Breaking the mould

Construction sites are not usually tourist attractions.
Under normal circumstances, a building project does not warrant a second glance unless it involves the refurbishment of a well-known building such as Covent Garden Opera House or the building of a contentious structure such as the Millennium Dome. In these cases the full glare of the publicity machine is continuously and in some cases, malevolently, pointed.
Nonetheless it is virtually unheard of for a housing estate to generate media interest.
However, Poundbury, the Prince of Wales' vision of an urban development on the western edge of Dorchester in Dorset, is an exception.
It is estimated that around 30,000 visitors have come to Poundbury each year - a number that would provoke a twinge of envy in caretakers of more traditional tourist attractions.
The project is not only encroaching on such unlikely territory as the tourist industry, it is breaking new ground in areas that no-one in the development sector could have imagined.
It all started in the late 1980s, when a bypass enclosed a swathe of undeveloped land at Poundbury Farm. West Dorset District Council was in the process of looking for land on which to develop housing and this expanse of land seemed to be a natural development site.
It has been owned since 1342 by the Duchy of Cornwall (see box on page 19), so the council approached the Prince of Wales, who saw the project as an ideal opportunity to demonstrate that a house building development could be economically viable, while at the same time, incorporate sustainable and traditional building methods.
Malcolm Savage, construction manager at Poundbury, says: "The Duchy of Cornwall is still buying land. We have recently purchased an estate in Hertfordshire. Although the core business of the Duchy is estate management as well as farms and overseeing tenants, the Prince of Wales is very keen on farmers surviving and of course there are various other offshoots such as the Prince's Trust and the Prince's foundations."
What makes Poundbury different to more traditional development sites is that the building contractors move on site as licensees and the site is not transferred to them until the client (namely the Duchy of Cornwall) is convinced that the right product has been built.
"The Duchy still owns the land and developers build under licence to our standards," adds Savage. "When the house is sold, the homeowner gets the freehold."
Despite all the publicity around the development, Savage and the other contractors on site keep a down-to-earth view about the project.
"As far as I am concerned, we treat this as any construction job," he says.
The emphasis on design at Poundbury is to see it as a high-density urban development rather than a suburban extension to Dorchester.
The project was started as a joint venture between the Duchy of Cornwall, local builder CG Fry and the Guinness Trust. It is planned in four phases, with an overall plan to increase the population of the town by about one-third over the new few decades.
Construction of the first phase began in 1993 and tenders went out to local contractors such as Dorset-based Mildren Construction, which is overseeing the construction of the roads and sewers.
"We have built all the roads and the sewers but not the houses. Those have been constructed by CJ Fry with whom we have worked for some five years," explains Alan Few, commercial manager with Mildren Construction. "It approached us as a civil engineer and we tendered for the job.
"The materials are slightly different," says Few. "The curves on the pavements are Chinese granite blocks and the house designs are different. The aim is to create the atmosphere of a rural English village."
Poundbury has its own building code designed to fly in the face of traditional development methods. The roads are built to make it difficult for cars to negotiate except at low speeds, and there are unconventional dimensions in and between buildings. Consequently there
are no driving irritations in Poundbury such as sleeping policemen, bollards or traditional traffic calming devices.
Other local building contractors have since come on board, including Morrish Builders.
"We built section C of phase 1 which included one-bedroom and two-bedroomed apartments," says Alex Maylen, engineering manager with Morrish Builders. "The principle is to create as dense a development as possible to bring people close to each other."
When asked if he would contemplate living in Poundbury, Maylen hesitates.
"At first I was a bit sceptical, but I think I would live here now. It generates a closeness."
The closeness is not just a matter of the design incorporating fewer detached houses and more terraced properties.
A close relationship has developed between all the parties concerned in the project's development.
"There is more co-ordination required," admits Maylen.
People might jump to the conclusion that an unreal atmosphere of "happy clappy" relations exists between the contractors, this is quickly dispelled by the Duchy's construction manager.
"The Duchy has to be commercial. Contractors like Mildren are here because they're good. We can't afford to throw money away. Although we are trying to do something different and a bit difficult, it's still got to be commercial."
Along with individual designs, there is also a heavy emphasis on sustainable development.
To this end, drainage specialist Atlantis Water Management, has been brought on to site to install its Geo-Cell tank system. Designed with new developments in mind, it manages storm-water runoff.
"We are basically mimicking nature," says Phil Williams, technical manager with Atlantis Water Management. "Before construction starts on site, we install our systems, which can and do guarantee zero discharge, and zero contamination from site. By using the Atlantis system, we are not putting any pressure on the current drainage systems infrastructure, which would otherwise be the cause of local flooding."
Geo-Cell modules bearing an uncanny resemblance to black milk bottle crates are installed in the ground. These are designed to capture surface water through infiltration and then clean and filter the water before it is allowed to recharge the water table, thereby providing moisture for surrounding vegetation.
Biologically engineered soil or washed river sand is laid above the Geo-Cell modules.
"Instead of having ponds for storm-water runoff, which could be a danger for children in housing estates, we create our pond below ground level. Above it, we install a play area for children," continues Williams.
Sustainable building methods are not going to be incorporated all at once.
"Grey water flushing has not yet been installed," says Savage. "But the Duchy is all for encouraging these things."
Despite the strong lead being taken by the Duchy, it nonetheless cannot be seen to be imposing its will on the building contractors. It can however, encourage developers to invest in sustainable building.
One aspect that is working well is the incorporation of social housing units that are being built by the Guinness Trust.
"Social housing has got to be interspersed and not built in a block so tenants are indistinguishable from private owners," states Savage. "While a percentage of social housing homes have been laid out in the planning regulations, we are not allowing it to be undertaken in a big batch."
In a high density development, how do the designers manage to maintain the almost unreal sense of architectural tidiness with no visible signs of services such as television aerials, satellite dishes and meter boxes?
"Aerials and satellite dishes are cabled to each house," explains Savage before adding that the occasional hiccup can occur.
One of the properties, fondly referred to as the 'pink castle', was designed in a strawberry Gothic style inspired by the English tradition of toll houses on the edge of many market towns.
While installing the boiler, the plumber inadvertently stuck the gas exhaust flue through the external wall, something that was definitely not part of the grand plan.
Rather than reposition the boiler, block the hole and repaint the entire elevation, the building contractor suggested that a stone gargoyle of a Welsh dragon's head enclose the gas vent pipe. So each time the boiler fires up, the hot air emanating from the dragon's mouth becomes a novelty rather than an eyesore.
"If you come here on a cold day, the bugger breathes," comments Savage.
Such novel remedies to a construction problem encapsulate the ethos of Poundbury.
While flying in the face of traditional UK house building methods, it challenges concepts that contractors and homeowners have enjoyed (or suffered) for decades.
Although the development has been unfavourably compared to the set of the 1960s cult television series The Prisoner and the fictional suburban community in The Stepford Wives where everything is impersonal, artificial and well-maintained, the project demonstrates that a high density urban development can be viable from a consumer as well as a building contractor's point of view.
And that definitely makes Poundbury worth a second glance. <F0A8>