Buxton Design and Access Statement - High Peak, Derbyshire

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Buxton Design and Access Statement.doc October 2012

Halifax Buxton R22 works 70/74b Spring Gardens, Buxton, SK17 6DL Design and Access Statement – October 2012 Planning Consent for a building in a conservation area Introduction:

Buxton is a spa town in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is the highest town in England. When most people think of Buxton they describe it as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park". A municipal borough until 1974, Buxton was then merged with other localities including Glossop, lying primarily to the north, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak.

Poole's Cavern is one of Buxton’s main attractions and is an extensive limestone cavern open to the public, and St Ann's Well, fed by the geothermal spring bottled and sold by internationally famous Buxton Mineral Water Company. There is also is the Buxton Opera House, which hosts several theatrical festivals each year like the The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.

Buxton is also twinned with two other towns: Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany.

Buxton is also home to Buxton railway station was designed by Joseph Paxton. He is famous for his design of the Crystal Palace in London. The Pump Room, also by Currey, was built in 1884 opposite the Crescent. Visitors could 'take the waters' until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995 the building housed the unique Micrarium Exhibition. The building is being refurbished as part of the National Lottery-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is St Ann’s Well.

Buxton has a mixed economy including tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby is a large employer in the area. The town is surrounded by the Peak District National Park and offers a range of cultural events; tourism is a major industry, with more than a million visitors to Buxton each year. Buxton is the main centre for overnight accommodation within the Peak District.

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Halifax is banking chain in the UK and a division of Bank of Scotland, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). It is currently the UK's largest provider of residential mortgages and savings accounts. Its slogan is "A Little Extra Help". The banking chain is named after the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire where it was founded as a building society in 1853.

Halifax Building Society developed into the UK's largest building society by 1913. It de-mutualised in 1997 becoming Halifax plc, which was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2001 Halifax plc merged with The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland, forming HBOS. In 2006, the HBOS Group Re-organization Act 2006 legally transferred the assets and liabilities of the Halifax chain to Bank of Scotland which became a standard plc, with Halifax becoming a division of Bank of Scotland. A takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB was approved by the Court of Session on 12 January 2009, and on 19 January 2009 Bank of Scotland - including Halifax - formally became part of Lloyds Banking Group.

Existing Context / Character: Halifax occupies 70/74 Spring Gardens in Buxton and is in the town centre conservation area in Buxton. The conservation area itself is being conserved because of its historical and architectural importance. It is located in Buxton’s Central Conservation Area on Area 3 map of Spring Gardens. It is neither classified as a neutral or negative building or that of an architectural landmark and is not listed. It is however on a glimpse view so understandably any improvements or proposed changes to these glimpse views will need consideration as in this form as to keep in line with the other buildings of architectural interest and that of the main view down spring gardens which will not be affected by these proposed works. This snippit has been taken from the High Peak Council website on why the area is of character. “During the early part ofthe 20th century several important and high quality commercial buildings were constructed on Spring Gardens. These include the Boots building of 1906, which is still occupied by Boots, and the Timothy Whites & Taylors building of 1902 (The Amusement Arcade - Nos. 55-57 Spring Gardens). These buildings are similar in design, incorporating high shopfronts and arched first floor windows, serving a first floor retail floorspace. The Boots building, however, is built from buff terracotta, and the building is similar in detail to the recently restored Boots building in Nottingham. By the 1920s and 30s, the influence of Art Deco and the post war problems in obtaining high quality materials and labour led to much more dilute architecture and simple forms of buildings, such as the 1934 Co-op building (Nos. 97-103) and Nos. 34-42 Spring Gardens. The buildings are of limited historic interest – Marks & Spencer (47-51 Spring Gardens) is the best, but does not share the exuberance of the highest quality buildings in Buxton. Gradually, over time, the unusual building alignments, detached buildings, gardens and quirks, have been ironed out, and the street now has an almost uniformly flat frontage, and has lost some of its historic charm as a result. The preservation of the relationship between the main street and the back yards, such as Longden Court, Nall’s Yard and the frontage to The White Lion is, therefore, all the more important as this provides evidence of the original deep pattern of development along the southern frontage, with access between inns and their stables and yards, and is a relic of the lodging and coaching inn history.”

The statement highlighted in bold applies to this rear/side elevation of the Halifax branch as it preserves part of the medieval street pattern.

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Spring Gardens has other shops on it of varying architectural periods and styles of 3 or 4 storeys. All the shops to ground level have been adapted for modernised business uses of varying usage. The shopfronts are modernised. Proposal: Halifax PLC has identified the requirement for replacement of the existing R22 air conditioning equipment on site. The existing air conditioning equipment on site has been surveyed and a basic asset register has been compiled. Guidance has been taken from the Mechanical and Electrical project specific brief pertaining to the site and the requirements have been incorporated within this proposal where required.

Additional elements such as access / egress routes, general condition of the existing air conditioning installation and general building conditions where plant is located have all been taken in to consideration.

All existing equipment is to be recycled under the Mitsubishi Electric recycling scheme.

R22 refrigerant gas shall be recovered and disposed of under the F Gas regulations. The existing scope of works related to the removal of 10 No existing split and twin application fan coil units located throughout the Ground and First floors. Existing Equipment within rooms

The branch is currently served by the following existing R22 Mitsubishi split systems :

• Ground Floor ATM Room (Unit 3): PLAP2 / PUH2VKA cassette system – Pipework 3/8 and

5/8 / Interconnecting 12V 3 Core / Mains Power - Indoor 1PH 6A and Outdoor 1PH 16A

• Ground Floor Interview Room (Unit 4) : FTXS35 / RY35 wall mount system – Pipework 3/8

and 1/4 / Interconnecting 12V 3 Core / Mains Power - Indoor 1PH 6A and Outdoor 1PH 16A

• Ground Floor Banking Hall (Units 1 & 2) : 2 off PLAP2 / PUH4VKA twin cassette system –

Pipework 3/8 and 5/8 / Interconnecting 12V 3 Core / Mains Power - Indoor 1PH 6A and Outdoor

1PH 16A

• First Floor Interview Office 1 (Unit 5) : PKH1.6FKH / PUH1.6VKA wall mounted system -

Pipework ¼ and 3/8 / Interconnecting 4 Core / Mains Power – Indoor Only 1PH 13A



• First Floor Comms Room (Unit 7) : PKH1.6FKH / PUH1.6VKA wall mounted system -



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• First Floor Interview Office 5 & Corridor (Unit 10) : PEHD1.6 / PUH1.6VKA void pack

system - Pipework 3/8 and 5/8 / Interconnecting 12V 3 Core / Mains Power - Indoor 1PH 6A and

Outdoor 1PH 16A

It was noted as part of the survey that the top floor meeting room has no direct heating/cooling provision. There is a linear grille which is fed from the main AHU plant but with little control. The room is subject to levels of temperature differing from those throughout the remaining of the building, we have allowed for an additional wall unit in this room as requested. Proposed A/C equipment within rooms De-commissioning of redundant plant.

We propose to replace the existing Mitsubishi R22 equipment with the following Daikin R410A VRV

system :

• Ground Floor ATM (Unit 3):

1 No FXFQ50P9 Cassette

• Ground Floor Banking Hall (Unit 1) :


• Ground Floor Banking Hall (Unit 2) :


• Ground Floor Interview Office (Unit 4) :

1 No FXAQ32P Wall Mount

• First Floor Interview Office 1: (Unit 5)

1 No FXAQ32P Wall mount

• First Floor Interview Office 2 (Unit 6) 1 No FXAQ32P Wall mount

• First Floor Interview Office 3 (Unit 8) 1 No FXAQ32P Wall mount

• First Floor Interview Office 4 (unit 9) 1 No FXAQ32P Wall mount

• First Floor Interview Office 5 and corridor area. (Unit 10)

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1 No FXSQ32P Ducted

• First Floor Comms. Room (Unit 7) 1 No FXAQ32P Wall mount

• Second Floor Training Room (Unit 11) 1 No FXAQ40P

Each indoor to come complete with a BRC1D52 hard wired remote controller

VRV system to be connected to 1 No Centralised controller.

Mains power supplies to be replaced / modified

N/A

Redecoration required around new wall mounted units. Alterations to existing suspended ceiling to suit new cassette units. Removal and re-instatement of existing ceilings to facilitate removal and installation of new refrigerant pipework. Local builders work / fire stopping required to make good existing holes following removal of existing pipework and installation of new including installation of new remote control cables, interconnecting wiring, mains power supplies and control cables. New steelwork support system required for roof mounted VRV condenser (subject to structural engineers design)

Refrigerant pipework would require a complete strip out and replacement with new VRV compatible pipework and services. Existing condensate provision would require a partial strip out with modifications to suit the VRV compatible pipework and services. The mains power supplies will require complete new installation, with 3 phase provision to external unit and 16A ring main with 5A spur, to each of the internal fan coil units. The existing systems are controlled via a central panel. This control is to be provided via a dedicated centralised control unit, thus removing control provision of the Air conditioning, from the existing panel.

The existing 9 cassette units on the roof will be removed (765mm long x 300mm wide x 500 or 750mm high or 765 x 300 x 1100mm high with supports) as described above and below and one single unit installed with appropriate weight bearing steel work below in its place.

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The height of the proposed roof unit with the support required is 1980mm and is 1300mm long by 755mm wide. Though this is taller than the existing units on the roof it does make the roof scape look a lot less cluttered with 8 less units for those looking onto the roof and also would enhance its aesthetic appearance from ground level too as currently you can see the tops of quite a few of the existing ones, whereas even though you need this equipment for the comfort of staff, having one unit visible is better. The removal of the existing pipework on the roof will also aesthetically help those buildings looking onto it as it will appear less scruffy. Please see the photographs for more information.

The exact specification of the new units to be installed are within the Contractors proposal document. Rooftop edge protection is already in place and is sufficient for programmed works, inclusive of external unit final positioning via a crane provision. This crane is also to be utilised for the removal of the redundant external condenser units. If crane is scheduled for early morning, then road closure provision (with 6 week referral requirement) may not be required. This would require further clarification. We have presumed that the current electrical installation has been installed as per the distribution schedule on site. However this schedule does not reflect what should be installed as per the manufacturer’s recommendations, if we find that this schedule is incorrect then additional costs will be incurred to correct the current electrical installation to suit the new AC systems. We have presumed that the existing distribution board and control panels are in an acceptable condition to accommodate the new air conditioning systems. Should we find any faults with these services then we will require additional costs to repair. There will be no alterations to the existing structure and exterior facade of the branch. The proposed work does not contravene any planning policies and are deemed appropriate for the area, which is occupied by other commerce. Community Safety The installation of the new A/C system will in no way affect community safety as it is not on ground level and will be safely removed and installed by trained contractors. There are no internal layout changes to be made to the branch. The new internal arrangement will still provide views in and out onto the street, therefore, promoting safety via public surveillance, which may lead to deterring anti social behaviour.

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Access The proposal does not affect the current street access to the Halifax branch in any way. Current access to the branch is through the main entrance door to the left hand side of the front elevation which is currently level access into the branch which is a single lead double door sized door leading into the banking hall. There is a window manifestation to the main entrance door for the visually impaired which also shows opening times. All doors throughout are at least the minimum DDA width allowed for safe access for all. We will endeavour to implement a site waste management system to effectively recycle and minimise waste. Retaining the entrance here retains human surveillance, which may help in deterring anti social behaviour. In relation to TB11 – no amendment to existing public highway. Door opening is 1000mm wide. Spring Gardens is a pedestrian street with many rows of shops at ground level with most of these shops, cafés and restaurants having premises in a building that is three storeys. From here the access to the town centre is both on foot through the pedestrian paved areas and also vehicular (which is restricted) from this Halifax branch. Surface water drainage channels are already in place and remain unaffected by the installation of the new internal layout. No external works required or proposed. Conclusion: It is evident Buxton is a town of tradition and history that embraces change for the continued success of the town. In our view the proposed works will enhance the experience of both the branch staff and their customers, and will not have a direct impact on the town itself or its elevation in a major way within this area of character. PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EXISTING BRANCH AND ROOF ARE PROVIDED ON THE NEXT PAGES.

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Documents

Buxton Design and Access Statement - High Peak, Derbyshire