WHAT MAKES A PLACE SPECIAL? Newtown exercise

Note  These outputs reflect the discussion at the seminar  The responses are those of the participating groups as fed back in plenary rather than the product of a detailed analysis  The report therefore illustrates what a workshop of this kind can produce; it is not a finished discussion of either character area

Investigation  Brainstorm features in the built environment that contribute to an understanding of character  Suggest the features that are key to analysing any area of a town  Apply these generic features to an analysis of Sycamore Drive

Character elements  Building materials  Palette  Street layout (grid, etc)  Building line  Roof line  Density  Use/status/class  Variety/uniformity  Boundaries (hedges/railings)

Character elements  Relationship to topography  Continuity with earlier landscape features  Landscape treatment  Greenery  Amenity  Height/massing  Building style/date/uniformity  Fenestration detail  Survival of original features  Public and private space

Character elements  Movement patterns  Permeability/legibility  Pavements, footpaths, lanes  Use of rear to properties  Change of use  Adaptability

Penygloddfa

Penyglodda  Grid layout  2-3 storeys  Materials: brick, render, slate, cast iron  Building line directly to pavement  Surviving original detail (porches, doors, window detail)  Lower windows sash/upper casements  Back to back, high density, terraces  Use: residential/handloom weaving lofts  Use: some “factories” (conversions)

Penygloddfa  Some gaps in fabric  Topography (sloping site)  Layout reflects earlier field boundaries  Uniformity of period linked to development of handloom weaving and growth in E 19C/uniformity of style  On-street parking  Yards to rear (note openings to yards)  Lack of street trees; plot rears and vacant sites adapted to gardens/green space

Penygloddfa  Little modern infill  Sharp boundaries to character area and separation from Edwardian and later upslope and to W  Higher status residential in Crescent St?  Corner shop, pub, museum  Compact area  Wide streets  Attractive detailing (brick, timber detail)  Some Regency features to more pretentious units: arches, hoodmoulds, doorcases)

Sycamore Drive

Sycamore Drive

Sycamore Drive  Part of private housing estate: contrasts with public housing of 1970s (predominant in modern Newtown) but part of recent expansion as service and retail centre  Development in phases (Beechwood Drive/Brynglas Ave earliest, pre 1994); still building 2009 at NW end of Sycamore Drive (laid out parallel to Old Barn Lane post 1994)  Spine road/culs de sac  Follows contours of hillside  Mainly semi-detached, some link with front and rear gardens

Sycamore Drive  Wide, curving spine road  Mainly two storey but recent three-storey town houses  Brick (some variation of shade/palette), uPVC  Uniformly residential  Individual treatment of frontages/gardens  Some conversion of front gardens to hard standing  Later development is denser  Variety offered by variation of house type and individualisation of private space, but not locally distinctive

Sycamore Drive  Distant from amenities  Car dependent/wide streets  Parking in garages/hard standing  Recent town houses have no front garden space to reflect needs of multiple car ownership  Limited connection with earlier street pattern  Typically L20C/E21C suburban: “anytown”  Backed by farmland and hillside – attractive urban edge setting  Solar panelling reflects adaptation in energy supply by individual owner