A mix of live-work units and flats on central brownfield site
The proposals for the former Baxter’s Printworks site at Lewes in East Sussex use the character of the existing listed twitten walls, the historic tangential urban grain, the sub-divided nature of adjacent urban blocks and the small scale external spaces between them as inspiration for a series of contemporary insertions into the heart of the Lewes conservation area.
The scheme provides a mix of live-work units and one, two and three-bed flats for both private sale and affordable housing. The retention of some employment use and the full integration of affordable housing ensures a good social mix. The resultant density of 54 units across an approximately 0.3 hectare site is high but this reflects an appropriate response to the dense built fabric of the mediaeval context, and follows the trend of recent government guidelines.
Sustainable aspects of the design include low energy heating and a car hire scheme. The scheme has an Ecohomes target rating of ‘very good’.
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