Construction Commences at London Borough of Merton Development

Housing, Coombe Lane, Merton, London

The Construction Phase for a Housing Development in London, designed by Stephen Alderdice Studio, has commenced and the piling is complete

The 9,810sqft development of 3 townhouses, each with 6 bedrooms and 3,270sqft internal floor area each, replaces a single dwelling of 807sqft footprint and garages in a significant intensification of the plot. The development is set over 4-storeys (including a basement level) on a site of 0.08 hectares.

Stephen Alderdice Studio had previously designed and secured Planning Permission for the development from London Borough of Merton at Planning Committee on behalf of the landowner Kisiel Group. Previous landowners had sought planning permission for the site unsuccessfully before the site was purchased.

We explored options for the development in a Pre-App setting with officers before the submission of a full Planning Application in 2020.

The design had to overcome concerns regarding flood resilient basement design and the design of the rear gardens (to overcome the odd shape of the rear boundary to the local authority allotments beyond) as well as the concerns regarding the intensification of use, new accesses from the carriageway and how to achieve four storeys of accommodation in a setting of mostly 2-storey semi-detached houses. Continuity was a challenge as Case Officers for the application changed on two occasions, but we were able to maintain a good relationship with the Borough in spite of this. The application was therefore recommended for approval by the Local Planning Authority to Planning Committee.

More details on this exciting development to follow.