurants and it is crucial that this potential is realised.

The importance of creating a hub in the centre of the city cannot be understated, the poor location of the Intu shopping centre drags footfall away from the city centre and towards the edge of the city. As a result the market square and the quality of retail in the centre of the city has suffered, the new Becketwell development can hopefully be a step in the right direction towards the city centres revival.

Potentially most exciting is the newly proposed venue, designed to replace the Assembly Rooms. The potential for live music and other performances within the city centre can be the spark to reignite the nightlife scene within Derby. The proposed 3,500 capacity venue will allow Derby to compete with neighbouring city Nottingham, who boast a number of performance venues, including Rock City, the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall and the Motorpoint Arena.

Having such a venue with the potential to bring in up to 3,500 people to performances and events on a weekly or even multiple times a week could do wonders for the cities nightlife and social scene. The proposed Becketwell development must be applauded in putting forward such an exciting and ambitious scheme for the city to look forward to.

However, there is another side to this, perhaps, most vital to the success of the development is creating desirable residential spaces. Creating a residential space alongside a social hub can be a tricky thing to pull off, the balance between being socially busy but also providing the residents with a relaxing and comfortable environment to reside in. This can be solved through good architectural design and layout awareness, for example having bedrooms facing an inner courtyard and the living spaces facing out onto the street scene could perhaps be a solution. Of course, no internal layouts nor designs have been finalised so it will be interesting to see what approach the Architects will take when approaching this issue.

The Becketwell development is definitely something to keep an eye on and to get excited about, if carried out well, the project could be the catalyst for the city centres revival. As a company we will be keeping an eye on all the developments of this project and look forward to the scheme being completed.

Joseph Cattmull, Architectural Technologist, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Main image: Becketwell Aerial from North East – St James Securities

Derby City Centre – Assembling the options

30th November 20222nd September 2020 by Gary Stringer

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the weakness of Derby City centre. As a second order centre it does not attract out of town shoppers or tourists as a centre for retail spending because the offer is not top end, it cannot compete with nearby Nottingham or on-line shopping and out of town retailing. Whilst Derby district centres thrive, its town centre fails. The loss of office jobs to Pride Park, the closure of retails chains and the banks and businesses such as solicitors relocating to Pride Park has left large parts of city centre buildings empty.

Intu has also crashed and has gone bust. The centre remains open with the support of Intu creditors but it now has many empty units and key anchor tenants including Debenhams remain only by the grace of their creditors. Indoor events venues including the cinema and bowling/golf are not viable at the moment because of Covid-19.

Derby City Centre needs to be regenerated. This needs to be a combination of small scale organic refurbishment with small scale specialist shopping together with larger schemes. Radical changes are needed to the financial structure of the city centre. This means a radical change to rent and rates and we need to value the city centre and see it’s potential. There is more long term investment in buildings and structure in the city centre than anywhere else in Derby. To let the city centre continue to deteriorate is to throw away 300 years of investment for short term values and entrenched interests who do not value Derby or its people.

To bring the city back to life absent landlords need to re-think their expectations and their approach to city centre buildings. For too long absent landlords (often Pension funds) have used commercial buildings as part of their portfolios. Their value is based on their financial return and past rents are now unrealistic and this is creating high vacancy rates. To lower vacancy rates it will need a major revaluation and a significant drop in rents. By lowering rental values drastically; rents become affordable to a wider range of operators and small businesses.

Secondly Derby City Centre should re-think its enterprise zones. No longer should Infinity Park be the locus for a rates free environment, it should move to the city centre. It is unfortunate but Infinity Park has failed. Business does not want to locate there. The city’s priority should change and the city council should use the Enterprise Zone in a more effective and creative way by moving it to the city centre. A low rent, rates free city centre would re-invigorate the heart of the city.

Landlords would look at the whole of their buildings not just their ground floors. Schemes to house people, to refurbish upper floors would become viable and necessary, as each part of a building would make its contribution, not just the value of the ground floor operation. It would allow a wide range of tenants to take over premises, including small specialist businesses, housing associations and residential tenant groups. It would create greater diversity and variety. It would also help promote the arts and create spaces of artists and studios.

The city should also look at all its buildings including the Assembly Rooms. Are the ceilings really going to fall in? Could the building not be re-used by a wide variety of small businesses and even as accommodation? Why knock down a serviceable building? The decision to knock the building down seems to be based on not being able to keep it as the Assembly Rooms, but what else could it be used for? Other options do not seem to have been explored and if it is knocked down, how long will the scar remain to disfigure Market Square. Look at Becketwell, it has been an eyesore for over 30 years and the damage it has done to the image of the City Centre has been significant. To do the same in Market Square would be horrifying.

With climate change we need to use the buildings we have, not knock them down. Build a new entertainment venue in Becketwell by all means, but save and re-use the rest of the city centre, re-pave Market Place and with a re-purposed Assembly Rooms create a radical and exciting future for Derby.

Jonathan Jenkin, BA(Hons) BTP MTRPI, Managing Director, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Investors back Derby to recover strongly from COVID-19 crisis

5th December 20229th June 2020 by Gary Stringer

Investors behind three major schemes, together worth £450 million, and that will transform Derby have given a huge vote of confidence to the city’s ability to bounce back following the coronavirus pandemic.

Directors of the three companies, who will, create hundreds of homes, shops, restaurants and offices, say they remain committed to their investments despite global financial turbulence caused by the current health crisis. And they say Derby is well-placed to recover strongly as economic activity increases with the easing of lockdown measures.

The endorsements come from:

Wavensmere Homes, which is building 800 homes in a £150 million redevelopment of the historic former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site;
Compendium Living, which is investing £100 million to create a further 800 homes and 35,000 sq ft of retail in the city’s Castleward;
St James Securities Group, which will plough £200 million into developing hundreds of homes, offices, restaurants and cafes around a new public square at Becketwell, on the site of the former Debenhams store and Duckworth Square shopping centre.

Their confidence in the underlying strength of Derby’s economy is a huge boost following recent news that the city’s largest private sector employer, Rolls-Royce, is to make thousands of redundancies across its global workforce. It is not yet known how many of those will be in Derby.

Wavensmere publicly launched their Nightingale Quarter development at the beginning of the year and interest has been high in the houses and apartments being built for sale or rent. Compendium Living recently submitted its planning application for the next phase of its residential development at Castleward for 82 new homes in Derby city centre. Elsewhere in the city the gradual demolition of Derby’s former Debenhams store is nearing completion, paving the way for the £200m regeneration scheme in the Becketwell area.

A further sign of confidence comes with the news that Derby has been ranked in 13th place in the UK and number one in the East Midlands as part of EY’s UK Attractiveness survey. The report presents the results of an investigation into the distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects into the UK, including first-time investments in the UK and growth at existing foreign-owned businesses in the UK.

Councillor Chris Poulter, Leader of Derby City Council, welcomed the developers’ continued commitment to the city:

“We know that sections of the economy are suffering badly because of coronavirus and the resultant lockdowns. We are working hard to support Rolls-Royce, its workers and other businesses who are victims of a crisis that was not of their making,” he said.

“We remain confident in the underlying strength of our city and that Derby will emerge from this challenge as, still, a great place to live, work and invest.”

Jonathan Jenkin, Managing Director of Planning & Design Practice, who are proud to be based in Derby, at the heart of the UK, said:

“Covid 19 has cast a shadow over the economic outlook for the city, the press has focused on the problems that the pandemic has caused to Rolls Royce’s aero engine business but the city is much more than a part of a single company. Derby remains strong in advance engineering, it has one of the most improving universities, it has thousands of small and medium enterprises and it is extremely well located for the transport network being only one and a half hours by train from central London. It has a skilled workforce, available development land and reasonable house prices. The countryside around the city is some of the best in the Country.

Jonathan continues “We started in Derby in 2002 and it has proved to be a great base for business. We aim to continue our association with the city, Derby will remain our base but Covid 19 has shown us that a combination of office and homeworking is both practical and for many staff desirable. We continue to receive many enquiries regarding development, and we are confident that our past successes in and around the city will continue as we emerge for the lock down.”

Planning success for new yoga studio

Office block redevelopment creates multiple new homes

Robert Evans – Save the Assembly Rooms

Becketwell first phase gets planning go-ahead

Ambitious plans for Becketwell move forward

Derby City Centre – Assembling the options

Investors back Derby to recover strongly from COVID-19 crisis

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