WHAT MAKES A PLACE SPECIAL? Newtown exercise Slide 2 Note These
outputs reflect the discussion at the seminar The responses are
those of the participating groups as fed back in plenary rather
than the product of a detailed analysis The report therefore
illustrates what a workshop of this kind can produce; it is not a
finished discussion of either character area Slide 3 Investigation
Brainstorm features in the built environment that contribute to an
understanding of character Suggest the features that are key to
analysing any area of a town Apply these generic features to an
analysis of Sycamore Drive Slide 4 Character elements Building
materials Palette Street layout (grid, etc) Building line Roof line
Density Use/status/class Variety/uniformity Boundaries
(hedges/railings) Slide 5 Character elements Relationship to
topography Continuity with earlier landscape features Landscape
treatment Greenery Amenity Height/massing Building
style/date/uniformity Fenestration detail Survival of original
features Public and private space Slide 6 Character elements
Movement patterns Permeability/legibility Pavements, footpaths,
lanes Use of rear to properties Change of use Adaptability Slide 7
Penygloddfa Slide 8 Penyglodda Grid layout 2-3 storeys Materials:
brick, render, slate, cast iron Building line directly to pavement
Surviving original detail (porches, doors, window detail) Lower
windows sash/upper casements Back to back, high density, terraces
Use: residential/handloom weaving lofts Use: some factories
(conversions) Slide 9 Penygloddfa Some gaps in fabric Topography
(sloping site) Layout reflects earlier field boundaries Uniformity
of period linked to development of handloom weaving and growth in E
19C/uniformity of style On-street parking Yards to rear (note
openings to yards) Lack of street trees; plot rears and vacant
sites adapted to gardens/green space Slide 10 Penygloddfa Little
modern infill Sharp boundaries to character area and separation
from Edwardian and later upslope and to W Higher status residential
in Crescent St? Corner shop, pub, museum Compact area Wide streets
Attractive detailing (brick, timber detail) Some Regency features
to more pretentious units: arches, hoodmoulds, doorcases) Slide 11
Sycamore Drive Slide 12 Sycamore Drive 1984-94 Slide 13 Sycamore
Drive Part of private housing estate: contrasts with public housing
of 1970s (predominant in modern Newtown) but part of recent
expansion as service and retail centre Development in phases
(Beechwood Drive/Brynglas Ave earliest, pre 1994); still building
2009 at NW end of Sycamore Drive (laid out parallel to Old Barn
Lane post 1994) Spine road/culs de sac Follows contours of hillside
Mainly semi-detached, some link with front and rear gardens Slide
14 Sycamore Drive Wide, curving spine road Mainly two storey but
recent three-storey town houses Brick (some variation of
shade/palette), uPVC Uniformly residential Individual treatment of
frontages/gardens Some conversion of front gardens to hard standing
Later development is denser Variety offered by variation of house
type and individualisation of private space, but not locally
distinctive Slide 15 Sycamore Drive Distant from amenities Car
dependent/wide streets Parking in garages/hard standing Recent town
houses have no front garden space to reflect needs of multiple car
ownership Limited connection with earlier street pattern Typically
L20C/E21C suburban: anytown Backed by farmland and hillside
attractive urban edge setting Solar panelling reflects adaptation
in energy supply by individual owner
