Full Steam ahead for Frank Gehry design and 80 million in community benefits
Brighton & Hove Council’s Policy and Resources Committee yesterday supported the proposals by Karis and ING Real Estate for the redevelopment of the King Alfred site. The 300m project will deliver a much needed enlarged 48m sports centre, which will be fully privately funded, and an enabling residential scheme of 751 homes including the vital provision of 276 affordable homes at a subsidy of 32m.
The revised scheme has addressed all the concerns regarding massing and public realm previously raised by CABE and English Heritage and encompasses an enhanced and fully comprehensive package of sustainability features.
Siep Hoeksma, Country Manager, ING Real Estate said:”We are very pleased that councillors have endorsed the recommendations to Policy and Resources. We have evolved the plans to encompass people’s views and improve the scheme, including better design and integration, better public spaces and an even more sustainable scheme and we look forward to moving forward as quickly as possible.”
Councillors agreed that the new plans for the King Alfred redevelopment will deliver significant community benefits worth more than 80 million.
Josh Arghiros, Managing Director, Karis Developments said:”From the outset of this project we have been committed to providing an outstanding scheme for this site. The revised proposals demonstrate that we have listened very carefully to all the feedback we have received and this has been invaluable in helping us to develop new enhanced proposals that meet the needs and aspirations of the local community. It’s Full Steam Ahead now and we look forward to delivering this world class scheme for Brighton and Hove.”
The key changes include a significant redesign to address issues about bulk and height. The height of the buildings on Kingsway has been reduced by two storeys and now feature a curved roof and building profile to complement the sports centre design. The profile of the two towers has been refined and enhanced by increasing the height by three storeys. The colour of the buildings has been changed to a subtle white tone from the previous multi coloured palette and all the affordable homes now have a balcony. The new plans now include solar and wind energy, ‘green walls’ and extensive native wildlife friendly planting and vegetated shingle roofs – all designed to enhance the bio-diversity and local ecosystem.
