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Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2003

Application form

This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically (pdf version) on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning . Please complete all four questions. The deadline is 12 September 2003. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.

Please provide a name and contact details of the organisation responsible for this work. If partners were involved, identify the lead organisation, and then list the other partners/bodies who had a key role.

Name of key partners (if appropriate)

Please complete the form by providing a brief summary (in no more than the space provided) of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude, with a key reason, as to why you think this work merits an Award.

Please tick the key criteria which relate to this entry:

You must describe in your written submission (below) how the criteria which you have ticked relates to your project.

Description of project

This Project is the second phase of an ambitious housing development at Drum Farm situated on the high ridge and hinterland farmland above and to the South of Bo'ness. The development has been promoted by the landowner by means of a series of Developer/Architect competitions whose handpicked entrants have been required to respond to a broad masterplan and detailed urban design framework which comprehensively articulated the landowner's high design aspirations.

The starting point is a fundamental belief held by the successful Ogilvie/Vernon Monaghan team that so-called 'suburban' housing can, through imaginative and intelligent design embody traditional 'urban design' qualities such as a sense of neighbourhood, identity, scale, character and variety while responding in an integrated way to the physical and social context

This philosophy is in the vanguard of developing attitudes to the planning and design of housing environments now built in to the Scottish Executive's policies on housing design published as PAN 67 "Housing Quality" Indeed this project has been included in that document as an exemplar of good practice.

The layout establishes a clearly defined and easily understood neighbourhood structure served by a discreet and novel road system. This has been designed to reduce the impact of the motor car by its geometry and scale and the use of sympathetic surface materials and tree planting. The housing is single and two storey which has been designed to temper the market-led predisposition toward detached housing by the skilful use of courtyards and articulated terraces. These two quite distinct layout types have been harmoniously integrated using a thematic language of reinterpreted vernacular forms, the careful integration of boundary treatments, landscaping, and a consistent and sympathetic palette of materials and colour.

The Southern and more level section of the site is substantially developed using the courtyard form which generally serves up to four houses with integral car parking and a proportion of garaging. The courtyards are defined by boundary walls and integral metal fencing as extensions of the buildings creating a strong and homogenous enclosure.

The Northern section of the site has been developed using largely terraced forms which respond to the topography rising up the hill towards the ridge and farm. These come together around a triangular 'village green' which provides considerable contrast as an 'arrival' space reached after passing through the tighter confines of the courtyard walls.

Timescale (over which the project has developed)

Interview Process to select Winning
Development/DesignTeam June/July 2000

Planning Submission December 2000

Planning Consent granted June 2001

Building Warrant granted January 2002

Start of Construction Phase January 2002

Completion of Construction and
full Occupation September 2003

Context (the problem which had to be addressed)

The broad aims of the Drum Farm Urban Design Framework set the basic context for the project in which a substantial area of unproductive and now redundant arable land was to be developed for high quality housing to a non-formulaic and contextual set of design standards At the same time the project was to engage positively with the local community in enhancing the diversity of housing choice in the Bo'ness area.

Ogilvie Homes and Vernon Monaghan Architects developed the corresponding design agenda for the project to simply demonstrate through the development of a model project that 'suburban' housing can create a strong sense of place, foster neighbourliness, reduce the dominance of the motor car and create a rich and ordered hierarchy of public and private space

Action taken

At the outset the landowner sought by competitive submissions to engage the best and most committed development team to protect the aims of their conceptual masterplan. Ogilvie Homes and Vemon Monaghan having previously collaborated on projects of high design aspiration responded positively with a thoughtful and sympathetic proposal.

The project was thereafter executed in dose consultation with the landowner, the local community and the Planning Authority to ensure that the objectives of the Urban Design Framework have been brought to life in the completed development.

Results achieved

In creatively and intelligently addressing the objectives of the brief this project has set a dear model for future developments white achieving significant commercial success.

Conclusion - Why does this piece of work merit an Award?

The developer in advocating what is to some extent an innovative and commercially untried approach to volume housing undertook significant commercial risk with both commitment and imagination The result has been largely successful in urban planning, architectural and commercial terms and has been well received by the community at large, the professionals and the market. As such Ogilvie would like to think that this project can stand as an exemplar to the wider community of volume house builders.

Date
09 September 2003

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