CYRIL WINSKELL
CONSERVATION ARCHITECT
THE STUDIO 3. ST GEORGES CLOSE
NEWCASTLE upo n TYNE NE2 2TF
TELEPHONE
: 0191 239 9048
E-mail : cwinskell@hotmail.com
27.09.2012.
My reference 215
Mr Harvey Emms
Strategic Housing. Planning and Transportation
Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8PH
Dear Sir,
Jesmond Towers Estate for Shepherd Offshore Ltd
I write further to your issue of the refusal letter for the above to submit revised proposals having been appointed as the Clients Agent. The amendments can be summarised as follows:
Refusal of Planning Permission
Reason for refusal 1
Sport England have now indicated to the City that they are content with the detail, cost and extent of the drainage proposals over three pitches at Castle
Farm Playing Fields. A draft of the section 106 contract is in preparation for their agreement in order for them to withdraw their objection.
Reason for refusal 2
Plot 1
Windows are added to the eastern gable elevation to add architectural interest and detail. To avoid overlooking of the existing house to the east these will be glazed with opaque glass, but some of the new windows are configured as
Oriels set at a 60/30 degree angle, enabling the smaller light which faces along the driveway to be glazed with clear glass to provide an outlook from the room which they serve.
Plots 1 to 5
The spacing of these dwellings has been reviewed and revised, creating a larger spacing between Plots 2 and 3. This reflects the character of the surrounding area, where the spacing between houses varies, and also allows a glimpsed view over the existing boundary vegetation between the houses towards the Grotto Wood and North Jesmond House.
C Y R I L W I N S K E L L M B E F R I B A C H A R T E R E D A R C H I T E C T
A C C R E D I T E D I N B U I L D I N G C O N S E R V A T I

Plot 5
This house is reconfigured with an integral rather than a detached garage.
This allows the repositioning referred to above, and facilitates changes to the garaging and parking arrangements to Plot 6
The garage to this house is relocated towards the western boundary of the site, so that the whole of the space to the south of the house becomes part of the driveway and parking area, rather than the private rear garden. Following the removal of the self-seeded saplings around the site boundary, this will allow a revised boundary treatment. The screen planting that was intended to enclose the rear private gardens will now terminate in line with the western boundary to Plot 5, and the existing railings along the frontage of Plot 6 to
Towers Avenue will remain open. The parking/driveway area will thereby have the open, semi private character it would have were it to be accessed directly from Towers Avenue, allowing views across the space, framed by the gables of Plots 5 and 6, to the Grotto Wood. Reflecting this open character of the resultant courtyard space, additional fenestration is introduced on the southern gable of Plot 6 to create an active frontage and architectural interest and take advantage of the southerly orientation. At first floor level the windows are shown as ‘dummies’, as we believe that it is more appropriate to retain the eastern aspect to the Master Bedroom.
Plots 6 to 8 and the ‘Crossway’ footpath
Th e boundary treatment along the length of the ‘Crossway’ footpath that runs along the western edge of the site has been reviewed. The aim has been to give more variety and interest along the length of the path, and to reduce the sense of separation. The garages to Plots 6 and 8 are sited back towards this boundary so that they act as ‘bookends’, structuring the different boundary treatments. Between the garages and along the private rear gardens to the three houses, the existing boundary wall and railings will be retained and it will be supplemented by new planting within the site to provide enclosure and screening to the rear gardens. The treatment and effect will be similar to that which already exists along Towers Avenue. The garages themselves will be inset into the site by about 1 metre, ensuring that projecting eaves are contained within the private curtilage and allowing for some planting to soften the blank brickwork elevation. Accordingly, the existing boundary wall and railings will be altered to return back into the rear wall of each garage. North and South of the garages, the existing wall and railings will be taken down, and will be replaced by new railings approximately 1.2 metres high. To the
South, these will enclose the parking courtyard to Plot 6, whilst to the North they will bound the area of open space within the north west corner of the site and in both cases the railings will spring directly from the rear corner of the garages, so that they will be inset from the footpath, creating a 1.2m verge along the frontage. A discreet gate in the southern railings will provide the occupants of Plot 6 with direct access to the footpath and enable them to maintain the section of verge in their ownership. A gateway will also be provided in the northern railings and, as well as facilitating the maintenance of the verge, this will enable the primary pedestrian access into the north western part of the site to be taken off the ‘Crossway’ footpath.

C Y R I L W I N S K E L L M B E F R I B A C H A R T E R E D A R C H I T E C T
A C C R E D I T E D I N B U I L D I N G C O N S E R V A T I O N
Existing access from Matthew Bank
Consistent with the creation of this new footpath link, the existing driveway opposite Mathew Bank will be altered. The existing drop curb will be removed and the footpath reinstated, and the gates will be removes and the boundary wall extended. A new pedestrian gate will be incorporated into the rebuilt wall but this will be designed to be subsidiary to the access onto the ‘Crossway’ footpath so that the re is a clear hierarchy and the ‘Crossway’ path reads as the primary pedestrian route. This pedestrian gate will provide a private access for the residents of Plot 9 (West Cottage). These changes will not only maximise the legibility of the different routes and accesses but will also eliminate the potential for casual parking in the bell mouth to the existing drive.
Reason for refusal 3
Plots 10-18
Changes have been made to the plan form of the building, its elevational treatment, and its siting both to improve the architecture and to root the building more firmly within the site. The pitch of the roof to the higher, western wing of the building has been increased, and whilst this results in a marginal increase in overall height to ridge, it also results in a much more significant reduction in the height of the eaves. The overall result is to reduce the bulk of the building and, in the process, increase the sense of height, consistent with the role of this element of the building as a focal point to the development.
Reason for refusal 4
Plots 10-18
The building is repositioned within the site, responding directly to the historic pattern of development: The southern elevation effectively lines with the southern edge of the existing buildings, whilst the step between the two sections of the eastern, main body of the building is increased to emphasise its alignment with the front of North Jesmond House. The resultant small extension to the northern section aligns the gable with the front elevation of
Plots 19 and 20 which sit on the site of the former Music school building, and in doing this provides for the building to reinstate the enclosure needed to the redefine a courtyard centred focussed around the existing Beech tree to the north. The definition and enclosure of this courtyard is then completed by a new wall along the rear boundary of the West Cottage curtilage. As well as firmly rooting the building within the historic context of the site, these changes also pull it eastwards so that it sits clear of the southern elevation of West
Cottage and the higher wing is better aligned to act as a focal point, terminating the view up Matthew Bank. These various changes have necessitated changes to the fenestration, not least to the eastern gable facing
North Jesmond House where the extent of glazing is significantly reduced to eliminate any loss of privacy or amenity from overlooking between the two

buildings. However, care has been taken to maintain the architectural references and continuity between this building and the other new buildings
C Y R I L W I N S K E L L M B E F R I B A C H A R T E R E D A R C H I T E C T
A C C R E D I T E D I N B U I L D I N G C O N S E R V A T I O N within the scheme, which was seen as a key characteristic of the previous design proposal. The final change relates to the choice of materials, where a review has resulted in the use of a broader palette: the higher eastern wing is now proposed in red brick, as a direct reference to the existing interwar houses around the site; the southern frontage will be built in stone to reflect the treatment to the Stable yard houses, and the remainder of the building will be constructed in buff brick to tone with the stone to be reused on the
Convent building.
Plot 8
The handing of this dwelling has been clarified, locating the main living accommodation to the south side of the house with the study to the north, to reduce the impact of any possible overlooking from the adjacent apartment building. A mix of clear and opaque glazed and dummy windows has been added to the northern gable elevation to add architectural interest.
Plot 9
The new application now includes positive proposals for its alteration and refurbishment, intended to create and attractive dwelling. It is proposed to extend the house to the North, creating the space needed for an improved bedroom and kitchen and, following the alterations to the existing driveway access referred to above, to extend the plot curtilage, creating an attractive south west facing garden to the front, and a practical enclosed, screened courtyard to the rear. The northern extension makes practical use of what is currently an overshadowed and ‘unloved’ section of garden. By aligning the new gable wall alongside the existing boundary it becomes possible to make best use of the space and retain the attractive existing boundary wall, with a
‘secret’ lead flashing forming the abutment between new and existing construction. The existing roof will be removed and rebuilt, maintaining the simple hipped configuration but extending the roof over the whole of the new floor plan. This will have a unifying effect, embracing both the existing and new construction. The new gable wall will be built in reclaimed brickwork to tone with the existing construction, but the eastern and western walls to the new extension will be set back slightly and treated in a more contemporary fashion so that new and existing materials sit well together and the building can be ‘read’.
Plots 21 to 25
The changes to plots 10-18 have necessitated the relocation of the parking for the apartments, which is moved from the eastern side of the building to the front, with a consequent minor adjustment to the alignment of the driveway around the northern edge of the Grotto Wood. At the practical level, this gives a more direct relationship with the front entrance to the building, whilst the realignment of the drive provides space for a hedge or shrub planting that will

both define the curtilage of the building and screen the immediate impact of parked vehicles.
C Y R I L W I N S K E L L M B E F R I B A C H A R T E R E D A R C H I T E C T
A C C R E D I T E D I N B U I L D I N G C O N S E R V A T I O N
Plot 26
A review has concluded that the building is unlikely to convert well to family accommodation. Accordingly, the building has been redesigned, omitting the third bedroom and using the space this releases to replan the living accommodation so that the primary spaces are more central on the plot. In parallel, a more contemporary architecture has been adopted for the alterations and extensions, facilitating the introduction of a greater amount of glazing. This is of substantial benefit to the lightness and airiness of the accommodation.
Plots 27 to 42
The layout of Plots 27 to 32 has been re-planned, relocating the kitchen to the rear of the living space, one bedroom to space released on the eastern elevation so that the bedrooms on the western elevation now look out to either side of plots 21-25 with bathrooms and dressing areas in between.
The building itself sits over the footprint of the existing Convent and Chapel, and to ensure that it has no further detrimental effect on the site of the
Laundry the relative juxtaposition of the existing and proposed buildings has been reviewed. As a result of that review, apartments 33 to 36 have been replanned to reduce their width by 1600mm so that the east and northern walls of the building are now on exactly the same alignment of the existing building.
Reason for refusal 5
Plots 43 to 48 (The Stable yard Houses)
The scheme has been revised to omit one dwelling. The access drive remains unchanged because the length is determined by the existing grading of the land.
Finally in reference to Affordable Housing.
Yours faithfully,
Cyril Winskell.
C Y R I L W I N S K E L L M B E F R I B A C H A R T E R E D A R C H I T E C T
A C C R E D I T E D I N B U I L D I N G C O N S E R V A T I O N