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New Four-Storey Office Block with Basement Parking on the Site of the Former Foresters Arms, Hope Street, Douglas, IoM.
for
Howstrake Commercial Limited Design Statement.
1.01 The application site covers approximately 385 square metres, and is situated to the South side of the junction of Hope Street and St Georges Street in the town centre of Douglas. 1.02 The site was previously occupied by the Foresters Arms Public House and three further terraced properties, which were demolished by the previous owner in preparation for development. 1.03 The previous owner sought and obtained planning approval for a replacement public house/bar with dining facilities, together with eight apartments over. No on-site parking was proposed within that scheme which was approved under planning application number PA 05/01667/B in February 2006. Following a review of their priorities, Heron and Brearley Ltd, the site's former owners, sold the site as surplus to their requirements. 1.04 The site, whilst having approval for a replacement public house with apartments over, is zoned on the Douglas Town Plan as having a predominantly offices use classification and therefore the principle of office development is established. 1.05 Whilst the site is bounded to the North East by St Georges Street and to the West by Hope Street, the natural point for vehicular access is to the South West corner of the Site via St. George's Terrace the rear lane which serves the properties on St Georges Street and Hope Street. However, the application site has only pedestrian access rights to this area, and therefore it has not been possible to obtain vehicular access from this location, for the proposed basement parking. 1.06 The application is being made in tandem with planning application number 07/02075/B under the advice of the Planning Officer, Mr I. Brooks.
2.01 At the start of the design process, the applicants architect carried out consultations with a variety of interested parties to establish a basis for the design. These have included; Mr. I. Brooks - DoLGE - Planning Officer Mr. D. Sewell - DoT Highways Division - DoT Highways Engineer Mr. P. Quirk - Borough of Douglas - Drainage Engineer This application has been submitted as a direct response to further consultation with Mr. I. Brooks, regarding the current application number 07/02075/B. It is our understanding that Mr. Brooks feels unable to recommend an approval for application number 07/02075/B, hence after further detailed consultations with him we have taken his advice and made alterations to the third floor massing of the original proposals and removal of the rooftop plant room, (see PA no. 07/02075/B), in order to address any concerns he may have regarding those original proposals. 2.02 The comments raised and the advice given within the above consultation meetings have been incorporated into the application proposals which are the subject of the application. 2.03 As a result of a lack of vehicular access opportunity from the rear lane, discussions with Mr Derek Sewell of the Highways Division have resulted in the proposed access position from the lowest part of the site on Hope Street. A new vehicular access is to be created from Hope Street, which is a one way street, giving access via a vehicle lift to basement parking within the building.
2.04 Discussions with Mr Brooks identified the parking ratio requirement as contained in the All Island Strategic Plan, this being one parking space per fifty square metres of net office floor space. It was acknowledged that there would be a provision for parking on site, and that there would be a requirement for off-site parking for the balance of that required under the Strategic Plan. Mr Brooks identified that this was possible via a condition on any possible planning approval in relation to the provision of proof of contract for off-site parking, prior to occupation of any completed floor space over and above that which can be provided by the on-site parking arrangements.
3.1.1 The design of the building is modern in its appearance and reflects the need for this building's use as a modern office block. The massing of the building has been designed having regard to the adjoining buildings, and those in the immediate surrounding area, which encompass a mix of traditional terrace properties, together with a number of larger, more modern office blocks. 3.1.2 When considering the immediate adjacent properties along Hope Street, these built forms are characterised by a row of terraced properties "stepping up" along Hope Street from near the junction with Peel Road to St. George's Street, (see drawing no. K125/P/110-07 "Streetscape Elevations"). The proposed office block attempts to reflect this "stepping" rhythm in several ways: Firstly, with the use of a "base" encompassing the ground floor and constructed in a contrasting material/colour; secondly, by "setting back" the third floor to form a terrace, hence reflecting the "stepping" rhythm of the roof lines; and thirdly, this progression terminating in a glazed tower, which serves to address the corner, as well as acting as a "pivot", carrying the eye around this corner onto the St. George's Street elevation, hence forming as a unifying element. 3.1.3 The architectural rhythm relating to fenestration patterns and proportions along Hope Street and St. George's Street elevations are reflected within these proposals via the establishment of a regular grid layout of windows in substantial areas of the elevations, with these windows being of similar size and proportions to the immediate adjacent properties. 3.1.4 The massing of the third floor is additionally reduced by recessing the front line of the third floor elevations on both Hope Street and St. George's Street by 1.2 metres, forming an access terrace for window cleaning/maintenance purposes. This would have the effect, in practice, of significantly reducing the impact of the third floor when viewed from street level. 3.1.5 When considering the planning context of this area we would draw the committee's attention to Business Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, which states that "New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan". This proposal is clearly located within the "Business District" of Douglas and as such provides a compatible use class for the area, its inherent form therefore needing to be appropriate to its overall use.
3.2.1 The proposals take the form of basement parking which provides ten parking spaces on Site, and which is accessed via a vehicle lift with the entrance and exit position from Hope Street via a secure automatic roller shutter door. This entrance is designed to
allow a pull-off area from Hope Street so that cars accessing or eggressing the buildings' basement car park can do so without holding the traffic flow on Hope Street.
The office areas are contained on four floors, the ground floor entrance area being accessed from the mid point of the site on Hope Street, a position which provides best access to the open plan office floor spaces from the central core of the building, and which minimises the overall height of the building due to the natural falls in the roads surrounding the site. 3.2.2 The four floors of office space are variable in area due to the changes in the central core at each floor level to incorporate male and female W.C.s together with disabled W.C.s at alternate floor levels. The third floor area is reduced as a result of a stepping in of the buildings façade at this level both to St Georges Street and Hope Street, together with the façade along the properties boundary with the neighbouring property on Hope Street. This floor is substantially glazed to form a visual break in the mass and height of the building, and in stepping back reduces the overall visual height of the building. 3.2.3 The building is serviced via a plant room which is located in the basement. 3.2.4 The materials for the building is a mix of smooth red engineering facing brick to the lower storey with matching red coloured mortar, laid in a stack bonded format which forms a base for the building, echoing the pattern set by the existing terraced properties within the area, with a two-storey upper section in a self coloured render terminated by a cornice. The upper storey as mentioned previously, is formed substantially from a glazed curtain wall system with selected cladding infill panels, and is set back from both main elevations to reduce the impact of the building. The corner of the building at the junction of Hope Street and St Georges Street is articulated in a full height curtain wall glazed tower feature which addresses views of the site from Circular Road looking down St Georges Street, and Hope Street from the direction of St George s Church. A visualisation of the proposal from the Hope Street direction is included within the application. 3.2.5 The relationship of the proposals to the surrounding properties is, in the applicant's opinion satisfactory, having regard to the relationships between similar modern office developments in the area, with the properties which surround them. This is illustrated in appendix A of this document.
4.01 Whilst the preferred point of access for basement parking would be from the lane to the rear of the properties on St Georges Street and Hope Street, the application site does not have any legal vehicular access rights from this position, these rights having been sold by previous owners of the terraced properties which make up the application site. Accordingly in order to provide on-site parking facilities in meeting at least some of the requirements of the All Island Strategic Plan, and following consultations with Mr Derek Sewell of the DoT Highways Division, the application site takes vehicular access from the lowest section of the site on Hope Street. 4.02 The Hope Street vehicular access is formed to provide a vehicle run-off position so that vehicles entering the building and awaiting the vehicle lift to the basement will not impede the flow of traffic on Hope Street. It is proposed that the vehicle lift and its security shutter, will operate with an internal traffic light system and interlock, which controls the access and egress of vehicles from and to the parking area.
It is our understanding following discussions with Mr Sewell, that such installations have been carried out previously on the Isle of Man, and have been found to be satisfactory. It is also understood that given the small number of vehicles to be accommodated on site in the ten parking spaces, it is not likely that this method of access is considered problematical. 4.03 The total net lettable office floor space for the development is 11,514 square feet and therefore under the parking requirements of the All Island Strategic Plan, for one parking space per fifty square metres of net lettable office floor space, the application requires 21.4 parking spaces. The provision of ten on-site parking spaces therefore provides almost half of the parking requirement for the development. It is proposed therefore that the other 11 parking spaces to meet the All Island Strategic Plan, will be provided off-site. As the availability of off-site parking is controlled by the market with a maximum of yearly contracts, it is proposed that the requirements for off-site parking should be a condition on any possible planning approval for the provision of either a legal agreement or proof of contracts for off-site parking to be provided to the planning committee, prior to the occupation of the floor space requiring such parking over and above that which can be provided by the on-site parking arrangements. 4.04 The applicant understands that the provision of off-site parking is supported by the Douglas Local Plan Order 1997 within paragraphs 7.3 to 7.11 , which deal with the issue of parking provision. In addition, policy D/CP/1 identifies that any shortfall of on-site parking provision should be 'accommodated off-street' and should be based 'on peripheral surface or multi-level car parks in close proximity to main arterial roads and provide secure parking allied to an effective and regular public transport system'. 4.05 Similarly, the All Island Strategic Plan identifies within Appendix A - para. A.7.2 that car parking should be provided at a rate of ' 1 space per 50 Sq.m. of nett office floor space, preferably provided on-site, but otherwise provided conveniently close to the site'. Paragraph A.7.6 also identifies that these standards may be relaxed where development is; '(d) is within a reasonable distance of an existing or proposed bus route, and it can be demonstrated a reduced level of parking will not result in unacceptable on-street parking in the locality'. Accordingly, as the proposed site is situated within 100 m of 2 major multi-level car parks, and numerous surface car parks on Circular Road, together with excellent links to public transport both on Peel Road and Circular Road, the applicant believes these policies to apply in this case.
5.01 The proposal has been designed to minimise its' environmental impact. The footprint of the building maintains an economic ratio between floorspace and its' perimeter, whilst the internal layout has been specifically designed to utilise the central core of the building for circulation and secondary facilities such as W.C.'s, leaving the perimeter area of the building clear for office space. In this way, the office areas have more exposure to natural ventilation and daylight, and therefore have a lower energy consumption load for mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting. 5.02 The building has been designed to minimise the possibility of solar over-heating, with its' rear, South-facing elevation containing smaller window formats, whilst its' primary elevations have larger areas of glazing to maximise natural daylight. 5.03 The building is to be constructed to a higher specification than that required by the Isle of Man Building Regulations, using higher insulation values to minimise heat losses. Glazing will incorporate low emissivity glass with argon gas filled sealed double glazing
units. Where possible, materials will be sourced locally minimising carbon miles, and again, where possible, will be sourced from sustainable resources.
We have been informed by the appointed letting agents that there is a substantial need for this development. Several local companies have expressed a serious interest in occupying this development, these include:
7.01 In conclusion, the applicant believes that the application proposals are in-line with the zoning of the application site, and comply with the policies of the Douglas Town Plan and the All Island Strategic Plan. In addition, the proposals are an appropriate response to the site and its immediate surroundings. 7.02 Given the need for the provision of additional office space within the Douglas area, and the Isle of Man Governments' commitment to the continuance of economic growth as an essential requirement for the future of the Isle of Man, the applicant believes that the proposals are in line with these objectives, whilst having no detrimental effect to the surrounding area.
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