Project title : 14 new build flats, West Seaside, Prestonpans
Client : Dunedin Canmore Housing Association
Design Team : Hart Builders (partnering contractor), Harley Haddow (structural engineers)
Assist were asked by Dunedin Canmore to look at an unusual, land-locked site which already had Planning Approval for nine flats for sale with a view to increasing the number of units on the site for social housing. The site sites between a car park accessed from Prestonpans High Street and the West Seaside Esplanade and affords excellent views north across the River Forth.
The existing proposal presented the flats in one large block parallel to the sea with a large carpark adjacent accessed from the High Street. We quickly realised that one way to increase the potential of the site was to utilise the esplanade access and fragment the parking around the site rather than consolidating it in one area. Our new proposal draws reference from the historic layout of the buildings along the esplanade and presents three blocks of flats at 90 degrees to each other.
The change in level between the site and the esplanade is exploited to allow some undercroft parking built into reconstructed sandstone retaining walls; the palette of materials is kept simple with an aluminium standing seam roof, black stained accoya vertical cladding and gun metal insulated windows.
External metal stairs and balconies are featured on the two blocks perpendicular to the sea, drawing reference from the small cottages with their external access stairs found in fishing villages all along the Forth whilst the middle block has a more conventional internal stairwell.
However, the combination of a newly adopted local plan which included a requirement for commercial units on the ground floor, plus a requirement for 100% parking despite the tenant group and excellent local public transport routes, meant the scheme was abandoned in late 2009.
Contact: Allan McNicoll