Fernando Collado Lopez Archives - Planning Design Ltd

Collaboration equals Class Q success

29th November 202218th May 2021 by Gary Stringer

This month, May 2021, Planning & Design Practice Ltd secured planning permission for the change of use (and the building operations required to facilitate the conversion) of an agricultural storage building to be used as a home, for our client, under Class Q permitted development legislation.

The landowner had approached the council regarding a potential conversion roughly 15 years ago but was given a definitive “no” in response. However, we were able to engage with the Class Q permitted development legislation to put forward a strong case for the conversion of the building.

Our colleague Fernando Collado-Lopez lead the design work which received notable praise from the Planning Office as “one of the best he had ever seen”.

Having worked previously in the private sector in a variety of practices and locations including United States of America, Spain and London, on high rise residential, education, religious, and retail projects, Fernando is an ARB registered architect who joined us in February 2019. He qualified in 2010 at the higher School of Architecture in Seville and also studied at the Fakultät für Architektur und Landschaft in Hannover, Germany.

The Class Q permitted development legislation is very prescriptive about what can and cannot be done to achieve the conversion. The design was informed at every stage by the planning team, who have an acute knowledge of the legislation and the associated case-law. Our dynamic, hybrid approach to spatial development meant we were able to secure a valuable permission and were able to bypass the Authority’s previous objections to development on the site.

Obtaining planning permission can provide you with that dream home in the countryside or maybe the way of life you have always dreamt of.

It can also bring about significant gains and help to maximise the value of your rural property. However, development in the countryside is subject to strict planning controls which can make obtaining planning permission very difficult. We have vast experience of working on rural projects for homeowners, landowners and farmers including equestrian development, agricultural dwellings & barn conversions. Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation to discuss your building, project or land.

Gear Change review |Part II

29th November 202215th December 2020 by Gary Stringer

A bold vision for cycling and walking

In July 2020, the government released their visionary plan ‘Gear Change – A bold vision for cycling and walking’. A clear message emerges from this new government scheme: they plan to enable the general public to switch commuting traffic jams for swift journeys by foot, wheel and public transport.

From an urban planning perspective, I am very glad to see a holistic approach to transportation where road design is not just driven by cars, but by public transport, cycling and walking for everyone from 8 to 80, everyone.

Walking and cycling in our towns is key and should be considered universal and travelling on two wheels become as ubiquitous as the private car. These new networks will also provide a framework for non-standard bicycles, mobility cycles, cargo bikes and more- that’s your Uber delivery, or parcel coming your way on two or three wheels!

As part of the UK decarbonization plan, the current way of deliveries, particularly to city centres, will be re-structured and perhaps a combination of deliveries done by smaller vehicles, including cargo bikes (which can transport up to 250kg) might be an alternative to heavy vehicles and congested city centres.

The new infrastructure should be a connected network that facilitates links to other areas of town and city. Only by allowing this, will we be able to consider leaving our cars behind. But not only that, it is also very promising to see that alongside this infrastructure, the plan is to also provide appropriate cycle parking in each area: city centres, apartment blocks and train stations, such as is the norm in Amsterdam, or closer to home Cambridge’s train station.

It is the intention that new developments, whether residential or business, be built around sustainable travel and promote cycling and walking as the first choice for journeys. Special attention will be given at planning level to make sure that this is included from early stages. For example through the revision of The Manual for Streets Design and The National Model Design Guide.

It is a very ambitious plan that the government is proposing, and who knows what it might achieve? But to use an example, Amsterdam is the epitome of urban cycling in Europe today, and it’s hard to imagine that the city- and Holland in general- was once dominated by the car, and that not until the 1960’s a mass public movement facilitated the change, so let’s hope that with some luck we will be able to enjoy better built environments very soon.

Fernando Collado Lopez, Architect, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Gear Change – ‘A bold vision for cycling’ Part I

29th November 202213th November 2020 by Gary Stringer

In July 2020, the government released their visionary plan ‘Gear Change – A bold vision for cycling and walking’.

As the PM says in his introduction to the proposed scheme, cycling and walking means less pollution and noise for everyone, but also more trade for street-front business among other things. Planning-wise the government’s intention is to activate the creation of low traffic neighbourhoods, protected bike lanes, new bus and bike corridors. It also takes into account that not everyone can or wants to cycle, so they are also investing in new roads, buses and railways.

Figure 1. 5-10K Cycling journeys | Planning Design

The commitments in the plan (which will be funded by the £2bn of new money announced earlier this year for walking and cycling) include:

Transforming infrastructure
Boosting investment
Making streets safer
Supporting local authorities
Improving air quality and reducing traffic by creating more low traffic neighbourhoods and creating at least one zero-emission transport city centre
Helping people live healthier lives by piloting a new approach in selected places with poor health rates to encourage GPs to prescribe cycling, with patients able to access bikes through their local surgery
Increasing access to e-bikes by setting up a new national e-bike programme, to help those who are older, have to travel long distances or are less fit to take up cycling

My commute to work – The numbers:

During the last 6 months I have on average ridden to work twice per week which means :

Average 32 miles by bike a week
1.5 hours of exercise /commuting day
1.3 litres of fuel per day saved
Saved £1.50/ day in fuel or £5/ day train fares
Avoided 2.62 Kg of CO2/ day or 135 Kg of CO2 across 6 months
Consumed 500 Kcal/ journey

I have to admit that riding in some days has been hard with the rain and wind, however that’s not my everyday ride, and as well as that I have enjoyed the beautiful landscape Fig2. of Derbyshire, which is a wonderful way of unwinding after a day’s work. In the next article, I will explain more about the government’s new policy and how this might impact planning and our built environment in the future.

Fernando Collado Lopez, Architect, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Future Homes Standard 2020

30th November 202216th September 2020 by Gary Stringer

Just over a year ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that we need to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions globally by 2050. Although the IPCC didn’t focus on individual countries, the ‘impacts, vulnerability and adaptation’ report did identify three key risks from climate change for Europe:

The increased economic losses and more people affected by flooding in river basins and coasts, as urbanisation continues, sea levels rise and peak river flows increase;
Increased water restrictions. Significant reduction in water availability from river abstraction and from groundwater resources combined with increased water demand (e.g. for irrigation, energy and industry and domestic use);
Increased economic losses and people affected by extreme heat events: impacts on health and well-being, labour productivity, crop production and air quality.

The UK could also be impacted by global issues such as rising food prices. High levels of adaptation could significantly reduce but not remove these risks. In the UK, the built environment currently generates around 25% of domestic greenhouse gas emissions with the construction sector representing 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint.

In light of this, the government has prepared the Future Homes Standard 2020 consultation. This is the first stage of a two-part consultation about proposed changes to building regulations. It also covers the wider impacts of Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) for new homes, including changes to Part F (Ventilation), its associated Approved Document guidance, air tightness and improving ‘as built’ performance of the constructed home. The introduction of an uplift to Part L standards in 2020 would not only improve the energy efficiency of new homes but would also mean that home builders, installers and supply chains will be working to higher specifications in readiness for the introduction for a further uplift in 2025 to meet the Future Homes Standard. These changes for example will affect heating systems, building fabric (walls 17% improved, roofs 15 %, floors 15% improved, windows 43% improved) etc. which will outperform perform those built under current building standards.

When considering electric heating and heat pumps vs gas boilers, looking to the future, the benefit of electric systems at reducing regulated emissions becomes ever more apparent. Using the projected carbon factor for electricity in 2050 provided by BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy), the government heat pump strategy anticipates to demonstrate 96% fewer emissions than a gas boiler strategy, which it is anticipated would be banned in new homes from 2025 onwards.

The consultation recognises that installation of heat pumps in the UK is at a level much lower than that necessary to meet the ambition of the Future Homes Standard and there is a need to establish heat pumps as a mass market solution for low carbon heating. District energy networks are referenced as an important solution for higher density areas such as cities, demonstrating the ability to incorporate novel, low carbon solutions with limited impact on the consumer, as well as the ability to exploit renewable or waste sources of energy. Direct electric heating could also have a role to play in heating homes of the future where heat demand is particularly low, for instance where a home is built to very high fabric standards, such as passivhaus. Homes heated by direct electric will need to consider strategies to limit exposure to high electricity costs.
Other technologies, such as hydrogen, could have a potential role to play, but heat pumps, heat networks and, are anticipated to be the primary means of delivering low carbon heat in future.

To conclude, if the proposed changes mean delivering resilient developments, better performing buildings, reducing emissions and the dependence fossil fuels, we might be paving the road for a better future.

The only question perhaps is, if heating our homes with electricity, and let’s assume that this is clean green electricity, would only prove to be a good alternative to gas and fossil fuels, if it is also affordable.

Fernando Collado Lopez, Architect, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Cycling networks in cities | Seville as a case study

30th November 202218th August 2020 by Gary Stringer

During my years studying Architecture and urban planning in Seville, I witnessed the radical changes that a new cycling network brought to the city. Following the recent government initiative to boost cycling in the UK, I would like to share some of the outcomes of the Seville cycling network.

Cycling network | Seville

180km (112 miles)of bike paths created around the city at a cost of €35,000,000 or €194,000 per km.
Bike use prior to 2003 was 0.6% of all trips made, by 2011 this increased to 9% (a 15-fold increase).
Daily bike trips across the city reached 72,500 by 2011 (Seville has a municipal population of 700,000 people and a well-developed public transport network with underground, trams and buses).

UK government | May 2020

“Far more people will be cycling and walking thanks to plans to boost greener, active transport, launched today in May 2020 by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

In May government pop-up bikes lanes with protected space for cycling, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors will be created in England as part of a £250 million emergency active travel fund – the first stage of a £2 billion investment, as part of the £5 billion in new funding announced for cycling and buses in February. Following unprecedented levels of walking and cycling across the UK during the pandemic, the plans will help encourage more people to choose alternatives to public transport when they need to travel, making healthier habits easier and helping make sure the road, bus and rail networks are ready to respond to future increases in demand.”

This incentive should also mean that not only public transport trips are reduced, but also private transport trips. If we use the Seville case as an example, a whopping 72,500 potential daily car journeys were avoided, which seems a very positive outcome.

The weather factor is also something to consider, with Seville obviously boasting a far warmer climate than the UK, but seeing how commuters in cities like London ride their bikes in all weathers this should give us some reassurance that this is possible across the UK.

I have begun to ride to work recently and, apart from the added health benefits, I was very surprised to see that door to door my journey can be less time consuming than using the bus service (which at rush hour can turn a 20 minute journey into 45 minutes). In addition, the cost to the commuter is less when cycling, or even when taking your bike onto the train for part of the journey (£5/day for a return ticket compared with £7/day on the bus). Whilst riding my bike has, of course, been free and has taken me around 40 minutes for a lovely 8 mile bike ride through the Derbyshire hills between Belper and Derby.

It will be interesting to see whether some of the government’s £2 billion investment can be applied to key commuter routes within Derby and to and from its surrounding settlements.

Fernando Collado Lopez, MArch (Seville) ARB, Architect, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Main Image: Seville Traveller

Building on our International Architectural Expertise

19th June 202315th July 2020 by Gary Stringer

Planning & Design Practice Ltd are excited to announce new additions to its architectural team, as we look beyond lock down, embrace the “new normal” and the opportunities that this may present for our homes, high streets and workplaces.

Our approachable and experienced team comprises architects, architectural assistants, designers and technicians. Our architects have true international expertise having worked on large scale projects in Russia, Germany, Spain and the United States as well as across the UK.

We offer a comprehensive design service through all the RIBA work stages from concept through to completion.

Planning Design believe in good architecture, to improve our quality of life, create real value and to drive sustainable development, creating robust, resilient homes and buildings to face the challenges of climate change.

Joining our team is Senior Architect Siegfried Doering (Dipl.-Ing. Architecture, AKH, ARB, RIBA). Prior to Planning & Design Siegfried was Senior Architect/Project Design Manager as part of a team of 25 architects and engineers, and also Quality Manager in the department for a company offering technically sophisticated and customized infrastructure, mobility and transport solutions internationally.

Siegfried’s personal philosophy is to practise and understand architecture as a creative compromise between budget, function, quality and aesthetics – all tailored to the client’s needs.

Jonathan Jenkin, Managing Director of Planning & Design said:

“We are pleased that Siegfried has joined an expanded architectural team at Planning Design. He is an experienced architect with 35 years of professional practice working in the UK, Middle East and Europe including Germany, and Russia. He has worked on an enormous variety of projects from single dwellings, apartment blocks, conservation, education, care homes, office buildings, data centres, industrial, retail, and railway infrastructure through to major logistics centres and has the on-site experience that will ensure that projects can be delivered on time and on budget.

His experience and professionalism will be invaluable to our collaborative team and to our clients and will allow us to deliver a wider range of architectural projects here in the UK. His appointment is part of our ambition to create a leading architectural practice which combines the skills of a the conservation architect, the knowledge of low carbon design, the flair of creative minds and the practical experience of delivering projects at any scale. We believe that our mix of skills and experience sets us apart from other practices here in the Midlands and South Yorkshire in delivering both excellence and creativity.”

Also joining Planning Design, we are pleased to welcome Architectural Technologist Joseph Cattmull. Studying the built environment at Cambridge Regional College and then graduating from The University of Derby in the summer of 2018, Joseph brings an interest in listed and traditional architecture and how they can be modernised.

Siegfried and Joseph join a team that includes Lindsay Cruddas, a RIBA accredited Specialist Conservation Architect, of which there are currently only 122 in the country. In addition they join ARB registered architect Fernando Collado Lopez, who qualified at the higher School of Architecture in Seville and also studied at the Fakultät für Architektur und Landschaft in Hannover, Germany and Part II Architectural Assistant Tina Humphreys, a graduate of De Montfort University in Leicester with a Master’s in Architecture, and who is now working towards becoming an RIBA Chartered Architect.

At Planning Design we believe that good design is a crucial part of the planning process. Getting the design of a project right is critical to gaining a successful planning consent and avoiding unnecessary delay and costs.

Our team of RIBA Chartered Architects and Architectural Assistants have a wealth of experience working with homeowners, developers and the public sector, both here in the UK, across Europe and the United States.

We can help you to establish your brief and work through your design ideas, whilst bringing solutions to make your building a successful place to live or work in.

Our architectural team are based across Derby, Matlock, Macclesfield and Sheffield. For more information, or to discuss your dream project please get in touch.

Top Image: Bespoke New Dwelling, Darley Dale, Matlock

Collaboration equals Class Q success

Gear Change review |Part II

A bold vision for cycling and walking

Gear Change – ‘A bold vision for cycling’ Part I

Future Homes Standard 2020

Cycling networks in cities | Seville as a case study

Building on our International Architectural Expertise

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