The Piggeries (204)
204 - Improving vitality of existing town through integrated design
This development provides 71 social housing units, including a mix of family housing and flats, warden-assisted sheltered housing and a foyer scheme, all set within the Frome Conservation Area.
This project provided some important design lessons:
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The tenure of the scheme is not discernable from the architectural form and quality
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Building height and massing vary from 2 to 4 storeys across the site in order to respect the surrounding built form, creating a strong sense of place and containment
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Good use of boundary treatments, such as natural stone walling and railings, contribute to the sense of enclosure
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Buildings are outward looking, with minimal setbacks, creating active street frontages
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Maintaining pedestrian access across the site has aided footfall to the nearby secondary retail area and peripheral streets, adding to the vitality and viability of the town centre
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The design respects and takes advantage of the need to move through and express the slope of the site
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The scheme successfully accommodates the car while minimising its impact
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A high quality, robust townscape is created by attending to the detail of meter covers, chimneys, walls, bin storage, lighting, cable TV and street surfaces
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Sustainable solutions are the result of continuity within the core design team from both conception to implementation, and establishing links with the community early in the process
Other Information
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Location: Frome, Somerset
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Project Team: The Architecture and Planning Group, The Guinness Trust, Knightstone Housing Association and Mendip District Council
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Contact: Mendip District Council. Tel: 01749 648999
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Site Area: 1.25 ha Density: 57dph

Translates traditional characteristics into contemporary design.
Images (image bank)