Fir Street – TADW l architects

Project location: Langworthy, Salford
Client: Great Places Housing Group
Contractor: Kier Living
Type: Residential / Regeneration
Amount: 30 Homes

Context

Following on from the Jubilee Street development for Great Places Housing Group, the Fir Street site was the last remaining cleared site on the eastern side of Langworthy road awaiting regeneration.

When the site was cleared several years previously, facades from the original terraced properties had been retained with a view to future development similar to the Chimney Pot Park development (by others) situated to the east. However, due to issues being experienced at CPP at the time, there was little appetite on behalf of the client to replicate the same design on this site.

Design

TADW Architects were engaged to develop a contemporary terraced housing scheme with as much off road parking as possible without requiring residents to drive on Fir Street itself (which is bollard controlled and where an annual fee is required to park). The high density proposals helped to ensure that the scheme was viable in spite of the requirement to first remove the retained facades.

Key design features include

Windows which have been proportioned according to the golden ratio as per the adjacent terraced properties.
Projecting brick header detailing adjacent first floor windows providing a textured effect reminiscent of the adjacent terrace.
Recessed front entrance doors to provide a feeling of privacy despite the back of footpath nature of the design.
Corner window adjacent to the recessed entrances to enable these spaces to be passively monitored.
Living areas face east so that, for plots facing Fir Street - where the houses opposite are upside-down with bedrooms at ground floor and restricted ground floor activity - an increased sense of passive surveillance is provided; and for plots facing Langworthy Road, there is greater separation between the living space and the busy main road.
Private one way access road between the rears of properties providing layby parking.

Light gauge metal frame construction enabled a speedy construction period with little waste and shrinkage, particularly compared to timber frame. This was particularly important given the restricted size of the site.