Oakridge

Character

The new development derives its distinctive character from the colour of the bricks used and its focus on a central landscaped space. The 'Village Green'  is overlooked by shops along the 'High Street' along with the community centre and nursery facilities.

The scheme is carefully integrated with retained terraced housing and links up to the existing street system and other facilities, such as the Methodist Church. Rising above the generally two storey suburban townscape, Oakridge Tower  provides a distinctive landmark for the area; although originally scheduled for demolition it was retained at the express desire of (mainly elderly) residents.

Roads, parking and pedestrianisation

All public spaces, whether streets or squares, are overlooked by
dwellings

, and shops face onto the High Street. Except for one small court, parking is accommodated in front of housing, which is residents’ preferred arrangement.

Streets have been designed with speed limits and bumps to reduce vehicle speed. This arrangement allows all rear gardens to be completely private and secure from access from the street and allows the scheme to meet Secured by Design guidelines in all respects.

Until the planting has matured it is difficult to assess whether this arrangement will lead to a car-dominated streetscape. At present, the streetscape is dominated by two sets of parallel street lights - one for the road and the other for pavement and parking spaces. All units have small but useful front gardens which form an interface between the housing’s private realm and the street.

Design and construction

The most interesting part of the scheme is the short terraces of the first phase, where individual houses gain distinctiveness and variety from a richly detailed range of bricks, artificial slate roofs, coloured rendered panels and timber cladding, along with the occasional dormer balcony. In contrast, the elevations of later stages are more formal, in keeping with their context of overlooking the central community square. Subsequent phases also show reduced concern with identifying individual units and have less exuberant detail.

Non-residential uses have been ingeniously integrated into the building form and at corners the opportunity has been taken to provide a varied roofline silhouette. Retail units are serviced from the street through small ground level doors which open into a covered yard for dustbin and other storage, thus eliminating the need to disrupt the block structure with complicated rear access arrangements with their security problems. This appears to work satisfactorily although some delivery companies claim that access is sometimes blocked by parked cars, a problem which could easily be rectified by yellow lines.

The construction of Phases One and Two is the most interesting with use of prefabricated galvanised steel frames incorporating steel floor cassettes and dry lining. Rising steel costs and sourcing difficulties have resulted in Phase Three having a different contractor and using timber frames for housing which, although also clad in brick, is being delivered through a JCT contract rather than the innovative NEC contract of the first two phases.

Environment and community

Sound and thermal insulation performance is above the minimum requirements throughout. Internally the units are spacious and well-equipped and Phase One houses meet Lifetimes Homes criteria. Later phases do not achieve this although their generous space standards will make them more adaptable to change over time than much new private housing.

A pub is under construction and five shops are, unusually, already operating successfully in prominent locations adjacent to the main square, having been relocated from less well connected locations on the demolished estate. With a health visitor and nursery school on site, other schools and services are nearby on the edge of Phase Three. A regular bus service stops on the High Street and connects Oakridge to facilities, including mainline railway services, in Basingstoke centre 1.5 miles away.