Marlow Architects’ proposed house for Panorama Road in Sandbanks was refused planning permission by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in January over fears that it would be harmful to the Sandbanks conservation area.
The practice has now submitted a fresh planning application for the scheme, which includes new supporting heritage information as well as some minor design tweaks, the AJ understands.
A resubmitted planning statement explains that the revised scheme ‘has altered the selection of materials used’ to ‘enable the proposal to blend in with the sylvan setting’.
Changes include replacing concrete elements with Purbeck Stone, adding a charred dark grey finish to timber elements on the upper floors, and adding a Cor-ten effect finish to the horizontal bands that define the façade.
Source:Marlow Architects (taken from planning portal) / Marlow Architects and Carl Williams Visualisation
Marlow Architects’ revised scheme for a luxury home in Dorset (left), with tweaks to a previously refused design (right)
The proposal, which otherwise remains largely unchanged, would involve demolishing the site’s existing seafront cottage, replacing it with a two-storey, five-bedroom home for recruitment mogul Tom Glanfield. The scheme includes improvement works to the site’s existing sea wall.
A fresh heritage statement by planning consultancy tor&co insists the proposal ‘is of exceptional design quality and will enhance the conservation area’ by ‘lifting the architectural quality of new buildings within it’ and by improving the existing sea wall.
The new application has already received more than 20 letters of support from consultees.
Marlow Architects founder Laurie Marlow told the AJ his practice was ‘very proud of the design’ of the house, which he said had been supported by architects from across the UK.
He added: ‘We hope that the local authority takes a different stance with this new application as it’s clear it has a large amount of public support.’
Existing cottage
Council planning officers refused the original planning application on 10 January, saying that knocking down the existing property would cause ‘significant harm’ to the Sandbanks conservation area for what it described as a ‘boxy’ and ‘generic’ replacement.
According to the planning rules, a replacement for the existing cottage, which is not listed but is considered a ‘non-designated heritage asset’, would be fine provided it were of ‘exceptional’ design quality.
But the officers insisted Marlow’s new-build did not fit the bill due to its ‘rather generic contemporary design’ and ‘boxy appearance’, which would ‘jar against the remaining quality Edwardian villas along Panorama Road’.
Marlow told the AJ at the time that the decision was a ‘gross misunderstanding’ of the project, which he insisted was ‘befitting of the character of Sandbanks’ and would enhance the site.
He added: ‘We want to create a piece of architecture that will stand the test of time. It’s not viable to extend [the existing property]. It would be doing the quality of the site a disservice if we did that.’
Marlow’s client, Glanfield, purchased the site for a reported £13.5 million. When she scheme was refused he said he was ‘extremely disappointed … especially considering the large amounts of local positivity the proposal received’. The original application had received several supporting letters and no objections.
He insisted he would ‘continue to pursue the sensitive and eco-friendly redevelopment of this very special site,’ describing the design proposal as ‘a personal vision of mine.’
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council declined to comment on a live application.
Marlow Architects’ proposed scheme, June 2024
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