Architect
Emmerson Architects
Luxford Architects
Developer
Limoges c/o Howard Sharp and Partners
Contractor
not yet appointed
Planning Authority
Aylesbury Vale District Council
Click any image for a larger view
Too often in the past, riverside developments have hogged the water frontage, excluding the public and blocking views from the surrounding area. But in this scheme at Buckingham the developers have opened up the river bank to public access and provided views through from the rest of the town. Three fingers of four-storey flats lead down to the river, reproducing the medieval strips, or 'burgage plots', which characterise the rest of the town.
Between two of them, a new street leads down to the river. The third finger, fronting the main road, is linked by lower mews houses to one of the street frontages, forming a horseshoe which still preserves views, but acts as a private communal garden for residents. However, this is not walled off at the river: a semi-aquatic area secures privacy and provides a focus of interest, while retaining an open aspect for passers-by on a new riverside walk.
It also acts as a safety valve for flood waters; for this is a flood plain, and the Environment Agency has been closely consulted on necessary safeguards. One of the measures adopted has been the creation of a floodable underground car park, which can act as a floodwater reservoir, if needed. Presumably an efficient early warning system is in place for car owners!
The flats themselves are largely dual aspect, allowing natural cross-ventilation and day-round sunlight. On the top floor, private terraces are cut into the roofs on the 'non-public' sides of the blocks, while on either side the pitch of the roofs - steep, to accommodate traditional clay tiles - is cut off at a height normal for a shallower depth building to form a series of spaces housing solar panels providing water heating for the flats.
Between them rise 'chimney' stacks, echoing traditional chimneys in the town, but here providing passive ventilation with heat recovery. Together with further photovoltaic panels, high levels of insulation and efficient low-flush toilets, these features add up to a BREEAM rating of 'very good' - the first of its kind in Buckingham. And, despite the extensive open space, it achieves a density of 110 dwellings per hectare.
Sustainable, compact: this is a notably public-spirited and generous approach to development which deserves to reap its reward.