The development at Murray Place in Portsoy
is based on the following design principles;
Environmental Quality
The
external landscaping of the development has been designed around the ‘homezone’
principle, where the living environment predominates over the
provision for traffic. Traffic
is accommodated within the development but the emphasis is on controlling
movements to enhance the safety of the community and to encourage the
residents to forge a sense of ownership and security.
To
achieve the ‘Homezone’ principle, traditional road layouts have
been abandoned and shared use of hard landscaping, between residents and
vehicles, is promoted through flush ground levels between pavements and
roads, the introduction of landscaping, seating and play areas within the ‘homezone’
courtyard.
Adaptability
The
development has a mix of small and large family houses and also
incorporates supported accommodation for residents with particular needs.
All houses are designed on “Housing for Varying Needs” and “Secure
By Design” principles and are intended to be appropriate and adaptable
throughout the lifetime of the occupants. Individual houses have been
designed with future flexibility in mind and as such, in the 2 and 4 bed
houses, loft spaces are constructed to allow future conversion to living
space.
Private
space to dwellings are to the rear of the property, with the garden areas
designed to be relative to the house size, 4 bed houses on corner plots
with larger gardens. All areas
to the front of properties are communal and this will be communally
maintained to ensure that high standards of amenity are maintained.
Sustainability
Sustainability issues
have been considered from the outset of the design process.
As such the houses are well insulated to reduce heat loss and
include high performance timber double glazed windows.
The houses have been orientated to maximise exposure to sunlight
and large areas of south and west facing glazing have been accommodated to
increase passive solar heat gains. The
internal layouts of the plans incorporate principles of open plan living
to promote circulation of heat through the houses and this is enhanced by
the use of double height spaces to 2 and 3 bed houses.
Energy
Efficiency
The houses are built
using timber frame construction for the structural walls and attic trusses
(as mentioned above) for the roof. The walls are insulated with mineral
wool insulation to achieve high levels of thermal insulation. This is
intended to minimise running costs for our members, which is a key
objective in the design of all of our new developments.
