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The design guide also considered large commercial developments, like supermarkets. It
recommended that the design should ensure car parking was at the side of the building,
rather than being in front, which was too intrusive visually. Spencer cited the Sainsbury
development in Penrith as a good example, because the design incorporated routes, shops
and squares.
The presentation ended with a slide containing thoughts about the future of vernacular urban
form. Urban form needed to address modern flexible working patterns and the geographical
mobility they demanded. However, rather than simply targeting affluent professional
households, urban form should address the needs of a wider range of household types -
including lower income households and the increasing numbers of elderly households.
Spencer said it was likely that there would be lower levels of home ownership in coming years.
House plots would be smaller and there would be greater use of kit-housing. Homes needed
to be adaptable and we needed to see more single storey homes that were closely spaced
together. A major sustainability issue was the need to encourage lower levels of car
ownership: this could involve car free environments or car-pooling.
Before lunch there was a short question and answer session, chaired by Marion Barter. In the
discussion the point was made that in Skye gaining planning permission was easier because
they were trying to encourage new residents. In the Isle of Man, however, it was more
difficult. The island was a tax haven and due to the number of incomers the threat of
bungalows needed to be addressed and vernacular pastiche was the preferred option.
Jerry Springer responded by saying that places were the result of Planners and Planning.
Planners had access to design guides, but he felt that there was too much emphasis on the
appearance of buildings, but little on urban form. We needed to emphasise that the whole is
greater than the sum of the parts and not be overly concerned by appearance.
Conservation Area appraisals were also raised. These appraisals tended to highlight the
character of individual building, but they contained very little on the character of the area as
a whole. It was suggested that, in terms of urban design and conservation, concentrating on
building materials should not be a major issue: it was far more important to concentrate on
the character of the area as a whole.
The Q&A session ended with an attempt to say what new vernacular really was. The
suggestion was that we should be encouraging local architecture and ‘letting the vernacular
fade’.
After lunch there were three tours on the theme of
Manchester’s Lost Vernacular
. One tour
comprised a visit to Chethams School and Library, which was led by Norman Redhead, from
GMAAS. Another tour was a walking tour in the Northern Quarter looking at surviving
vernacular, which was led by John Wynyard, from Manchester City Council. The other ‘tour’
was a session exploring vernacular in the Greater Manchester archive, in the Central Library.
When the delegates re assembled, Paul Hartley (IHBC NW Branch Chair) presented the
IHBC/RTPI North West Conservation Award 2015
. The wining scheme was the Northern