Summary:

In collaboration with the urban designers & masterplanners of The Stow in Harlow, IDP are designing the first site as part of the overall masterplan to redevelop this area in need of regeneration; the project is a multi-million-pound new build mixed-use development with up to 350sqm of self-contained commercial units, 11no. live-work units (for start-up businesses) and 87no. residential units above. This first site will be the catalyst for the redevelopment at the Stow. IDP are involved in the concept development of this project and therefore preparation for the planning application and have been in substantial consultation with the local authority and Urban Designers behind the Masterplan, to ensure the proposals were not only a natural progression of the principles set out in the Masterplan but tied in with the existing community around the Stow.

 

The design comprises of a rectangular form encompassing a central undercroft car park with terraced communal gardens above.  Ground floor active frontages address new streetscenes; the commercial units are positioned where footfall is most frequent and the live-work units have been situated along a new mews that recreates the existing small business community of the service bays. Above ground floor the composition of recessed and projecting balconies add a secondary level of activity to the area, something which reflects the existing character of the Stow.

 

Massing and elevations look to address key vistas in and around the Stow; material and fenestration treatment, proposing a palette of buff brick, cladding and render, offer a civic nature to principle façades yet introduces a human scale through finer levels of detailing such as boxed windows and balconies.