To help sustain a balanced community, the proposed homes are in a range of sizes to cater for individuals, couples and families, in a central location within easy reach of Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester, as well as mainline rail services to London.
The proposals for the former Buzz Bingo site provide a sustainable, urban-centre solution to help Medway meet its significant need for new homes, in an area with a lack of deliverable land.
The new residents would help to support existing and new local businesses by generating more spending in the area, for instance in retail and hospitality.
The development delivers:
This development will transform a brownfield site, giving it a new lease of life and bringing an active frontage to a previously car-dominated location. The mixed-use nature of the scheme will create an eye-catching gateway to Chatham.
This development would add to the current investment in the town and be part of the delivery of a new and exciting new chapter for Chatham. It would sit alongside the redevelopment of:
There is a collage of architectural styles featured along the High Street to the east of the site, which demonstrates the area’s evolution and ranges from Georgian/Victorian to Art Deco, and Post-war to and more recent modern additions seen at Buzz Bingo. Each period brings with it a different palette of materials and colours.
On the High Street side the design of the proposed buildings reinterprets art deco in a modern contemporary style, without being a pastiche, to celebrate the former Ritz Cinema. While at the junction of the A2 and Union Street, the design celebrates Chatham’s military heritage, taking inspiration from the Grade II listed Ravelin Building – the Royal Engineers Museum, with its strong façade, with a contemporary reinterpretation. The buildings would be tied together by high-quality public realm, the roots the scheme in this part of Chatham.
Bounded on three sides by roads, the site is served by two points of vehicular access:
Pedestrian access is currently via the High Street.
Bringing new homes to the area helps to repopulate the town centre alongside other regeneration initiatives. The scheme will act as an anchor to the east end of the High Street and support the existing commercial and retail uses in the area. It will help bring balance to the place-based initiatives planned to the west end of the High Street and waterfront.
It will enhance the spirit of place and community and complement the efforts of the adjacent Big Lottery funded Arches Local, by supporting businesses and enhancing the area. The area pictured above shows the potential neighbourhood area for Arches Local.
The site is within the draft Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan. The plan is at a relatively early stage and includes residential development.
The proposals aim to create a residential-led mixed use development that will replace blank facades with an active frontage and a landscape buffer zone. This is an opportunity to improve a key gateway site and enhance the character at the intersection of The Brook, High Street and A2.
The buildings will breathe new life into this neglected area of land.
The development will:
As an under-used brownfield regeneration site, this is already a highly sustainable location, with the opportunity to improve its environmental performance.
Medway Council has declared a climate emergency, and our team is looking to help in getting to Net Zero by 2050 by following the new Part L standards. Designed to raise the environmental performance of new buildings, the standards seek to produce 60% less carbon emissions than homes delivered under forthcoming building regulations.
We understand and appreciate concerns over existing and future fuel poverty and are doing our best to ensure all new developments combat this for future tenants. As a result, this development will include low-cost, energy efficient, highly insulated homes by introducing air source heat pump systems supplemented by photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the buildings. Mechanical heat recovery will keep the heat in while rooms are still ventilated.
The new development will also introduce high levels of internal safe and secure bicycle storage for residents with bike electrical charging points, while the sustainable location will have at least 50% electric vehicle charging points.
The scheme will include extensive landscaping and planting to create healthier, greener streets that target a biodiverse net gain on site.
