Mason and Marlowe is proud to have secured planning permission for the conversion and vertical extension of the former Council office block known as Platinum House on Sadler Street within Middleton Town Centre to form 15no. apartments comprising 10no. 1 bedroom, 3no. 2 bedroom and 2no. 3 bedroom units.
The site falls within the Middleton Town Centre Conservation Area. The building is three-storeys in height and was constructed in the late 1950’s with curtain wall glazing to the front elevation. The building fronts Sadler Street to the south, set adjacent to a commercial unit to the east and an industrial unit to the west. The building is cut into the land to the north, with a retaining wall demarcating the boundary with a vegetated area formerly associated with a now demolished bowling club.
The site also falls within the boundary of the Middleton Town Centre Masterplan (the Masterplan) which was adopted in March 2023. The Masterplan provides a series of ambitions for the town centre in respect guiding principles for new development. Within this masterplan, the areas adjacent to Long Street are grouped within the ‘Jubilee Hill’ area, which recognises the group value of heritage assets and the function of the area as a movement corridor. The Masterplan seeks to maximise potential development opportunities within the urban area to achieve a target of 80% of new housing on previously developed land (PDL). Given the site qualifies as PDL, it is considered that it would make a valuable contribution towards this target.
Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan (PfE) Policy JPH-1 sets out the requirement for Rochdale to deliver 10,472 dwellings over the plan period to 2039, at an average of 616 dwellings per year, increasing periodically, with the delivery target at 568 dwellings over 2022-25. Given the site’s location within Middleton Town Centre and the opportunity identified within the Middleton Town Centre Masterplan, the approved development would contribute towards the vitality of the Town Centre in addition to the wider regeneration and placemaking ambitions set out in the adopted Masterplan. The development would make a valuable contribution towards the Borough’s housing supply.
In light of its communal interest and distinctive architecture, the building has been identified as a non-designated heritage asset; comprising former Council offices dating from the late 1950’s; with a distinctive curtain-wall glazed front elevation, and is regarded to make a positive contribution to the Middleton Town Centre Conservation Area (the Conservation Area) which it sits within.Hence, the proposed vertical extension and conversion design enhance and preserve the historical building’s design and architecture.
The vertical extension would be set in from the front and side elevations of the building, with a recess across each elevation of the extension accommodating fenestration. The extension would be clad in brown coated metal. The ground floor includes several ancillary storage facilities set towards the rear.
More importantly, the upwards extension will; make use of contrasting material palette, align windows in the extension with existing ones, and preserve the original fenestration patterns to the front elevation which contribute most to the building’s historical significance. The approved development would enable the existing detailing and form to be easily distinguished from the discernibly more contemporary extension
Given its town centre location, the site is well served by amenities and public transport including Long Street 70m east, Tesco Superstore 230m to the south and Middleton Shopping Centre & bus station 350m to the southwest.effectively.
You can trust us because our passion is helping people achieve their goals through architecture and securing the requisite permissions for you to do so – whether it’s creating a home where you feel safe and secure or developing spaces for commercial or residential uses. We pride ourselves on understanding the complexities of planning policies and navigating the best routes to securing approvals for your projects by being able to adapt our designs based on the National Planning Policies Framework (NFFP) and our accumulated knowledge from the vast array of planning permission we’ve successfully obtained over the years. We also believe in staying involved throughout the entire process so that nothing gets missed along the way. Hence, the final product feels like it was always meant to be there even if it looked completely different from how you first imagined it would when we started working together.
