place making design

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TABLE OF CONTENT:

REPORT BACKGROUND………………………….2

PROJECT BRIEF……………………………………2

SITE CONTEXT……………………………………..4

SITE ANALYSIS……………………………………..5

VISION & DESING OBJECTIVE ………………….7

MASER PLAN ……………………………………..8

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 1 ……………………………9

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 2…………………………...10

DEISNG OBJECTIVE 3…………………………...11

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 4…………………………...12

FEASIBILITY……………………………………….13

CONCLUSION……………………………………..16

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REPORT BACKGROUND

The purpose of this report is to propose develop

on a piece of land located at the west end of Ox-

ford. In process of doing so, the study required a

comprehensive analysis of the physical, social

and economic elements that could influence the

outcome of the proposed development.

The report involved:

1. Several site visits

2. Study of the Oxfords Core Strategies

3. Analysis of the city and surrounding areas

4. Learning hand sketching and scale draw-

ings.

5. Learning and application of Sketchup.

6. A review of Urban Compendium 1 & 2 and

“Responsive Environments”.

7. The use of “Microsoft Publisher” for the

presentation of this report.

8. Research on finding appropriate prece-

dents for the proposed development i.e.

building structures & architectural designs.

PROPJECT BRIEF

The Project which is a part of the “Place Mak-

ing Module” provides

Site Context: The analysis of the Oxford City

with an overview of its Historic, cultural, eco-

nomic, institutional background

Site Analysis: Provides an analysis of the

site’s strengths , weaknesses, opportunities

that it offers and the possible threats to any

development on the site. This analysis is

based on the study of the site and the sur-

rounding areas.

The Vision: Vision that is backed by a num-

ber of strong design objectives and rationales

based on the analysis and study of place

making techniques.

The Master Plan: This is my proposed devel-

opment plan for the site based on the analy-

sis of the city and the site.

Design Objectives & Rationales: As men-

tioned above, this segment is the explanation

and implementation of the development

“Vision”

Feasibility: This part provides the economic

and financial related elements of the pro-

posed development.

Conclusion: Why is this proposal the best?

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SITE ANALYSIS

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Education:

Figure 1: Oxford City Roofscape

Oxford is known globally for its universities, asso-

ciated medical institutions, students and academic

achievement. This success brings with it student

numbers totalling around 32,000 undergraduate

and postgraduate students. The vast majority of

these students live in the city, which leads to pres-

sure on housing and potential conflict in lifestyle

with other residents. (Oxford City Council April,

2012)

Roof Scape & Architecture:

Oxford has more than 1500 listed building twice

the national average, with the oldest dating back

to the 11th century. This gives Oxford an outlook of

a mix of Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and Con-

temporary architecture (Oxford.gov.uk)

SITE CONTEXT

Green Space:

Oxford has a significant portion of its land preserved

and reserved for the green area.

Figure 3: Oxford’s Green Belt

Analysis of the facts:

The brief overview of the Oxford City brings us to the

following points that require consideration in the de-

sign of the West End Site.

Provision of diverse housing, including the

student hostels.

Due consideration to the local historic herit-

age and architecture

Capture the tourism by providing a space

that gives them the sense of being in oxford

along with facilities that make them feel

comfortable.

Due consideration to the green space trend

of Oxford.

Local Economy:

The local economy of Oxford has a mix of some key industries i.e. Mini, tourist and students .

The education contributes to 28% of the total em-ployment

Oxford is the seventh most visited city in the UK by international visitors. It attracts approximately 9.5 million visitors per year, generating £770 million of income.

Housing Demand:

According to the SHMA there is 1200 to 1600 houses

need per year in Oxford. The Table 1 below shows the

projected demand of housing with the number of beds,

with the highest being the 3 bed housing.

Figure 2: Oxford Projected Housing Demand

Source: Oxfordshire SHMA 2014

SIZE 2011 2031 Additional

Household

2011-2031

% of Ad-

ditional

household

1 Bed

Room

15,846 19,779 3,933 7%

2 Bed

Room

48,926 62,738 13,812 24.4%

3 Bed

Room

90,008 114,242 24,234 42.9%

4 Bed

Room

65,025 79,578 14,553 25.7%

Total 219,806 276,337 56,532 100%

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SITE HISTORY

Historically the site was used as an industrial site

primarily for the gasworks plant. This turned the

site into a poorer quarter of the city called the

Nun’s Walk. A large scale clearance, known as

the Oxpens, was done in the mid of the 20th cen-

tury.

Opportunities

There are three major regeneration pro-

jects planned in Oxford and all three share

close proximity to our development site.

These regeneration projects i.e. Frideswide

Square (Map4), railway station & West

Gate, are going to give a very attractive

entrance to the Oxford from the west. This

would subsequently not just raise the value

of property around, but also attract more

visitors and tourists.

Threats

Flood zone “C”, with a once in 25 years

possibility of flooding .

SITE LOCATION

The site is located on the west end of the city

of Oxford as shown on Map 3. It is ___ from

the city centre and

Strengths

Proximity to A 420 & A34, connecting

the site to other towns

Proximity to the Train Station & Bus

Terminal (Gloucester Green)

Proximity to the City Centre

Natural Setting: Greenfield & River

ISIS (Map 4)

Weaknesses

Noise pollution due to train track

Connectivity to city center for pedestri-

ans and cyclists

Poorly designed urban nodes and

pavements, hostile for the pedestrians

and cyclists.

SITE ANALYSIS

Figure 5: SWOT ANALYSIS

Figure 4: Site location

Greenfield Frideswide Square

Oxpens Osney

Junction

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SITE ANALYSIS

PERMEABILITY

The site, though very close to the city centre,

has very weak permeability to the city centre for

both pedestrians and cyclists. The red lines indi-

cate the planned permeability links to the Ox-

pens road from the site, while recommending the

local authorities to create walking and cycling

route to the city centre following the same pat-

tern.

The purple lines on Map4 indicate the impene-

trable barriers to the site, which indicate weak

permeability at the east end because of the rail

track.

MIX OF USE

The site has a strong proximity to the retail and

commercial activity of the city center.

The site is covered by private housing from three

sides i.e. Trinity street with 2 story terrace hous-

ing at the south, Osney lane three story flats on

the north and the Gibbs crescent on the west

The site itself currently has some residential

units, retail shops (petrol pump, burlesque club,

workshop), offices (Royal Mail) & a leisure spot

(Ice Rink) .

STREET HIERARCHY

The Site is primary connected through the Ox-

pens road which is acting as a secondary/

collector/distributor road to the Botley road. It

was designed to carry more traffic then it current-

ly does, yet it is quiet hostile to the pedestrians

and cyclists

There is one primary junction at the site which is

connects the Osney Lane in the North (in blue) to

the Oxpens Road on the west (in yellow)

ARCHITECTURAL OUTLOOK

The site is surrounded by a mix of architecture.

As the site was used for industrial purposes dur-

ing the 18th &19th century, it is dominated by the

Victorian & Georgian architecture i.e. the castle,

Paradise and St Thomas street etc. At the same

time the site has a mix of contemporary architec-

ture apparent in development across the Oxpens

road i.e. Falklands House and Oxford Lifestyle.

Fig 7: Permeability & Street Hierarchy Map

Fig 6: Contemporary & Medieval

Architecture

Figure 8: Mix of Use

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VISION

“Develop a sustainable communi-

ty by merging the Oxford’s histor-

ic character into a model of a con-

temporary town, while providing

facilities that strategically fulfil

the identified need gaps of the site

and city as a whole”

Develop a well connected neighborhood

Provide movement safety & memorable

visual experience

Merge the identified needs with aesthet-

ics

Creating Vibrant Places

PERMEABILITY

ACCESSIBIBLITY

BLOCKS SHAPE

SENSE OF OPENESS

SENSE OF ENCLOSURE

MIX OF USE & ARCHITECTURE

PLACING SITE MAGNETS

MITIGATING WEAKNESSES &

THREATS

DESIGN ACTIONS DESIGN OBJECTIVES

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MASTER PLAN

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DESING ACTION 2: ACCESSIBILITY

The red line on Fig 9 indicate the lanes that are

accessible to the vehicles, while the yellow lines

are the lanes accessible to the pedestrians and

cyclists.

As evident from the map that limited access has

been given to the vehicular traffic with restricted

access to certain parts of the site like the hotel

and Oxpens square in the north. This restricted

access to the automotive is to encourage cycling

and walking.

Consideration has been given to the width and

angles of the entrance roads from the Oxpens

road, discouraging the possibility of a traffic di-

version via the site at rush hours.

The site will be accessible and well fed by the

public transport network encouraging minimum

use of cars.

An average of 6 meters is kept for the pavement

along the Oxpens road to reduce the current

unsecure environment for the pedestrians and

cyclists willing to move across towards city cen-

tre.

DESIGN ACTION 1: PERMEABILITY

The figure___ shows the blocks and permeability/

movement of the site . The site has been given

three entrances from the Oxpens Road shown in

Pic: 5 and one from the Osney Lane Pic 4.

OSNEY LANE:

The rationale behind developing a wide entrance

from Osney lane compared to the other entrances

is to accommodate the Oxpens Road Core Strat-

egy which indicate an expansion of the Osney

road to two lane by reducing the adjacent parking

lot.

OXPENS ROAD:

The three entrances from the Oxpens Road,

shown in pic:5, are spaced in a way to create

possibility of a better connectivity to the City

Center from the site while keeping reasonable

segregation between the public and private

space.

Fig 9: Osney Lane Entrance

Fig 10: Permeability Map

Fig 11: OXPENS ROAD ENTRANCE

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 1: WELL CONNECTED NEIGHBOURHOOD

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DESIGN ACTION 4: SENSE OF OPENESS

The site has been developed to provide a mix of open-

ness and enclosure keeping in mind the desired function-

ality by designing appropriate street scape.

The main road entering the site from the Osney Lane

gives a sense of openness and provides a un-obstructed

view to the very end of the site at the greenfield.

The width of carriage way is 8 meters, while around 3.5

meters have been designated for the pedestrians and the

cyclists on both the sides (Fig 13)

A green patch of plantation is given in between the resi-

dential and the public space to allow due privacy.

DESIGN ACTION 5: SENSE OF ENCLOSURE

The road passing parallel to the Main road is designated

for the pedestrians and the cyclists. This lane is designed

to provide the sense of enclosure and vibrancy, which

increase towards the south of the site which is designated

as a public space with hotel, retail & leisure. Again the

principle of through-&-through vision has been applied

with a clear vision of the greenfield from the very opposite

end.

The width of the public passage is around 10 me-

ters, while the heights of the building vary between

2 & 3 floors depending on the type and use of the

block i.e. private/public. The rationale behind keep-

ing low heights in the middle blocks is to ensure due

sunlight exposure to center blocks.

DESIGN ACTION 3: BLOCKS SHAPE

Significant attention has been given to design the

block corners and junctions to provide substantial

sense of safety to the cyclist and pedestrians.

The bird’s eye view of the blocks (Fig 12) illus-

trates the space, cuts and curves given at the

edges of the blocks to avoid any blind turn and

corners.

In order to further secure the movement, the junc-

tions are marked (Red) flooring to create a sense

of uncertainty for the vehicular traffic.

The rationale behind such design is to encourage

co-existence of all the modes of travel, while se-

curing the cyclists and pedestrians.

The current street hierarchy analysis has been

given due consideration in deciding the width of

the lanes.

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 2: PROVIDE MOVEMENET SAFETY AND MEMORABLE VISUAL EXPERIENCE

Fig 12: Block Edges

Fig 14: Street Scape Inner street

Fig 13: Street Scape Main Road

Fig 15: Vibrant inner street

(Drottninggatan Sweden)

Visibility Arrows

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DESIGN ACTION 6: MIX OF USE & ARCHITEC-

TURE

The rationale behind the diverse land use is to

fulfil the identified economic and social demand

of the city. A gradual shift of the site use from

Residential-to-Mix Use and from Mix Use-to-

Commercial as illustrated in Fig 17 has been pro-

vided to respect the public-private use. Further-

more a appropriate mix of contemporary and me-

dieval architecture has been use to appreciate

and merge the appearance of site into Oxfords

historic architectural heritage.

Flats with retail: All the flats on the site have

been kept at the dimension of 8x10 m. The Fig 2

provides the rationale for it i.e. 3 bed room dwell-

ing has the highest demand. The shops has been

divided into two categories. One that cater the

public end of the site i.e. Main Oxpens road and

the leisure site. These shops are generally large

retail and fast food chains ranging between 8x10

and 15x10 meters. The other ones are placed in

the middle blocks to cater the residents of the

site. These shops are generally smaller corner

shops of 8x10 meters.

Flats without retail: These flats have been used

primarily for the purpose of achieving the desired

dwelling density target. These flats on the

Flats with Offices: The Offices have been given two

middle floors of the block facing the Oxpens Road. The

rational behind the location is to allow minimum vehicu-

lar movement within the site and therefore allow em-

ployees connectivity to the public transport. Limited

parking slots have been provided for the employees

and the supplier vans.

Student Accommodation: The student accommo-

dation has been provided to appreciate the city’s aca-

demic culture and cater the accommodation demand.

(Dimensions: 1 unit of 10x15 meters having 6 rooms

and a kitchen)

Terrace Houses: The terrace houses are 5 x10

meters with the symbolic Victorian architecture to

appreciate Oxford’s architectural heritage (Fig 20)

Town Houses: Town houses are the expensive

housing of the site with dimensions 5x 15 meters

having rear gardens. Contemporary architecture

has been selected from Amsterdam , specially to

utilize their affective parking models (Fig 19 & 21)

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 3: MERGE THE IDENTIFIED NEEDS WITH AESTHTICS

Fig 20: Stuart Road , Plymouth

Amsterdam, Holland

Fig 16: Albert Building IL, USA

Fig 17: Private-Public Use

Fig 18: Mix of Use

Fig 21: Amsterdam, Holland Figure 19: Amsterdam

(Town House Parking)

(Cont…) Oxpens Road are placed specifically to provide

nice outlook to the site while the flats on the east end,

along the railway track, have been located there to allow

privacy to the residents (Fig (17 & 18).

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DESIGN ACTION: PLACING MAGNETS

In order to create vibrant places, the most effec-

tive method is to place site magnets.

Fig 22: Hotel (Boscolo Exedra Roma)

To maximise the benefit of river, greenfield, prox-

imity to the city canter and regeneration sites,

magnets like the 5 Star hotel, Conference rooms

for offices, Open air theatre, Oxpens Square, Ice

rink and Tennis courts have been placed to attract

the strong tourist segment of Oxford city.

DESIGN ACTION: MITIGATING THE WEAK-

NESS& THREATS

One of the major challenges with development was

to mitigate the train track noise and, if possible, turn

it into a vibrant place. Fig 26 provides a rear view of

the apartments adjacent to the track. A thick planta-

tion of bushes are placed to muffle the noise. A

walking track has been placed for utilization of the

space and a wooden fencing provides the due pri-

vacy to the residents from the walking public track.

The threat of flooding has been mitigated by having

light & low cost and high value development

(Wooden Open Air Theatre and the Oxpens

Square) at the prone zone.

The hotel has be strategically placed in front of the beautiful

natural setting of the site to maximize the strength without

major investments. The hotel, because of “use contract”

with the tennis courts, ice rink and boating club administra-

tion, will gain an extra star i.e. 5 star, earning higher rents.

The hotel structure leaves a narrow street in between the two

block (Fig 22) creating the desired vibrant streets, generally found

in Sweden (Fig 23). The hotel will also provide “formal” dinning

restaurants at the ground floor.

Other magnets include the block at the entrance of the site (Fig

25) which provides Café’s, large retail, gym and fast food chains.

DESIGN OBJECTIVE 4: CREATING VIBRANT PLACES

Fig 24: View from the Hotel Window

Fig 23: Vibrant Streets

Fig 26: Rear view of Buildings adjacent to

the Rail Track

Fig 25: Other Magnets

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FEASIBILITY

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Type UNIT NUMBER NETT GROSS SALES sub- Value / M2

area m2 of UNITS area m2 area m2 PRICE TOTALS

Student Accomodation 150 40 6000.0 6000.0 £576,000.00 £23,040,000.00 £3,840

Terrace House (3 bed) 100 8 800.0 800.0 £380,990.00 £3,047,920.00 £3,810


Town Houses (5 bed) 150 5 750.0 750.0 £890,000.00 £4,450,000.00 £5,933

Flats (3 bed) 80 187 14960.0 14960.0 £340,000.00 £63,580,000.00 £4,250

Hotel 30 56 1680.0 1680.0 £1,095,000.00 £61,320,000.00 £36,500

Hotel Executive Rooms 81 6 486.0 486.0 £2,190,000.00 £13,140,000.00 £27,037



Town Houses (5 bed) 150 4 600.0 720.0 £534,000.00 £2,136,000.00 £2,967

Flats (3 bed) 80 148 11840.0 14208.0 £204,000.00 £30,192,000.00 £2,125

Terrace House (3 bed) 100 2 200.0 240.0 £152,396.00 £304,792.00 £1,270


Town Houses (5 bed) 150 1 150.0 180.0 £356,000.00 £356,000.00 £1,978

Flats (3 bed) 80 38 3040.0 3648.0 £136,000.00 £5,168,000.00 £1,417

Total units 536.00 SUM(VAL1). . . . . . . .

. . . . . . £232,492,276

Residential Building Costs (BCOST1)

Type cost/m2 COST (based on GROSS

AREAS)

Student Accommodation £1,599.00 £9,594,000.00

Terrace House (2 bed) £1,058.00 £846,400.00

Terrace House (3 bed) £1,017.00 £2,745,900.00

Town Houses £1,017.00 £762,750.00

Flats £1,215.00 £18,176,400.00

Hotel £1,690.00 £2,839,200.00

Hotel Executive Rooms £10,690.00 £5,195,340.00


Terrace House (3 bed) £1,017.00 £2,379,780.00

Town Houses £1,017.00 £732,240.00 Value divided by costs

Flats £1,215.00 £17,262,720.00 This figure might be around 3, ±15%

Terrace House (2 bed) £1,599.00 £383,760.00 3.46


Town Houses £1,017.00 £183,060.00

Flats £1,215.00 £4,432,320.00

SUM (BCOST1) £67,225,510.00

RESIDENTIAL UNITS (REVENUE & COST)

50%

15

Commercial numbers, are-

as and values (VAL2)

TYPE NETT GROSS RENT/M2 RENTROLL YLD% sub-

M/2 M/2 by zone TOTALS

Retail1 zone a 5210 5210 163.00 849230 7.00 12131857

Retail1 zone b 400 400 81.50 32600 7.00 465714

offices1 1600 1600 240.00 384000 8.00 4800000

b/f(VAL1). . . . .

. . £227,324,276

Total val. . . . . .

. £244,721,847

Commercial Building Costs

(BCOST2) Variables

TYPE COST/m2 Construction

m/2 COST

Retail1 zone a 914 4761940 ..........(with example inputs)

Retail1 zone b 914 365600 contract, years 1.50

offices1 1,340 2144000 prof. fees%......... 12.00

total bcost2 7,271,540 STF., base rate+3%....... 7.50

b/f bcost1 62,610,130 voids, In years...... 0.50

total bcost 69,881,670 Site works %......... 25.00

return risk +

profit%.................. 17.00

STF., land. base+1%..... 7.50

Total Value divided by To-

tal Bld Costs site area m2...?......... 86,279

This figure might be

around 3, ±15% 3.50

Net Residential Density 64.64

as dwellings per hectare

FEASIBILITY SUMMARY:

Terrace House (3 bed =16units)

Terrace House (5 bed = 36 units)

Town House (5 bed = 10 units)

Rationale: Provide a mix that satisfies the demand ratio and give maximum returns (Fig 2: SHMA)

Flats (3 bed = 374 units)

Rationale: 3 bed has maximum demand and has the best cost/profit ratio

Others:

Student Accommodation: 240 rooms (6x5m)

Offices: 16 Offices (10x10 small enterprises)

Hotel:

56 rooms (5x6 meters)

6 Rooms (9x9)

Conference Rooms

Open Air theatre: Primary Wooden Benches (Low Cost)

Tennis Court: 32,000 £s x 4 courts = 128k

KEY FIGURES:

Density/ Ha =64.64

Land Value/ Ha= 10,651,714 £

Profit= 28 %

(The cost of tennis courts, fountain, Red marked

road, open air theatre, wooden fencing & planta-

tion will be deducted from the profit)

COMMERCIAL UNITS (REVENUE & COST)

16

CONCLUSION:

The methodology applied to approach the de-

velopment of the site is evident from the pat-

tern of the report.

The analysis provided the key social, eco-

nomic, historic and cultural element of the

city and site that would create an impact on

the site and vice versa.

This analysis was used to develop the vision

and objective framework which acted as the

heart of the entire design.

The pictures and the maps were placed to

communicate the desired visual appearance

of the site.

As a result we get a place that has:

Housing for all- high end town houses, medium

cost terrace and flats & low end affordable.

Offices and conference rooms to accommodate

and promote the local economy of Oxford

Commercial centres for residents and for the visi-

tors and tourists.

Leisure in form green space along the river, a five

star hotel to accommodate the tourists, food (fast

food & formal dining restaurants), Café’s, Open

Air Theatre, and an Urban Square.

Sports facilities in form of Ice Rink, Ten-

nis Courts, Swimming pool & Boating

Club.

“HENCE A PLACE MADE FOR ALL”

place making design

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