Reader Court

The development consist of 20 one and two bedroom flats. The building is arranged in an L-shaped plan, this has been developed to create a strong urban edge heading south from High street, whist completing the form of a city block. The principal ambition of this project is to provide private residential dwellings within the vicinity of a dense urban environment. By elevating the ground floor level above the pavement views from the dwellings are created whilst providing privacy.

To Warwick Road, the building has been set back from the public footpath to create private green space to the front of the ground floor flats. This allows residents to maintain a small area of land, which has an ideal south light orientation. The dwellings facing Carville Road follow the existing building line at the edge of the public footpath. The articulated elevation with bay windows allow for views south and increased natural light. A secondary level of defensible space has been created by integrating feature plinths with integrated artwork developed from community consultations.

The precast concrete framed windows are a modern interpretation of a well established window detail within the north of England, these appear around the ground floor windows, key corner windows and help define the entrances to the building.

The building changes scale from three stories on Carville Road to two stories on Warwick Road. This also allows more southernly light to penetrate the courtyard while responding to the three storey commercial buildings at one side of the site and the two storey housing at the other.

Locally sourced materials have been chosen to be robust and sympathetic to the surrounding buildings. A textured, multi hued facing brick has been chosen to create a sculptural quality with contrasting white precast surrounds introduced to key windows provide a distinct feature.

The courtyard will feature a walled garden with a vibrant and good quality planting scheme. Plant species will be considered that are both native and sensory in creating enjoyable outdoor environments.