| Topic: | Re:High Street Urban Design - Look and feel of the street scene | |
| Posted by: | Sandy Heslop | |
| Date/Time: | 05/04/07 20:20:00 |
| It's an interesting document. I'm not so sure that most of the buildings in the "What makes these contemporary designs fit in" section actually fit in. In fact the bright red brick building on page 33 reminds me of the horrid building opposite the county court on the high street in Brentford. Sensitivity to the tone of the materials used really makes a difference (as Hazel Dakers pointed out). Page 35 has a building that does sit it because of the material used rather than the architecture. I think this should be a key factor for the development of Brentford. I'm new to the area and the first thing that struck me about the buildings on the high street (on the riverside side between Catharine wheel rd and Augustus close) was what wonderful buildings. It’s a shame the shopkeepers have been allowed to ruin the feel of the street with shabby facades . I'm going to ignore the architecture (If you can call it that) that's on the opposite side of the street. If the only thing that was done was mirror the original building that are in main shopping area of the high st the whole area would be improved ten fold. You could then introduce contemporary street furniture for a more chic feel to the place. I’m also not sure that the Staiths south bank development (In the doc) should be held up as an example of what should be done in Brentford. I should say that I lived next door to it in Dunston and have friends who own one of the houses. The development, although nice to look at in isolation, does not really say anything about the area of Dunston or its past and would probably be more at home in Sweden. It does not have older buildings to sit next and is free from the problems which that can bring. Yes there were queues for the houses but that had more to do with the housing market in the north east at the time than anything else. As an aside I also know a few people that have moved out of the Dunston riverside developments back into the Victorian houses nearby because of the quality of the houses and the room’s sizes. I also love the cobbles on dock road I think they really give a warm feeling to a road and they also double up as natural speed bumps. I understand the problems for elderly people crossing a cobbled street however you can create smooth crossing areas that would solve this. An example of this that springs to mind is on the royal mile in Edinburgh. I would be careful of using Poundbury as an example of good style. I won’t argue with Tim Henderson over the materials I think they are top notch and if Brentford was rebuild with the same standard we’d all be happy BUT the style of some areas of the development are at best confused and in some cases spill over into the farcical the New Market-Hall is a wee bit out of place for the area don’t you think. Ok guys it’s my first post on here … try not to be too harsh |