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PAN 44: Fitting New Housing Development into the Landscape

PART A - THE CURRENT SITUATION

1 This manual has been prepared for the Scottish Office Environment Department to provide advice on how improvements can be secured in the environmental quality of new housing developments in terms of their relationship to the landscape.

2 In an ideal world, all new housing developments would make a significant contribution to maintaining and improving environmental quality.

Many recent developments in Scotland have been mediocre and indifferent in quality. The problem is particularly prevalent on the edges of Scotland's small and medium sized towns where significant visual impact has resulted from incremental growth.

These are frequently planned, sited and developed with little regard to the urban traditions and landscape of Scotland. They are particularly unattractive seen from main road and rail routes.

3 The White Paper "This Common Inheritance" published in September 1990 indicated that the Government will foster good design and recognised that many aspects of design are legitimate concerns of the planning system. The need for guidance on development, its urban form, design and relationship to the landscape is reflected in the current concerns of the Scottish Office Environment Department.

LOSS OF TRADITION

4 Recent residential development must be placed in the context of the historical relationship between buildings, townscape and the landscape of Scotland to help identify the forces which have led to inappropriate scale and siting of development.

5 Scotland has a long and distinct tradition of urban form. Its evolution has been determined by physical, historical, social, economic and cultural factors. The strength of these influences in shaping Scotland's townscape and its relationship with the landscape has varied over time.

6 Our settlements, from medieval times and earlier, have evolved in response to the forces of nature and natural constraints. A common feature was the positioning of buildings to maximise shelter from wind and rain by following contours and respecting landform.

7 The balanced relationship between buildings and landscape continued, notably in the Planned Village Movement of the 18th Century. Close attention was paid to a settlement's scale and setting within the landscape. A grid pattern with regular and disciplined order was frequently adopted. Often, a square with a main street leading from it, was used to create the basic form. A prominent building such as a church or town hall acted as landmark, reinforcing the hierarchy of buildings and the structure of the settlement. In general, villages of this period were built with verve; they are dense, formal and respect landform and landscape.

Inveraray, Argyll - a characteristic planned village of the eighteenth century. The illustrations show the hierarchy, structure and skyline of the village.

8 The 'town mark' is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Scottish townscape; the signature by which a town announces itself at a distance. They may take the form of a natural landmark, the silhouette of a tall building or a profile of towers and spires. Many Scottish towns are still recognisable by the lie of the land and their 'town-marks'. Others have been so prejudiced by recent development that they cease to perform this function.

9 In early Scottish towns, reliance on landscape for shelter or enclosure was uncommon. These requirements were achieved by the arrangement of buildings taking advantage of landform wherever possible - a relationship which has been lost in much of today's more arcadian, suburban development.

10 The balance between urban form and the landscape was changed significantly during the period of rapid industrial development at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, there began a distinct move from the traditional compact urban pattern to one of low rise, low density, semi and detached suburban form. Recent housing developments on the edge of towns and cities in Scotland are derived primarily, from suburban principles of site planning and layout. Transportation and access are major determinants of urban form. Narrow streets and compact development contrast with the demanding requirements of the motor car.

11 These principles were inspired by early twentieth century developments such as the Hampstead Garden Suburb, which in turn was generated by the ideals of Howard's 'Garden Cities of Tomorrow'. They have come, however, to be applied without much of their original raison d'etre.

12 Development in the 20th century has also been influenced by the Modern Movement which called for:-

• simple and utilitarian buildings constructed from modern materials;
• the rejection of old styles of classical orders and formal layout; and
• the rejection of local tradition as an obstacle to creativity and progress.

13 The movement was driven by the philosophy that modern architecture should transcend national boundaries, emphasise internationalism and play down regional identity. This was in contrast to earlier practice of adapting new ideas to suit local traditions and thereby giving a reinterpretation of stylistic or practical details in a manner derived from the character of Scottish building.

Haddington in East Lothian has retained its medieval structure and street pattern. Later additions to the town centre respected the hierarchy of the settlement…

…post war development in Haddington and Linlithgow has virtually doubled the size of the settlements and fundamentally changed the scale of these towns.

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