In Brief…

BlackOnyx offers Dover Arms Court- 13 spacious and stylish apartments in Ash. This will be composed of:

6 x two-bedroom apartments

7 x one-bedroom apartments

There will be 15 car parking spaces for residents and their visitors.

History

This is the former Dover Arms public house site which ceased trading in early 2009 and which was subsequently used for car storage and sales. This site represents an exciting opportunity to provide a positive contribution to the emerging street scene in Ash.

The Dover Arms Public House before its demolition

The site of the Dover Arms in June 2023, used for car storage

Location

Dover Arms Court is in a highly sustainable location- Ash Railway station is within a 4-minute walk, which has direct connections into Guildford and Reading, with connecting services to London at around an hour. There are also three bus stops in the immediate area offering convenient services 7 days a week.

Design

As a corner site, there is a clear opportunity to create a high-quality design that responds well to both scale and form in this prominent and key location. The design appears as a sequence of buildings along the street scene rather than a single monolithic block which will help reduce visual massing of the design. The materials used will be traditional, with a modern twist, in keeping with the varied townscape character of Ash.

There will be soft landscaping and planting incorporated in the scheme. At present the site is completely covered in tarmac, so the aim is to introduce new tree planting and shrubs to the site to soften the built edge, as well as creating amenity area for the residents.

The scheme will be designed by SCd Architects who are a local architectural practice based in Surrey. They specialise in residential developments, with the aim of achieving design excellence for both local residents and final occupants. Over the years, their work has been recognised at a local level from the multiple awards given by Guildford Borough Council, Surrey Property Awards and the RIBA.

Projects designed by SCd Architects in Surrey

Proposed material features

Amenity

Great care has been taken not to be visually overbearing to neighbours or impact on daylight and sunlight enjoyed by the neighbours. The change of use from a car sales pitch to residential means there will be a considerable reduction in vehicle movements to and from the site, which will improve the existing access.

Artist’s impression of view from Guildford Road

Environment

Soft landscaping will be planted around the flats which will improve the current ecological value and look of the site. Electric vehicle charging points will be provided on all resident’s car parking spaces, while there will be cycle and refuse storage. We will be providing 10% biodiversity net gain on this site, in line with the current legislation.

Conclusion

This brown field site is an excellent opportunity for a new residential scheme incorporating 13 one- and two-bedroom apartments in a building of high architectural quality that meets the local housing needs, whilst also introducing soft landscaping and planting to provide a biodiversity gain on the plot. The benefit of a brownfield development delivering houses in a sustainable location is that it protects the need for building on the greenbelt.