DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES FOR LOWER DYSART PHASE 2

LOWER DYSART PHASE 2
DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES
1
Introduction
Fife Council has scheduled a number of maisonettes and blocks of flats in the
centre of Dysart for demolition in phases, as part of the housing regeneration
programme for the Kirkcaldy and Dysart Regeneration Initiative Area. These
blocks date from the 1960s and 1970s and lie almost entirely within the Dysart
Conservation Area (CA) (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Dysart town centre core - Conservation Area & redevelopment sites
Phase 1 of demolition and redevelopment is currently taking place on the High
Street and Fitzroy Square through Fife Housing Association, to provide new
affordable housing that is more sympathetic to the historic setting of the
village (Figure 2).
Fitzroy Street is being reinstated to the original street
pattern as part of this programme.
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Figure 2: Plan of Phase 1 redevelopment by Fife Housing Association
Phase 2 of the housing regeneration programme will cover a further 7 sites on
Quality Street, Orchard Lane, Howard Place, the High Street and Factory
Lane shown in Figure 1. Most of these are owned by Fife Council: either the
sites of further flats and maisonettes scheduled for demolition or already
removed, or they are areas of open space. Two other sites are in private
ownership. They all have potential through development to make a significant
contribution to the townscape and wider environmental regeneration of
Dysart. This document aims to provide key principles for these sites to assist
those involved with proposals for their renewal in developing layouts and
designs.
Background information
The following material should be used to inform development proposals for
phase 2:
•
Dysart Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (2009) contains background information on the history and architectural
significance of the area.
•
the approved plans and elevations for Phase 1 (Figure 3).
3
•
Dysart Public Realm Strategy - covering surfacing, boundary
treatments, lighting, street furniture, soft landscaping and public art in
the key civic spaces, secondary spaces and the backlands. It forms
Appendix B to this document.
Figure 3: Fife Housing Association designs for Fitzroy St and High Street
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General development principles
These apply to all the sites.
•
Conservation Area Consent will be required for proposals that involve
demolition of buildings in the CA. Listed Building Consent will be required
for works that affect listed buildings including boundary walls;
•
Housing mix will be 85% private 15% affordable unless otherwise stated;
•
Housing must have active frontages - doors and windows - onto streets,
pedestrian routes or mews style parking courts;
•
Massing, height, form and features must reflect the nature of the built form
of Dysart’s original historic core (to preserve and enhance the character
within the Conservation Area). For this reason the use of materials such
as natural slate, pan tiles, stone, harling and timber windows/ doors is
encouraged, but contemporary elements may be permissible provided
they enhance the Conservation Area; Figure 4 provides illustrations of
contextual buildings.
•
There must be a clear definition between public and private space.
Boundary treatments must be of high quality to publicly visible boundaries,
timber fencing is not permissible. Appropriate boundaries to front gardens
are low stone/ rendered walls with/ without railings and high stone/
rendered wall with vertical wooden boarded gates to rear gardens, which
may contain integral parking spaces;
•
There should be a range of garden sizes provided on each development
site. Not all properties will require front gardens, especially those fronting
onto parking courts, but where they are provided front gardens must be
enclosed – open plan is not acceptable;
•
Parking must comply with Transportation Service’s standards but it must
not dominate the public view of development to the detriment of the
townscape. It should take a variety of forms including off-street bays,
mews style courtyards and rear parking courts which may include garages
and access to rear on-plot parking. Parking courts must have shared
surfacing and be overlooked by windows (which may be in sentinel
houses) and softened by trees, some shrubs/ herbaceous planting, choice
of surfacing and an informal layout (as demonstrated in Poundbury);
•
Landscape design should be appropriate to the historic/ urban setting in
the layout, choice of materials and detailing. Street trees should be
provided in parking courts and civic spaces;
4.0 Development principles for individual sites
These are provided in written form in the table below (Figure 5) and
represented graphically in Figure 6. Appendix A contains photographs of
existing sites.
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Buildings at the Cross
Tenements on Victoria St
Buildings on East Quality Street
The Pan Ha’
1960s flats on Victoria Street
1960s block on Howard Place
Figure 4: Contextual buildings
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Site: location,
ownership, size
Site1 - Quality St
Fife Council
owned
0.30 hectares
Site 2 – N side of
Orchard Lane
Privately owned
0.03 hectares
Site 3 – S side of
Orchard La
F Council owned
0.06 hectares
Site 4 – N of
Howard Place
Fife Council
owned
0.47 hectares
Details: landuse, constraints, redevelopment potential
Cleared site.
Constraints: 1) change of level across site including retaining wall c 1metre); 2) electricity substation to be
retained; 3) listed buildings adjoining site to east and west.
100% private housing on site with commuted sum to cover affordable element.
Capacity for c. 10 units with 200% parking on site.
Option A – 2-3 storey terraces and clusters with/without front gardens. At lower level - 2-2½ storey terrace set
back from Quality St + 2½-3 storey cluster grouped around high quality civic space at top of Cross St/ listed
building adjacent, all with split level rear gardens and nose-on parking bays to front off Quality St. At upper
level - pedestrian route from Quality St continued as shared surface to access onto mini roundabout on
Townhead road (widened access shared with public house adjacent) serving up to 4 nr sentinel houses with
garages/ integral parking spaces overlooking parking court.
Option B - 3 storey town houses with or without integral garages; fronting Quality St but set back from existing
building line to improve south-facing aspect and outlook; parking and landscaped strip to front at lower level;
stone boundary wall (c. 1m height) to street frontage; gardens to rear at higher level; shared access to
Townhead from rear parking for up to 4 nr properties.
Cleared site
Constraints: a) size of site b) site in private ownership
Option A - Private housing – single town house 2-3 storey with boundary treatment; no affordable housing
requirement. Building line should sit on heel kerb to reflect historic building pattern.
Option B - Parking area, recycling point and landscaping including street trees.
Cleared site
Pair of semi-detached houses or flats 2-3 storey fronting onto street; parking to rear
Maisonettes and associated open space; majority are boarded up
Constraints: proximity of a) laundry and b) 6-38 High St - layout must retain access to laundry and possible
garden/ parking to rear of 6-38 High St;
Capacity for c 17 units. Layout to reinforce pedestrian route and visual links between town centre and shore;
2-3 storey terraces, town housing or limited number of semidetached houses fronting Cross St, Howard Place
and Orchard Place with or without front gardens; parking to rear in parking court with at least 2 shared
vehicular/ pedestrian access points and sentinel houses; limited nose-on parking on Howard Place; possible
pocket play area location beside laundry. Open space provision to be on site 5 funded through Section 75
Agreement for this site.
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Site 5 – S of
Howard Place
Existing open space: formal slabs/ shrubs off Howard Place; informal grass slopes below with access to coast
Constraints: a) changes of level - slopes & retaining walls b) ground conditions c) visual prominence from
shore.
Fife Council
Open space funded through Section 75 Agreements for sites 4 and 6. Including formalised seating area to
owned
take advantage of views at western end of site, lined through with route from town centre, with paths at 1:12
0.26 hectares
gradient/ steps leading down to Fife Coastal Path through arched doorway in high stone wall. Limited visitor
parking may be provided on Howard Place.
Site 6 – Factory
Derelict factory buildings and yard adjacent to and separated from maintained open space
Lane
Constraints: a) Factory site in private ownership + part of site is existing Council-owned open space b) high
stone boundary wall to Factory Lane restricts sight lines from existing access and divides site c) view of St
Mixed ownership
Serfs Tower across open space d) listed wall to Monastery grounds forms western boundary.
0.34 hectares
Capacity for maximum nr 10 units in private mews-style housing court; maximum 2 storeys; massing and
character of publicly visible development to reflect the built form/ character of the adjacent Pan Ha; 200%
parking + 2 visitor spaces in garages/ integral to gardens or within landscaped court. Site to take in north west
portion of the open space on corner of Shore Rd/ Rectory Lane to provide vehicular access that complies with
Transportation Guidelines including necessary sight lines - shared vehic/ ped access onto Rectory Lane min
25m from junction with Howard Place; stone wall between open space and old factory site to be partially
demolished to provide access through and demolished/ rebuilt behind sight line at the corner; all other
remaining lengths of high boundary wall to be retained; pedestrian access only through existing gateway to
site. Significant proportion of Council-owned open space retained to Orchard Place/Howard Place fronting
new development; plus open space provision relating to housing development to be on site 5 funded through
Section 75 Agreement for this site.
Site 7 – Square off Apartment block, open space and parking bays off High Street
High Street
Constraints: a) changes in level b) parking requirements c) reinstatement of Fitzroy Street d)public garden
space adjacent
Civic space – predominantly hard landscaping to complement adjacent public garden, incorporating link to
shore along reinstated Fitzroy St; pedestrian access to adjacent properties and Site 4; parking off High Street;
Figure 5: Table showing development principles for individual sites
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Figure 6: Key Design Principles for Dysart phase 2 sites
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Appendix A
Photographs of phase 2 Sites 1- 7:
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Site 1 frontage to Quality St
Site 1 access onto Townhead
Site 1 steps on East Port
Site 1 Substation off Quality St
Site 2 town houses behind
Site 2 looking towards Cross St
Site 3 with backs off High Street
Site 4 from bottom of Factory Lane
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Site 4 looking E on Howard Place
Site 4 from Factory Lane
Site 5 from Howard Place
Site 5 level area off Howard Place
14
Site 5 site features
Site 5 from Fife Coastal Path
Site 6 View to St Serfs Tower
Site 6 open space
15
Site 6 Looking up Factory La
Site 6 Factory buildings
Site 7 Line of Fitzroy Street
Site 7 1980s paving scheme
16
Site 7 Public Garden adjacent
Site 7 looking east along High St
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APPENIDIX B
PUBLIC REALM STRATEGY
FOR DYSART
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Introduction
The quality of the spaces between the buildings, the streets and footways –
the public realm - makes a significant contribution to the character of a
conservation area and to the regeneration of a ‘successful place’, as set out in
Designing Places from the Scottish Executive. In Dysart the quality of the
public realm has been compromised by the architecture, eroded by the use of
inappropriate materials and through the neglect and vandalism of properties in
the last half of the 20th century, particularly in the central area. Proposals to
enhance the character and appearance of the public realm are, therefore,
essential to complement improvements to the buildings and harbour in Dysart,
and to support the comprehensive redevelopment of much of the 1960s public
housing. The Dysart Townscape Heritage Initiative funding award reflects this
with a substantial contribution to enhancing the public realm.
Public realm work under the THI extends to streetscape elements on land that
is publicly owned or accessed. The principles of the Public Realm Strategy,
however, will also cover works in private ground beyond where this is visible to
the public, and will include the sites identified in phases 1 and 2 of Dysart’s
redevelopment proposals. A significant feature will be the reinstatement of
Fitzroy Street through the housing redevelopment programme that will help to
stitch the urban grain of the town centre back together.
Historical evidence
It is likely that the period of investment in civic improvements occurred in the
early 19th Century, when important road surfaces were laid in setts, pavements
were formed using whin kerbs and surfaced in stone flags, gas lighting was
installed and street trees planted in many Fife towns. Photographic evidence
of Victorian Dysart (from the Photopolis programme) shows a mixture of
coursed setts and ‘crazy paving’ across the carriageway surrounding a central
ornate gas light on the Tolbooth Cross, in the heart of the town (Figure B1).
Small unit coursed stone paving also appears to extend to the footpaths here
(Figure B2), but just beyond the centre, on West Port, another photograph
(Figure B3) reveals that the carriageway and footway were laid in graded
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gravel. This suggests that the use of high quality materials may have been
restricted to a small area at the heart of the town.
The current situation
An audit of the existing streets reveals that little remains of Victorian street
surfaces, apart from the road kerbs that are predominantly whin and areas of
coursed granite setts on the carriageway immediately around the Tolbooth
Cross (Figure B4) and on Shore Road, leading down to the harbour. Stone
boundary walls of varying heights are an important feature that contributes to
the character of the surviving historic townscape (Figure B5).
The footways in the centre are predominantly surfaced with granolithic
concrete, but there are areas of asphalt and of concrete paving slabs; the
overall condition is poor with much patching. Rounded cobbles have been
used as detailing/deterrent paving adjacent to the 1960s housing stock, where
concrete bollards, black steel handrails and railings, wooden planters, planting
beds and street trees are also features of the surrounding public realm.
Recent improvements to the East Port footpath link have used reproduction
Caithness paving slabs with granite slither horonizing at the edges.
Contemporary street lights with stainless steel lighting columns have been
installed here, but in earlier public realm improvements – the public garden at
the end of the High Street and in Panhall - reproduction Windsor lamps have
been used, referencing the original lantern at the Tolbooth.
Evidence from examples elsewhere in Fife
West Wemyss provides an appropriate comparator settlement for Dysart in
terms of its character and size. The approach to public realm work under their
recent THI is a model for the material palette in terms of quality and
appearance. Natural stone surfacing has been used in the key areas; asphalt
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Figure B1: Coursed setts and ‘crazy paving’ at the Victorian Tolbooth
Figure B2: Coursed setts on the carriageway and footways at the Victorian Tolbooth
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Figure B3: Graded gravel footways and carriageways on Victorian West Port
Figure B4: Coursed setts and granolithic pavements
at the present day Tolbooth
Figure B5: Stone boundary walls on West Port
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plus limited stone detailing in the secondary areas, rather than reproduction
paving; concrete products have only been permitted in the peripheral parking
areas; detailing is simple throughout.
The pavements along the main street
have been laid in coursed sandstone slabs, with a whin kerb (Figure B6). The
carriageways are surfaced in asphalt but coursed granite setts have been used
where roadways cross the pavement leading to backlands areas and as
detailing (Figure B7).
Stone walls (c. 1.2 metres high) form new garden
boundaries, with timber or metal gates (Figure B8). Cast iron bollards have
been used in a limited way to control access by vehicles. Replacement street
lighting has adopted a heritage approach, using a combination of suspended
tear-drop lanterns adjacent to housing and Windsor lanterns along the sea
front.
Proposed public realm strategy
Drawing on historical evidence and comparator work undertaken in West
Wemyss, the strategy for public realm in Dysart should adopt the following
design principles:
•
Surfacing - there should be a hierarchy of treatments:
Key civic space - the area in the immediate vicinity of the Tolbooth Cross
and the High Street (west of the Tolbooth including the public square and
garden)), where the quality must be high, using natural paving materials.
Secondary spaces - the surrounding public streets/ public gardens
together with the main footpath links and internal spaces to the front or
between the buildings, where the quality must be moderate-high, using
natural paving materials combined with asphalt.
The backlands - access to rear of properties and parking courts which are
less visible from public areas; these are considered less important to the
character of the public realm so the quality here can be moderate-low. It is
appropriate to use concrete paving products that reference the surrounding
character and match the natural materials used elsewhere. Other suitable
materials would be gravel or tarmac with or without a surface dressing.
The precise boundaries between different treatments will be determined by the
setting of the adjacent buildings so that the layout of materials relates to
individual building facades rather than changing at an arbitrary line.
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Figure B6: traditional
paving materials West
Wemyss – sandstone
slab pavements, whin
kerbs and asphalt
carriageways
Figure B7: Setted
carriageway and bollard,
West Wemyss
Figure B8: Stone
boundary walls, West
Wemyss
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•
Boundary treatments should be stone walls (between 1.2 and 2.0 metres
high) with timber gates. Blockwork walls rendered to match adjacent
buildings, or high quality metal railings and gates may also be considered.
Timber boundary fencing is not acceptable giving onto key civic or
secondary space.
•
Street lighting should continue the contemporary style installed on the
East Port, rather than extending the Windsor lamp throughout the town.
•
Street furniture – seats, bins etc should be restricted to the town’s key
civic and key open spaces. These are:
o existing public gardens on the corner of High Street/ Rectory Lane
o the new play area off Fitzroy Street and the High Street (phase 1)
o existing open space (phase 2 site 5)
o existing open space at the top of Shore Road (phase 2 site 6)
o the square opposite 1-11 High Street (phase 2 site 7)
New seats should use traditional materials – timber slats on a metal frame
– but in a contemporary rather than historicist design. Cycle stands should
be provided on the High Street adjacent to the shops.
•
Bollards should only be used where it is essential to deter traffic
movement. They should be of a simple design in cast iron or oak.
•
Soft landscaping – New street trees should be restricted to the square
opposite 1-11 High Street, the frontage to 13-41 (phase 2 Site 1) Quality
Street, and the internal parking courts. Other than within the public
gardens, amenity tree and shrub planting is not considered appropriate as
part of the public realm in Dysart, but it contributes to the amenity of the
housing in private and communal garden areas and the overall townscape
character of the area and should form part of the new housing development
proposals. Hedging in combination with railings can form an appropriate
boundary treatment.
•
Public art – Decorative ironwork by an artist blacksmith should be
incorporated in the gate closing off the proposed pend at 13-37 High Street
(phase 1), and for handrails to new steps and selected garden gates
throughout the new housing development. In addition, there are suitable
locations for further pieces of public art - continuing the Dysart Artworks
theme - within the public gardens/ open spaces and at the bottom of the
East Port steps, opposite the top of Cross Street (phase 2 Site 1).
These principles for the public realm are illustrated in figures B9 and B10.
[Figure B9: Plan of the application hierarchy for Dysart public realm and key
features and Figure B10: Table setting out the proposed palette of materials.]
Reference and acknowledgement
Photopolis programme: photographs of Victorian Dysart from Alexander
Wilson collection reproduced with the permission of Dundee City Council,
Central Library. http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/photodb/
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Figure B9: The application hierarchy for Dysart public realm and key features
Figure B10: Palette of materials
Pavements
Road kerb
Carriageway
Speed tables
Boundaries
Bollards
Street lighting
Street furniture
Key civic space
Sandstone slabs/ whin or
granite sett or horonizing
detailing
Whin stone
Coursed granite setts
Secondary space
Asphalt with surface chip/ whin
or granite sett or horonizing
detailing
Whin stone
Asphalt with surface chip
Coursed granite setts to
Transportation Service
specification
Stone wall/ rendered wall/
high quality metalwork
railings
Cast iron, simple design
Contemporary to match East
Port
Cycle stands beside shops
Asphalt with surface chip to
Transportation Service
specification
Stone wall/ rendered wall/ high
quality metalwork railings
Street tree
planting
Opposite 1-11 High Street
Amenity tree &
shrub planting
Inappropriate
Public art
Decorative ironwork in
housing redevelopments
Cast iron, simple design
Contemporary to match East
Port
Seats, bins in 2 public gardens
and new play area
frontage to 13-41 Quality Street;
on footpath link off Fitzroy
Street
Appropriate in public gardens &
private/ communal garden
ground
Continuing Dysart artworks
theme in public gardens and at
bottom of East Port
Backlands
Asphalt with surface chip/ whin or granite sett or
horonizing detailing/ concrete blocks matching natural
surfaces beyond
Precast concrete
Asphalt with surface chip/ concrete blocks for parking
bays
Stone wall/ rendered wall/ high quality metalwork
railings/ timber fencing
Cast iron or oak, simple design
Contemporary to match East Port where required
To break up parking courts
To soften boundaries to parking courts