72m²
ADH-003. Illustrative visualisation, not the project.
Two derelict railway arches under the line at Millwall Park, to become a community centre with a prayer space. The client is the contractor. The building is community funded, which means every decision has to be explained to a committee and to the people who paid for it. We are leading the project from survey to planning submission and selecting and briefing the specialists the client appoints.
Before we drew anything we obtained the full planning history of the neighbouring arches. Three applications. Two were refused on flood risk. One was approved in 2010. Reading the approved one in full is where the project changed.
| Year | Description | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Change of use | Approved |
TO FOLLOW | Description to follow | Refused flood risk |
TO FOLLOW | Description to follow | Refused flood risk |
The approved permission next door carries a condition restricting opening to 09:00 to 20:00 on weekdays. A condition in the same terms on the application would have given the client permission that did not cover the building's intended use. In the supplied indicative February example, dawn prayer falls outside those hours. The full schedule is to be confirmed.
The client would have planning permission, and a building nobody could pray in.
Choose an indicative prayer time.
We found the condition before submission, not after, and rebuilt the strategy around it. The application now addresses hours of use directly, with the evidence for why the building needs them and how the impact on neighbours is managed, rather than waiting for the Council to impose the standard condition. We want to be clear that this is a judgement call and it carries a risk: asking for hours the neighbouring consent does not have invites scrutiny. The alternative was a permission the building could not use.
Judgement call. Stated to the client in writing before submission.
Survey: complete. Feasibility: complete. Specialists: briefed. Planning application: in preparation.
Stage dates are to follow.
| Stage | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Survey | Date to follow | complete |
| Feasibility | Date to follow | complete |
| Specialists | Date to follow | briefed |
| Planning application | Date to follow | in preparation |
Survey and proposed drawings will be shown here once cleared for publication.