From Employment blackspot to new jobs & housing – Walsingham Planning lead the way

Alliance House was the former HQ of the Alliance & Leicester Building Society in Hove. Its closure left a big hole in the local employment scene and its demolition left a major scar on a significant park side site close to prominent listed buildings. Walsingham Planning acted on behalf of Cuckfield Group which undertook redevelopment of the site as a major office scheme. The brief also included the introduction of housing onto the site, at odds with the local plan requirement for a purely employment scheme on a like-for-like basis.

The scheme for which full planning permission was secured replaced the original 18,500 sq m of offices with a modern complex of 22,500 sq m, 65 flats and houses and a day nursery. In achieving this level of development the landscaped element of the 3.27 hectare site was increased from 28% to 50%, enhancing its parkland setting. 31% of the housing units were designated as affordable and, in the event, the whole of the residential element was passed onto a local housing association. Off-site highway improvements were secured through a s106 agreement. In spite of local concern as to the scale of the development, addressed through a series of public meetings, City Park has proven to be a major architectural, commercial and environmental success.

In this project we worked with architects David Richmond & Partners, transport consultants Denis Wilson Partnership and engineers Archibald Shaw Limited.

The scheme is now complete as can be seen in the photographs: