At the Heads of Planning Meeting on November 23, 2009, Mr Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth launched the Polnoon Masterplan: Idea to Design - Residential Streets Project. This is a Scottish Government project which was developed in partnership with Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd and East Renfrewshire Council to champion good design. The aim was to take the Government's design advice, in particular Planning Advice Note (PAN) 76 Residential Streets and turn all its theory into reality, with the long term ambition of building a 'Conservation Area of Tomorrow'. The event was attended by all the Heads of Planning across Scotland.
John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth said "It is well known that good design enhances our living environment and our well-being. The Polnoon project has taken Scottish Government planning advice and applied it in just the way it is intended. The plans demonstrate what can be achieved when we challenge the way we think about streets, public spaces and housing design; the result being successful and sustainable places."
The Polnoon project was realised through partnership between East Renfrewshire Council, developers Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd., Proctor and Matthews Architects and Waterman and Boreham Transport Engineering. For the purposes of the exemplar, Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd, choose a site called Polnoon, in Eaglesham village - a 9 2 house development for which they had already received planning permission. They banked their existing consent and volunteered the site to be re-designed.
In the original layout plan, the houses were set out around four standard cul-de-sacs. In contrast, the proposed new neighbourhood creates somewhere of character, demonstrating many of the qualities of sustainable and successful places as set out in Designing Streets. The masterplan delivers a new approach to the design of the public space, providing a hierarchy of interconnected shared surfaces including streets, lanes, courts and a central square. Through the avoidance of standard solutions to street design, the density has increased from 9 2 to 121 units and, overall, the project promotes a better quality living environment.
The project uses standard house types, but has upgraded the elevations to create a development which is of its time, and avoids pastiche. All of the visual cues for the architecture, however, have been directly designed from historic Polnoon to ensure that, although the development is modern, it is also contextual. Affordable housing has been located at the heart of the development, as well as a mixture of house types ranging from a one bedroom cottage to a six bedroom house. Together, this makes it possible for a varied mix of people to be able to live and stay in Eaglesham in a setting which encourages community development.
To help connect the layout and the architecture, an holistic landscape strategy has been created, which works to create a spatial connection to the wooded landscape at Orry, with new dense planting at the entrance to the site. The landscaping continues through the site to a central sequence of open spaces, as well in the incorporation of five purposely designed integrated play spaces. A bioretention system has also been developed, which has been approved by Scottish Water and SEPA, and is a first for Scotland.
There is much to commend this project. Credit must be given to everyone involved who has made this possible, in particular Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd for funding the re-design, Proctor & Matthews Architects and Waterman Boreham Engineers. Together, they have helped East Renfrewshire Council, be in the unique position of having worked on a live project with the Government to deliver a national exemplar of good design.
The project has also been endorsed by Homes for Scotland, Allan Lundmark, Director of Planning and Communications said: "I welcome the hard work and creativity that has gone into this project. It illustrates a progression from policy ambition to real achievement. That achievement is the blueprint to create a sustainable and successful place".
If you would like to read about the Polnoon project in more detail, we have produced 3 documents to cater for different interests or knowledge about design:
1. Design snapshot: summary (i.e. for those who only what a very short synopsis of the project).
2. Masterplan: Idea to design (i.e. for those who want the detail of the project from beginning to end).
3. Picture book: the place at a glance (i.e. for those who only want to learn by just looking at the pictures).
All of these documents can be downloaded, but if you would like a hard copy, please email Susie Stirling: susan.stirling@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Fly through: A future look at the Polnoon Masterplan
This fly-through has been designed to allow you to see the Polnoon development in the context of Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire. It also moves through the development showing the inter-connected hierarchy of streets, lanes and courts.