Burneside mP

burneside masterplan, riba lakes and dales competition

After growing up in the Lakes and Dales, and spending the first eighteen years of my life there, with many friends still living here. This competition really spoke to me about an issue in the countryside which is so important. Having grown up near Kendal, Burneside was a village I was very familiar with, as well as the important of the local paper business Croppers.

The brief called for innovative proposals for flexible, affordable housing for people aged between 16 and 34 – a demographic underrepresented in the region. The socio-economic reasons of why this group is unrepresented is very interesting. The lack of leading industry in the North, often due to protectionist planning authorities leads to little innovative development. This is coupled with very high house prices, and a second home epidemic. I simply could not afford to live where I grew up, and it is even harder to find work.

For all these reasons the brief really spoke to me as an opportunity for a catalyst which could show an ageing region of the UK, why 16-34 year olds would be an asset. There are several great business developments, such as in nearby Staveley that house businesses and industries, for example Hawkshead Brewery, and these spaces are needed to allow people to establish their own businesses. The focus in the brief for live/work units really appealed to me, having grown up with parents running their own business from buildings adjacent to our home. Opportunities for this are sorely needed to reduce risk and cost in setting up a business.

The Masterplan for the site began by looking at the units, and how these could be adaptable, and crucially desirable. Orientating them correctly to maximise light and create privacy was important. Looking quite innovatively, yet realistically at how they were be accessed and serviced was the next challenge. Due to limited transport connections in the North most people own their own vehicles, and it is unrealistic to say this could be changed without significant infrastructure investment. However as we were providing live/work units it felt realistic for the community to have a car share system, as driving everyday, for every occupant would be unnecessary.

Mixing the residential and commercial parts of the development was important to us, and creating a significant outside space was also crucial. Personally residential dwellings having access to open space is important to me, and to reduce the repetition of the architecture is also important, I believe being able to identify your space within a community is crucial to belonging within in.

Though we were unsuccessful in being shortlisted it really helped crystallise ideas within new communities that fed into the work I was doing at Allies and Morrison.