Planning Application. Erection of a Preschool. facility within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School. Design and Access Statement.

Transcription

1 Planning Application Erection of a Preschool & childcare facility within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School Design and Access Statement February 2011 gcp Chartered Architects Londonderry Farm Keynsham Road Willsbridge Bristol BS30 6EL t f mail@gcparch.co.uk

2 Design and Access Statement Page i Contents Contents... i 1.0 Introduction Site and location Planning policy context Description of the proposals Site appraisal Design objectives Design and access Conclusion Document control: Prepared by E. Olphert Checked by Colin Powell Issue date Revision B gcp Chartered Architects N:\Architecture\ Saltford Preschool\Files 10028\6.0 Statutory Bodies\Design and Access Statement- Saltford Pre sch - D&A.doc

3 Design and Access Statement Page Introduction This statement has been prepared by gcp Architects on behalf of Sally Turner as the applicant, to support proposals for the development of land within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School, Claverton Road, Saltford, BS31 3DW. This planning submission includes detailed proposal for a 60 place Pre-School building, with associated landscaping. This Design and Access Statement explains the key design principles that have been used to develop details of the scheme. It sets out how the development proposals have followed the sequence of steps outlined in recent government guidance on Design and Access statements including: Assessment Evaluation Design Involvement The document should be read in conjunction with the drawings submitted as part of this application. 2.0 Site and location 2.1 Location This application site is located in the village of Saltford, approximately 5 miles to the west of Bath. The 420 sqm application site falls within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School, on Claverton Road, Saltford. The site is accessed from Claverton Road via the main school entrance and from the Manor Road entrance to the school. Figure 1: Aerial photograph of application site in context (not to scale) site outlined in red.

4 Design and Access Statement Page Description of the Site The application relates to a site which currently forms part of the wider school grounds of Saltford Primary School, Claverton Road, Saltford. The school is accessed from Claverton Road to the north and Manor Road to the south. The school site is bounded on all sides by palisade fencing. The application site is found to the south of the pratten buildings and to the west of the main school building on an informal grass area. The application site is bounded to the north, east and south by tarmac footpaths and to the west by the palisade fencing which forms the boundary between the school and the Manor Road play area to the west of the school. Figure 2: Aerial photograph of application site (not to scale) site outlined in red. 2.3 Local context The site is at low risk from flooding (Zone 1). The Environment Agency flood map illustrates that the chance of flooding each year from rivers or the sea is less than 0.1% (1 in 1,000). Saltford Primary School is a collection of permanent and temporary buildings which serves the village of Saltford and the surrounding areas. The school is a Church of England school, with its own swimming pool, playing fields, a pond and a playground. It has recently received outstanding reviews in five key areas by Ofsted inspections and provides education for children ranging from 4-11 years of age.

5 Design and Access Statement Page 4 The school currently leases, on a part time basis, one the pratten buildings on site to Sally Turner, the applicant, who provides before and after school care for children attending the school. Chuckles before and after school club runs between the hours of 8-9am and 3-6pm. Due to space constraints the number of children cared for is currently less than the demand. This is due to Saltford Primary School recently increasing its intake from 50 children to 60. Following the opening of the new pre-school & childcare facility, Saltford Primary School will have full time use the pratten building that Chuckles currently rents. This re-allocation of school accommodation will provide much needed room by the school. The new pre-school & childcare facility will provide childcare for children preparing to attend and already attending Saltford Primary School. Sally Turner, the applicant, also owns and runs Saltford Tiddler s, a day nursery providing nursery care/education for babies and toddlers ranging from 0-3years and children aged between 3-4 years, receiving the nursery education grant. Saltford Tiddler s has been providing childcare within Saltford since The Saltford Tiddler s is run out of an existing building on the Bath Road central to the village of Saltford and due to space constraints the number of children cared for is currently less than the demand. Both childcare facilities, run by Sally Turner, are Ofsted registered and inspected as required by Law. Saltford Tiddler s was identified by Ofsted in March 2010 as an outstanding childcare provider. The school was construction in 1960/61 and is a mixture of materials and forms. The school is a collection of predominantly single storey buildings in a number of materials, yellow brick, render and boarding. The adjacent residential areas consist of one and two storey dwellings, constructed and detailed, in a number of materials, including render, stone and brickwork with concrete and clay tiled roofs. The dwellings range in age and style with no one style being dominant within the locality. The settlement pattern is suburban with private open spaces to both the front and rear of properties. 3.0 Planning history & policy context The Saltford Primary School was built in 1960/61. The school site has been subject to a number of planning applications in recent years. The list of applications can be found below: 1997 temporary classroom 1997 provision of new classroom 2001 Porta-cabin building and playground extension

6 Design and Access Statement Page Single storey infill extension 2003 Retention of existing classroom unit 2006 Partial infill of courtyard between existing buildings to form single storey extension with mono pitch and flat roof comprising new school library and staffroom facilities In compiling this application we have referred to Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan (Adopted October 2007), relating to design & urban design, community facilities & services, accessibility, employment and child care provision. This proposal will be of high quality and of benefit the village of Saltford. The intention is that development should enhance the local environment, whilst contributing to meeting the needs of the locality and wider region. The new pre-school & childcare facility will in essence be for the benefit of the local community, within the village of Saltford, where housing, employment and other services can be provided in close proximity. This facility will be well served by existing public transport links and by a range of transport modes including cycling, walking, buses and within or immediately adjacent to settlements. The existing childcare provision provided by Saltford Tiddler s and Chuckles is well used within the locality and currently the demand outstrips the number of places available. The new pre-school & childcare facility will offer much needed extended school services, as well as more before and after school club and holiday club, which will run in parallel to the pre-school services. There will be no loss of staff at the Saltford Tiddler s, this childcare facility will remain. Moving the pre-school aged children to the new pre-school & childcare facility will create additional space and facilitate Saltford Tiddler s to increase its intake of babies and toddlers thus creating more staff jobs due to child to staff ratios. Therefore this new childcare facility will increase the retention and enhancement of employment opportunities locally. Additional jobs both part time and full time will be created on both the existing Saltford Tiddler s site as well as within the new preschool & childcare facility.

7 Design and Access Statement Page Site appraisal An analysis of the site has been undertaken. The key constraints and opportunities identified, which have influenced the development of the scheme are: 4.1 Constraints - Numerous conversations have been undertaken over the years regarding the siting of the new facility. This application site was felt to be the most appropriate by the school and BaNES, but is very constrained and bounded on all sides. - Loss of trees: Due to the size of the application site the loss of a number of existing trees is inevitable. - Impact on existing school buildings and pupils. The proposed new facility is located within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School. Directly to the east of the application site, large classroom windows look out onto the application site. The area to the south east of the application site is used as external classrooms. Children within both these - Scale of the proposed building must fit within the contextual scale of the school buildings. 4.2 Opportunities - The application site is well situated in an established residential area with good connections to both local amenities and public transport links. - The application site is well situated in curtilage of an established school with good connections to both local residential area and public transport links. - The school site, through Chuckles, currently provides before and after school care, this proposal will provide an increase in the number of children that can be cared for on-site. - To provide an increased level of affordable, child care facilities for pre-school and school aged children within an established community without impact on existing residential areas. - To provide needed pre-school childcare an established community. A letter from Mr Barry Rennie, the headmaster of Saltford Primary School, in support of the application, can be made available upon request - This planning application is the culmination of detailed discussions between Sally Turner, Philip Frankland, Planning and Performance Manager, Early Years and Extended Services, BaNES, regarding the siting, size and detail of the proposed scheme. - To amalgamate two very successful childcare providers within the locality into one facility. Busy Bees pre-school runs from Saltford hall (Term time) mornings only. The Owners are aware of new build and very much in favour of it. Busy Bees preschool plan to move to new pre-school site with Sally Turner. These discussions are the result of parental consensus being a preference to have their childcare provision within the curtilage of the Saltford Primary School. A letter from Busy Bees, in support of the application, can be made available upon request.

8 Design and Access Statement Page To mitigate the loss of trees from the application site, there is an opportunity to plant new native trees within the curtilage of the school site to. This would form part of the detailed soft landscaping design done at a later stage of the project. - To create new jobs both, part time and full time, locally and support the existing jobs provided by Saltford Tiddler s, Chuckles and Busy Bees. 5.0 Design objectives Following the site appraisal a process of design and assessment was undertaken to establish what we consider to be the most appropriate scale, form of development for the site. This was based on the following design objectives: - To make efficient use of the site whilst minimising impact on the school and surrounding properties; - To provide a high quality child care facility, which responds to site context & local need; - To use variations in materials to create visual and aesthetic interest, - To use appropriate materials and forms to address the context of the site, - To provide a high quality environment that integrates with it s surroundings and creates a sense of place; - To ensure opportunities for additional landscaping within and around the site are maximised; 6.0 Description of the proposals The size of the application site and the context of the existing school buildings have both been influential in developing the proposal. The proposal is for the erection of a privately run childcare facility incorporating pre-school education and before & after school child care, within the curtilage of the school grounds. The building will operate predominantly as a pre-school childcare facility between the hours of 9am -3pm accommodating 3&4 years olds. This will provide the 15 hours of free nursery education for 38 weeks of the year that all three and four year olds are entitled to. This facility will provide nursery education until compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday). The new pre-school element of the new childcare facility will receive government funding to provide free early education to three & four year olds and will focus on the distinct needs of children from birth to five years old, (The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). As such a childcare provider the Pre-School will be: -included in their LA's Directory of Providers,

9 Design and Access Statement Page 8 -help children progress towards the early learning goals set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage, -be inspected regularly by Ofsted During the hours 8am -9am and 3pm-6pm, the childcare provision will extend to provide before and after school childcare and will include older children ranging from 5-11 years being cared for in parallel with the younger children. The before and after school childcare provision will replace the services currently offered by Chuckles. 7.0 Design, access and involvement The aspiration is to achieve a high quality child care facility within a well-designed attractive building and play areas. This proposal offers an appropriate and considered solution which addresses the requirements and concerns of both Saltford Primary School and BaNES. Both parties have been in discussion with the end user Sally Turner on numerous occasions regarding the proposal including, siting and design development of the proposed child care facility. This planning application is for a purpose built childcare facility within the curtilage of Saltford Primary School. The site offers the opportunity to contribute to meeting the need for affordable and accessible childcare, within the locality. The proposal seeks to maximise the potential of the site whilst being appropriate to the location and minimising the effect on the school and neighbours. The proposed layout has been designed to turn its back on the school to prevent the school children being distracted by the pre-school aged children during normal school hours. Both the internal and external spaces will face north-west, away from main school buildings with only high level clerestory windows providing light and ventilation to the southern elevation. The aspiration is to achieve a high quality and well-designed building whilst having minimum visual and physical impact on the surrounding environment. 7.1 Appearance The development is designed to sit comfortably with its surroundings whilst providing a contemporary and innovative design response. The scheme is not intended to replicate the school vernacular but to use elements such as materials and use them in a contemporary way. The proposal is designed to produce an attractive building that sit comfortably within its surroundings.

10 Design and Access Statement Page 9 The building form is a simple and elegant; the building is set out as a portion of an arc, curving itself around the inner quadrant shaped play area. The outer edge of the building turns its back on the main school buildings. The materials chosen for this facade are brickwork to match that found on the school up to clerestory height with a softer timber clad band above. The inner elevation of the building is made up of a brickwork plinth with timber cladding above and has a large proportion of glazing to allow as much light into the building as possible. This inner elevation focuses on the inner play area, which is quadrant shaped. The inner play area has views of the Manor Road play area adjacent to the development site. The roof will be very simple in form, with a single ply mono pitch roof with roof lights incorporated. The roof area will over hang and be supported on columns to provide a covered play area within the inner play area. This will provide an covered play area for all weathers. Windows and external doors will be high performance double glazed aluminium units. Gutters will be concealed within the roof construction. Downpipes will be black UPVC. The materials chosen for the development are appropriate to form of the new building whilst the scale and section respects the adjacent buildings whilst having a contemporary look. The proposed building is single storey in height, which reflects the scale of the existing school buildings. 7.2 Hard and soft landscaping The hard and soft landscaping will not only enhance the plays areas associated with the childcare facility by will provide adequate segregation between the different user groups within the school grounds. There will be clear segregation of the preschool users from the rest of the school, by way of adequately positioned and designed fencing to provide the required segregation. Two separate play areas will be created as part of the proposal, the outer and inner play areas will be dealt with in different ways and have different functions. The outer play area will provide a play area solely for use during after school hours, so as not to distract the children attending school. The outer play area will be bounded by a new northern boundary consisting of 1800mm high comprising of 900mm close boarded fencing topped with 900mm high trellis fencing. This will provide adequate enclosure to the outer play area whilst providing visual permeability. The inner play area will be for use during pre-school sessions and after school play. The two play areas will be separated by a 900mm high hit and miss timber fence and gate to provide the required enclosure of this area during normal school hours.

11 Design and Access Statement Page 10 The inner play area will provide a secure, external play area for the younger children, whilst the outer play area will provide a secure play area for the older children during after school child care sessions. Incorporating sustainable landscape planting is an important consideration. The landscaping will be designed and specified using native species to provide habitat and support wildlife within the area. Soft landscaping will be utilised for both of the play areas to provide attractive, educational and environmentally responsible planting in keeping with the locality. Existing trees will be retained where possible. A detailed landscape scheme would be developed at a later date as part of the detailed design stage of the project. The existing palisade boundary treatment to the west of the application site will be retained. 7.3 Access to the site Existing pedestrian and vehicular access to the school will remain unchanged. Out of school hours access and the security of the school site will be addressed by providing a gated airlock arrangement as shown on the Site Plan. This would provide gated access to the new pre-school & childcare facility and prevent general access to the school from Manor Road direction except through a new gate which would be controlled by the school. This would also ensure that parents dropping off to the pre-school could not use the School s main entrance unless authorisation was given. During the winter months when the evenings are dark, it has been agreed between the client and the school that access for pick up only is from the main school entrance. Currently drop off for breakfast club and pick up from after school club happens informally from the main school entrance on Claverton Road. Putting the proposed airlock in place would discourage access, by parents visiting the pre-school/afterschool club, from Claverton Road. The official access used by pre-school/afterschool club parents would be from Manor Road. 7.4 Car parking Existing vehicular parking associated with Saltford Primary School will remain unchanged. There will be no additional car parking provided. Presently drop off and pick up for the Primary School and Chuckles are from Claverton Road and Manor Road. 7.5 Access to the building In accordance with Building Regulations appropriate consideration has been given to needs of those with disabilities. A fully accessible toilet will be designed to the requirements set out in Part M of the Building Regulations. A flush surface transition will be installed between the existing footpath and the immediate frontage of the building.

12 Design and Access Statement Page Refuse It is proposed to provide one 1,100 litre general waste bin with provision & an area for recycling bins. The provision will be located under cover in a secure bin store. 7.7 Involvement Sally Turner has been in discussion with various parties regarding the proposal for a number of years. She has discussed the proposal with Barry Rennie, Saltford Primary School s headmaster and been in contact with on numerous occasions Philip Frankland of BaNES. The result of which was the design developed to respond to a number of queries and concerns: The distances from the pratten buildings to the north to the proposed building/site have been increased to between 8-9m. The distance from the main school building to the proposed building is at its closest point a minimum of 3.5m, but in the majority is in excess of 3.5m away from the existing school buildings. Siting the proposed building in this way should alleviate any concerns regarding maintenance, circulation or fire escape relating to the existing buildings. Increasing the distance from the main school building and the proposed building as set out above will ensure that the existing windows are not obscured by the new building. The external classroom area situated at the back of the adjacent existing school building will not have windows facing it that would affect this area. The proposed building, in effect turns its back upon the existing school. High level clerestory windows will provide light and ventilation to proposed building without affecting either the existing classrooms of the main building or the external classroom area. The proposed building will be a sufficient distance away not to impact on the main building or the external classroom in terms of noise, bulk of build or light. BaNES has concerns regarding childcare provision within the locality as highlighted within their Tender Specification for provision of childcare on site at Keynsham Children s Centre. There is a need for high quality provision for children aged 1-3 year in the area, in particular for families with children with additional or special educational needs. Families of children with special educational needs currently travel to Bath to access specialist nursery places. Lack of local provision can lead to families becoming isolated in their communities. The shortage of high quality childcare for 1-3 year olds has been highlighted by the local authority as a sufficiency issue which will increase over the next few years as the offer for an Early Years Entitlement for 2 year old children is expanded. In order for children to benefit from this offer places will only be funded at providers delivering the highest quality provision. The offer of flexible childcare can also help overcome barriers to parents returning to work. Parents and carers in the Keynsham area have access to existing childcare provision. Any additional services will aim to compliment the existing provision, fill any gaps and provide choices in high quality childcare.

13 Design and Access Statement Page 12 There is currently a shortage of settings judged as Outstanding by OFSTED and parents and carers lack choice in the highest quality provision. 8.0 Conclusion This site presents an opportunity for the positive use of an available area within an established school setting. The design of the scheme responds fully to the site, wider context and meets the design objectives to provide a building that responds to the requirements of the user group, school and the wider community. Given the restricted land available for this type of provision this site provides an opportunity to provide affordable childcare within an established educational location to address this need. This new childcare facility would help meet the demand for affordable, accessible childcare within the local community. Retained and additional employment are very positive by products of this proposed new pre-school & childcare facility.