Design & Access Statement

May 2021

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND Contents 1. Introduction 8,9. Design development 2. The Designer 10. Scheme Design 3. Location 11. Materials 4. Client’s Requirements 12. Conclusion 5. Site Analysis

6. Character Appraisal

7. Heritage Statement

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 1. Introduction Lloyd Harden Design have been commissioned by Mr and Mrs Legge to develop designs for a rear annex to be located to the rear of their dwelling in Thaxted.

Lloyd Harden Design have worked closely with the client throughout the initial design process. The designs have been informed by detailed character and site analysis. The site is located within a Conservation Area of Thaxted, on the outskirts of the village backing onto on a rural fields.

The main purpose of this document is to summarise the primary design philosophies to allow for meaningful discussions between the client, designer and the council.

An application for a similar scheme was submitted and approved in 2014. The application reference for this is: 14/0628/HHF

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 1

Durham University. Credit: GSS Architecture Durham University. Credit: GSS Architecture

2. The Designer Lloyd Harden Design is a young design-orientated consultancy, based in Wellingborough that draws on a wealth of experience. The consultancy works for a range of domestic & leisure clients, both locally and nationally and is specifically gaining an increasing amount of experience in designing high quality schemes in semi- rural settings and conservation areas. Lloyd Harden Design have a long-standing positive relationship with a number of specialist consultants, including highways engineers, ecologists and arboriculturalists, who provide expert advice on detailed planning matters and help to ensure schemes are safe, sustainable and environmentally sensitive.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 3. Location Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of northwest Essex, England. The town is situated in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in nearby Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (where the parish church stands). The town is 15 miles (24 km) north from the county town of Chelmsford, and 5.5 miles (9 km) east from the M11 motorway. The parish contains the hamlets of Cutlers Green, Bardfield , End Green, Sibleys Green, Monk Street, and Richmond's Green. Much of its status as a "town" rests on its prominent late medieval guildhall, a place where guilds of skilled tradesmen regulated their trading practices, and its large and fine English Perpendicular parish church.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 4. Clients Requirements The clients (Mr and Mrs Legge) brief is to provide an annex (mobile home) to the rear of the property for their elderly father to live in. They wish to create a traditional proposal, which will sensitively respect the appearance of the existing dwelling. Mr and Mrs Legge did not feel satisfied with purchasing a standard mobile home and together we have developed a sympathetic traditional design that truly compliments the main house with hints of comparable architecture with the use of cathedral windows, half height weather board cladding and a similar colour render. The reason for undertaking this works is to provide a separate living quarter for their elderly father. They want their father to live closer due to his age and the current garden offers space in abundance, offering the perfect location for a mobile home annex.

The clients are keen to achieve the following:

- Traditional, sensitive design externally - In keeping with existing dwelling, but appears like an ‘honest’ 21st century intervention. - Living space for elderly father in close proximity to the main dwelling - Open-plan living - Optimise light - The use of cathedral windows to remain sympathetic to the main dwelling - The use of similar materials to the main house

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND View 1 View 1 View 2

5. Site Analysis North The annex (mobile home) is to be located at the rear of the dwelling - orientated towards the west. There are no other properties behind the dwelling which look onto the rear of the house. There is just fields. It will be possible to catch glimpses of the proposed dormers from the Thaxted Windmill, however there are many mature shrubs and trees which will filter views of the proposed annex.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 6. Character Appraisal The dwelling is located outside the centre of the village so the character is mainly gently rolling farmland interspersed with hedgerow and trees to the west of the dwelling. Coloured render and black cladding features throughout this area on both traditional and post-war buildings. The density of buildings east of the dwelling is congested. Most dwellings are attached and there is a wide range of styles and ages.

History Thaxted developed as a Saxon settlement on a Roman road. There is some evidence that a Roman villa to the east of the current town and roman artefacts have been discovered in the area. The British Museum holds a Roman bronze head of Bacchus found at Thaxted in the nineteenth century. The first documented record of Thaxted, including a church, is in the Liber Eliensis, describes a gift of land in "Thacstede" by a woman named Æthelgifu at some time between 881 and 1016.

Archeological research of the area by Oxford Archaeology in 2007 produced finds showing Bronze Age, late Iron Age, Roman, late medieval and post- medieval occupation, including flint fragments, floor and roof tiles, pottery sherds, ditch enclosures, graves, and skeletal remains. A further archaeological excavation in the centre of the town by the Colchester Archaeological Trust in 2015 found a large medieval ditch which may have been a part of the town's defences, 15th- to 16th-century artifacts, and fragments of animal bone waste, mainly from cattle. During the Middle Ages, Thaxted prospered as a centre for the production of cutlery. This association is recalled by the town's well-known guildhall, by the town badge which consists of two crossed swords, and in the name of the nearby hamlet of Cutlers Green. Why a town like Thaxted, lacking in the natural resources required for the large-scale manufacturing metal products, should have developed this industry is unclear. Although it had been assumed that Thaxted's cutlers were finishing blades made elsewhere, excavations undertaken in 2015 in Orange Street found evidence to support the work of bladesmiths alongside cutlers/hafters (Information extracted from Wikipedia)

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND This conservation plan extract was taken from ‘Thaxted conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals, 2012 7. Heritage Statement A conservation area appraisal and management plan for the village of Thaxted was approved in 2012. This document has been referred to extensively when developing the proposed designs.

Balancing the preservation of heritage values against the need for change

The dwelling is located in the conservation area, but is not listed. It is understood that the building is 16th century and is of a simple vernacular rural/agricultural style. It is assumed the dwelling would have once operated as a barn. Extensions have been added to the rear and side of the dwelling, which have been undertaken in a sensitive manor when the barn was converted in 1999 as a permanent residential dwelling as part of a development around the central courtyard including the Great Barn, Mill End Barn and the Stables. The conversion didn’t detract from the original style of the building.

It is considered that the proposed annex will not negatively affect the appearance of the existing house. For this to occur the annex needs to be designed sympathetically, whilst ensuring that building is fit for purpose and functional. It is considered that using similar materials and colours in a sympatric way would have a positive effect on the existing building and conservation area.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 7. Conservation Area

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND Cedar Black weather board

8. Design Development

Several options have been explored regarding the design of the annex. We considered that with a more traditional material, utilizing a black weather board profile will enhance and preserve the character of the existing dwelling and effortlessly nestle into its surroundings. Several colour options were also explored including brown, grey and black cladding. It was concluded that the black would provide a more appropriate aesthetic that would not detract from the surrounding character.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND Developed design proposal

9. Design Development

The garden where the proposed dwelling is going to be located is on a sloped terrain. A significant amount of focus was directed at making the annex sit effortlessly with in the terrain and not to be visible from the main road. The village it self has a sloping terrain with a clear character of subservient roof lines. We wanted to mirror this with ensuring our proposed roof line would be lower than the lowest ridge line of the existing dwelling. We achieved this with a cut a fill exercise and creating grass slopes away from the annex.

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 10. Scheme design The proposed scheme is for a traditional sensitively-designed annex (mobile home), which is deliberately designed to resemble the main house and create visual interest. It is proposed that the annex is finished in traditional materials where possible which will complement the existing building. A materials palette is proposed on the following page. Large windows ensure views over the fields are optimised and they will allow for natural light to be maximised internally.

The proposal allows the annex to be used for the clients elderly father to live in..

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND Black Timber Weather Board UPVC– Black Windows Brit Met Tiles (Villatile)

11. Materials Palette

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND 12. Conclusion

It is considered that a design of this nature and in this location is suitable and appropriate for the reasons set-out below:

- The design has been considered carefully so that it is sensitive and does not detract from the character within the village

- The proposal has been designed in accordance with the Thaxted Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals 2012

- The proposed design will not be seen from the main road.

- The proposal is to be of exceptional design incorporating high-quality materials..

- The proposal is entirely bespoke, innovative and has been designed specifically to suit this setting.

- The proposal provides an annex for Mr and Mrs Legge’s elderly father.

- The proposal has a positive impact on the character of the conservation area.

It is therefore considered that the application should be approved.

Proposed Elevations

Rear Annex – The Olde Barn, Park Street, Thaxted, Dunmow, CM6 2ND