On this page you can find out more about the forthcoming proposals for new high-quality homes and ground floor commercial use at 341 High Street, Sutton.  The proposals have emerged after meeting with the London Borough of Sutton and other stakeholders and we are pleased to present the plans to you, prior to submission to Sutton Council. Sutton will then undertake a full consultation process before making a decision on the application.

The site is presently occupied by the Topps Tiles showroom. An aerial view of the site, including the car park at the rear, is shown here, alongside a view of the front of the store.

Above: The current site

The team have worked hard to design a scheme that respects and enhances the local area, provides a ‘gateway’ entrance into Sutton Town Centre with interesting design features and respects the neighbouring properties on Bushey Road.

As the pictures below demonstrate, the site sits on the boundary between two differing architectural typologies. To the west of the site is predominantly low rise residential, whilst to the east the high street and its emerging development dominates. The proposal is designed to successfully integrate into both typologies.

Above: Around the site

The emerging proposals

Our proposals consist of three buildings. Facing Sutton High Street will be a building with commercial use on the ground floor and flats above, maintaining the retail viability of the High Street. Behind this will be two other buildings in the style of a mews street, accessed from Vale Road and Victoria Gardens/the High Street.

We hope you will agree that the scheme will be of a high quality architectural design, interpreting the building fabric of the Sutton area in a contemporary fashion. The character of the area and its immediate surrounds have influenced and inspired the architectural design of the proposed scheme.

As you will see from the computer-generated pictures below, the material palette comprises of buff brick and light buff brick with white precast detailing elements. The brick tones on each building have been chosen to provide differentiation between the building facing the High Street and the mews street. The light colours were chosen to promote a feeling of spaciousness in the proposal.

Green metal is used throughout the proposal on doors, windows, drainage elements and in the roofing. This colour was chosen due to its calming and subtle qualities. It relates to the adjacent green area of Victoria Gardens while also not standing out from the character of Vale Road which utilises a muted colour palette.

A translucent element is introduced through the incorporation of reglit glass in the building facing the High Street, allowing plenty of natural light to enter the circulation core, providing an accessible and inviting space for the residents while also generating a visually interesting element from the outside.

How the buildings will appear

Turning now to the computer-generated images of how the finished proposals will appear.

Firstly, a view from the High Street, showing Victoria Gardens. We will be keeping existing trees to maintain a positive impact on the adjacent green public space. The building has been pulled away from the site boundary to reduce any impact on the existing trees.

Above: The proposal as viewed from the High Street

Next, another view from the High Street.

Above: Another view from the High Street

Below is a view from within the mews street, demonstrating the buff brickwork and green metal work, window frames and the glass panels in the building that faces the High Street.

Above: View from within the mews street

Finally, a view from the pedestrian entrance to the site on Vale Road. The building towards Vale Road picks up on the character of buildings in close proximity to this part of the site, but with a contemporary approach.

Above: View from Vale Road

We have prepared floor plans of the proposals. You can click to enlarge each of the plans below that show, in order, the Ground Floor, the First Floor, the Third Floor and the Fourth Floor. The key on the right shows the commercial part of the building and the sizes of the various flats throughout the scheme.

Ground floor

First floor

Third and fourth floors

Key

A new landscape

We have taken care to produce a positive landscape design that complements the architecture.

A permeable clay paver shared surface leads through the site, chosen for its aged appearance. Timber raised beds will bring a natural tone and elevation to the frontage planting, paired with trellis matching the green architectural highlights allowing for planting to soften the building frontage. The plan on the left shows the shared surface through the site and the plan on the right focuses on the play area.

Above: Landscape plans

The main concept behind the choices of the play features, is to be multi-use and open to all ages. The primary focal point of the space is the rock stack, surrounded with wooden log seating. There is a small, balancing, log trail that meanders through playful, sensory, planting.

Sensory planting extends along the northern and western boundaries, and within the planting areas there are mirror boards, adding further interest and intrigue. The sensory planting focuses on sight, smell and touch.

Towards the exterior of the play space, there is a bench with no backrest. This is to allow parents to observe their children, but also allow other users to face south and make the most of sunlight. A game board flanks the eastern edge of the space, allowing all users to interact and play.

Tree planting is used to add height, screen views and to assist with mitigating noise.

To provide additional greening and aid sustainability, there will be green roofs on the apartment building on the High Street and also on cycle and bin stores.

Access traffic and servicing

The access points to the building are shown on the plan on the left, whilst car and bicycle parking is shown on the right.

Above: Access plans

The taller building on the High Street has one main residential entrance which leads to the lobby areas, this lobby area is accessed directly from the mews street. The commercial ground floor is accessed from the front, on the High Street. Mews houses all feature their own private entrance.

Cyclists will cycle to the site entrance and demount on the shared surface before walking with their bikes to the cycle stores or their home.

The site has vehicular access. Delivery vehicles will utilise existing laybys on Vale Road to service the residential and commercial units.

With very good public transport provision the site will be ‘car-free’, meaning that residents will not be eligible for any residential parking permits. There will be one Blue Badge space.

There is one cycle store for all residents living within block A, the storage is located off the mews street along the southeastern boundary. All residents of the mews houses will have cycling store provisions within private gardens.

Over 5% of cycle parking spaces are for over-sized bikes and 15% of the overall number of cycle parking uses Sheffield stands. The rest are double stackers. These meet the minimum requirements and space standards as set out by London Cycling Design Standards. Short stay cycle parking will be proposed within the site boundary and close to the building entrances.

Provision has been made for general waste, recyclables and food waste. These meet the minimum requirements and space standards as set out by the London Borough of Sutton.

Refuse trucks will not enter the site, as such refuse collection is positioned within 10m of the carriageway. Residents will have a smaller refuse store located within the site, to ensure maximum distances are not exceeded. The management will then move bins to the main storage as necessary.

Thank you for your interest.

We hope that this website has provided a helpful insight into the forthcoming proposals. We now welcome your views, which can be given via the Share Your Views page. On behalf of the team, thank you for your time.