)
15/AP/2725
Erection of two 2 storey 3 bedroomed dwellings with solar panels on roof
and bicycle storage)
Description: The two houses are planned with two bedrooms and bathrooms
upstairs and one bedroom downstairs, together with a kitchen/dining
living room with access to the garden. The upper wall materials are
slateboard cladding and tile hung slate on the upper floors and
perforated metal cladding on the ground floor front. The roofs are slate
and arranged with diagonal ridges, which are behind a parapet at the
front but visible from the rear.
Comment: The planning of the houses is neat and economical, and the
perforated metal cladding on the ground floor front a sensible way of
screening the ground floor bedroom without resorting to a fake garage
door. However, the use of slate board cladding and tile hung slates on
the upper floors gives the houses an appearance which is out of keeping
with the lighter tones of the brickwork and rendered houses adjacent,
and not in a good way. The lack of vertical definition between the two
houses also means that the rhythm of the existing buildings in the
street is broken. The diagonal ridges are also a unique element, with no
obvious justification, and give the house a jagged uncompromising look
from the rear. Some form of symmetrical pitched or flat roof would fit
the street scene better.
The Camberwell Society would welcome guidance from Southwark Council on
the future development of Stories Mews now that more houses are being
built there.