The Red House Luxury Retirement Village – Ripon
Ripon, North Yorkshire (Ripon Conservation Area)
Bowman Riley provided architecture and the role of principal designer on the redevelopment of The Red House, an Edwardian property set within a conservation area and a protected landscape in Ripon.
Derelict for many years, the Red House was built in 1905 as a private residence before it became a Barnardo’s children’s home in the 1940s. The scheme comprised the refurbishment of the historic building and new build elements. The significant alterations to the original building had to remain in keeping with the character and sympathetic to the history of the site.
In consultation with the local community, we helped secure planning consent to transform the site into a retirement community of 59 properties. Delivered in two phases, the development provides one and two-bedroom private homes comprising apartments, cottages and two-storey houses. The Red House building was refurbished and extended to accommodate a range of communal facilities, including lounges, a bar, a library, a restaurant, consulting suite, a hair salon and a gym. The existing lodge, stable block and cottage were refurbished and extended to form apartments and cottage accommodation.
Working with an arboriculturist, we decided which trees remained on site, and this dictated the masterplan for the site layout and levels and new build elements. The landscaping preserved the protected trees and woodland zones, and further planting complemented and supplemented the mature landscape. A particular challenge was to design and install footings that could adequately contend with the rare local gypsum geology.
“Bowman Riley achieved an extremely successful outcome for a detailed planning submission… against a very difficult background both politically and in planning terms… They achieved maximum density to maintain the viability of the scheme and undertook extensive public and officer consultation to gain support for the scheme.”
Jim Pegg, Barnardo’s Developments Ltd.
Images credit RN Wooler and The Red House.
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