Competition Brief

The Challenge

GPLD will use arts, culture and creativity to tackle the outward migration of young people, by focusing on the distinctive place it encapsulates. This Competition will support this ambition by seeking designs for two innovative flexible accommodation developments within the GPLD area, which will house young people that either already live there or wish to move into it.

The competition ties into the specific aim of the GPLD project, i.e. outward migration of young people from the area. As this issue affects rural communities nationally, the competition also offers entrants an opportunity to provide a wider statement/proposition on this issue.

 

Flexible Accommodation

A lack of accommodation suitable for younger people in the GPLD area is evident and investigations have highlighted a gap in provision, which provides a mixture of affordable residential accommodation and workspace. The availability of flexible accommodation meeting these requirements could be attractive to younger people (GPLD aims to attract people under the age of 45 to the area), seeking to live within the area who wish to run their own business/creative practice, and/or undertake home-working.

Aspirations

The design competition is a pilot project aimed at generating innovative design ideas for the delivery of two flexible accommodation schemes, which will support the retention and attraction of younger people and businesses to the GPLD area. The two competition sites are described within this brief. Both sites will be developed separately (and by different developers, representatives of both are included on the competition evaluation panel), and it is intended that both schemes will be fully developed as soon as practicable.

However, the competition also provides the opportunity for design principle/concepts to be used in future development schemes, which might lead to additional opportunities for entrants.

The competition is seeking proposals for flexible accommodation on the two competition sites and proposals should:

show sensitivity to context and local distinctiveness within design responses and whilst responses should be tailored to the constraints of each site, GPLD is keen to see approaches that could potentially be applicable or adapted for use on other sites;

seek to maximise the potential and opportunities of the respective sites, whilst being mindful of the constraints;

seek to embrace sustainable and environmentally friendly design principles and be capable of future adaptation in response to changing demand and/or needs of occupiers (NB: any future changes should retain the ethos of flexible accommodation i.e. residential and workspace, not one at the expense of the other);

as a guide, have a construction cost for each proposal as highlighted later within this document; and,

be innovative, but equally have an emphasis upon being practical for occupiers, including manageable life-time performance/maintenance costs, cost in use, etc.

consider construction process and impact on programme and delivery.

 

Key Considerations

The key considerations that entrants should consider, include the following:

  • workspace element – if included, the GPLD economy would suggest that any potential live-work units could be used as office/studio space for digital/creative businesses, homeworking, or small workshops/studios for craft/artist type business;
  • residential element – GPLD is aiming to retain and attract younger people to the area, consequently proposals should take into consideration the nature of the residential offer, i.e. younger people looking for live-work accommodation might be singles, couples, or families and these differing needs, and the needs of households as they grow, should be taken into consideration; and,
  • planning – the two competition schemes will be delivered within the GPLD area, one of which (Horton in Ribblesdale) falls within a National Park (Yorkshire Dales National Park). Consequently, any concept should take into consideration the respective planning policies, guidelines, etc., across the GPLD area. See Appendix One – Strategic Planning Documents .

    • Appendix One

    Strategic Planning Documents within the GPLD Area.

    Listed below are links to the Local Plans currently in use across the GPLD area.

    NB: The Lake District National Park Local Plan is currently being reviewed with further consultation taking place during April/May 2019 and a plan submitted to the Planning Inspector in July 2019.

NB: entrants might consider developing proposals to incorporate all these issues, or to meet specific elements, but that best meet the context and restraints of the specific sites.

In addition to the above, entrants should consider the following considerations regarding any future licensed projects:

  • schemes could potentially be delivered by either public, private, or third sector developers who would incorporate these (and the chosen architect) into their development plans;
  • schemes could potentially be delivered as a standalone project, or as part of a wider development scheme (e.g. an affordable housing element of a wider development);
  • schemes could be delivered as either a new-build, or as part of a building conversion;
  • schemes could be developed within a town setting (e.g. Skipton or Kendal, as the largest towns within the GPLD area), within a small village, or in an isolated location (e.g. barn conversion type scheme);

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