Tower Street & Queen Street, Exmouth
19 Residential and 2 Retail Units
After a protracted planning process of 15 months, our architecture team were delighted to be able to obtain planning approval for 19 apartments and 2 retail units in Exmouth town centre. The proposal is for two buildings which include a mixture of sympathetic refurbishment and new-build.
Working alongside Bell Cornwell planning consultants, Clarke Bond drainage engineers and Katherine Metcalfe heritage consultancy it took a team effort to ensure we had support from East Devon’s planning officer, urban design consultant and conservation office.
The site has many challenges; it is in a conservation area, adjoining a listed church and located on tight, narrow streets. However, the team was able to use these constraints to help shape the design. A larger block of 15 apartments retained the beautiful frontage of the existing Sunday School and responded to the context by wrapping the scheme with a large slate facade to represent the imposing slate roof found on the adjacent church. The buff coloured rainscreen cladding is inspired by the window surrounds and detail elements of the existing buildings. This project will remove the unsympathetic modern additions that have been joined onto the church over the years and help enable the restoration of the organ room to ensure its integrity for years to come.
The smaller freestanding block which fronts onto Queen Street was designed to respond to the smaller terraced houses that run along this street. The corner was cut away to maintain views of the church from The Strand, an important public space within Exmouth town. This building replaces a small surface car park which was unsightly and will help create more definition to the public spaces.
The client has decided to proceed to the next stage and our project management team are currently overseeing the process. We’re looking forward to having this one on-site.