Latest news about our work, and industry insights

On 1st October 2019 the MHCLG published the National Design Guide. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-design-guide. Firstly, let us say we think it is an excellent document providing a much needed shared point of reference for all of those promoting development in areas that do not have a Design Guide of their own. Its stated aim is to promote an integrated design process, but will it work?

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Far too often we read highway authority comments suggesting that 'any increase in traffic would have an unacceptable impact on highway safety'. Really? Surely one additional vehicle per decade would be acceptable, whereas one additional vehicle per minute may not. In which case, there must be a threshold above which the increase becomes unacceptable. We recently provided evidence for a successful planning appeal in Bath [APP/F0114/W/19/3222626] where the highway authority took exactly this stance. We tried to explore where this threshold might lie but they stuck to their 'any increase' argument. The Inspector, however, considered NPPF paras 108 and 109 and concluded that whereas there would indeed be a small increase in traffic, there was no evidence that that increase would be so significant as to create additional harm to highway safety. This was precisely the point we had been making throughout the planning determination period. It was a minor application but this principle can apply to any similar objection where the highway authority apply a simplistic 'any increase' argument.

We were pleased to hear that LB Hounslow granted planning permission this week for 25 new affordable flats at 141-149 Staines Road, Hounslow. The Keith Horn Architects' scheme will be car-free with the exception of four accessible spaces in the existing basement for the four accessible units, accessed by a new lift.

We are delighted to be joining Assael Architecture this week at the 2019 New London Awards. We are equally delighted to have worked on two of the shortlisted schemes, namely: Margarine Works, Assael Architecture for Montreaux Developments Ltd [Masterplans and Area Strategies] and Three Waters, Allies and Morrison for Mount Anvil and Peabody [Housing].

www.newlondonarchitecture.org/awards-2019-shortlist

We have current job vacancies:

https://www.indeedjobs.com/entran-ltd/_hl/en_GB?cpref=JXWAtnzf3XWjLOi4YeVNLuV7xMD8uRK8y6rOosM5CwQ

Bristol is the first city in the world to trial a new parking app that hopes to reduce congestion with the help of real-time crowdsourced data. The app helps drivers find on-street parking through information shared by users about the location of nearby spaces. It will be ineteresting to see whether this form of data can prove useful in travel planning for new developments.

https://parklook.com/