East Barnet Gas Works

Barnet

Supermarket-led mixed-use development incorporating an Asda store, 211 apartments, and other retail and community uses. Designed by HGP Architects.

Planning strategy

We acknowledge that this proposal has come forward in the absence of a local authority-led economic and masterplanning vision for the future of New Barnet’s centre. Although we recognise that mixed-use development is allocated for the gas works site in local policy, we understand the nature of this mix is not specified. In this context, it remains for the applicants to make a robust case for a supermarket-led redevelopment of the site. In our view, this has not been made.

Our concerns over the strategy to locate a supermarket in this location are threefold. Firstly, rather than complementing the high street, the scheme could threaten its long term survival by undermining established shops and services. Therefore, the local authority should consider the planning and economic impact of the development on the existing centre. Secondly, the cul-de-sac nature of this site does not lend itself well to hosting a supermarket-led development of the size proposed. Such schemes are more likely to contribute to a town centre when well integrated into their context and straight-forward to reach from all directions; whilst we acknowledge the improved links to the park, the landlocked nature of the site still puts the proposals at a significant disadvantage. Thirdly, the required road diversions appear to form traffic islands out of the new plots proposed. Notwithstanding the provision of shared space to the east and a public space outside the store, traffic associated with the gas works, the residential and retail uses - possibly on a 24-hour basis - will ensure the development has the look and feel of a car-based scheme. Furthermore, the extensive blank ground floor frontages to the east and west are likely to exacerbate this hostile environment for pedestrians.

Built form and residential environment

Whilst we do not object to the principle of wrapping the ASDA store with residential use, resolving this architecturally presents a significant design challenge. In our view, the proposal fails to meet this challenge in two key areas - the approach to built form and the resulting quality of residential development proposed.

The initial scheme sketches presented show evidence of conceptual design thinking and a potentially interesting massing model that focussed height towards the railway line. However, it appears that these early ideas have been substantially moderated, in large part to satisfy the requirements of the supermarket operator, but also in response to calls for a lower scheme overall. In our view, these concessions have resulted in a scheme that lacks an underlying architectural idea. The confused massing strategy that has emerged has significant implications for the residential uses wrapping the store.

Despite the design team’s stated desire to orientate apartments towards the park, the development still appears to put the needs of residents behind those of ASDA. This can be observed in the approach to residential access. As a car-focussed development, the resident’s experience will, in our view, be a negative one. Cores accessed from the basement car park and along frontages that are poorly overlooked or adjacent to service or store parking entrances raise questions over resident safety. Circulation within the building is convoluted, especially at podium level where many residents must negotiate a succession of long internal corridors to reach their apartments. We would also question the quality of the apartments themselves, many of which are single aspect; at least thirty-six of these are north-facing or set within corners, which will restrict access to daylight. Our concerns relating to residential access and outlook extend to Block E – which we note is located within the gas holder blast zone – and Block F containing the affordable accommodation.

Whilst the use of the podium deck as amenity for residents is to be welcomed, the local authority would need to assure itself that the spaces created are well-defined, attractive and overlooked, and would be well maintained over time.

Sustainability

The scale of this development, the mix of uses proposed, and the client’s ownership of the site, all suggest that it should set high standards in terms of energy efficiency and environmental design. The local authority would need to assure itself that the sustainability targets set in this application are sufficiently high and that full advantage is being taken of the mix of uses proposed for the site with a view to minimising carbon emissions across the development. We recommend that the design team refer to CABE’s new web resource sustainablecities.org.uk which gives expert advice on planning, designing and managing a sustainable place.

Conclusion

In our view, the proposed scheme is fundamentally flawed and should be refused planning permission. The local authority should provide strong leadership in bringing forward an economic and masterplanning vision for New Barnet’s centre to give developers a clearer direction on the role sites such as this should play in its future.