Plans for new supported housing on Firs Hill

Story: Priya Blackham

Building Design Partnership (BDP) has submitted a planning application on behalf of SouthYorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) for a specialised housing development on the site of Firshill Court, located on Firshill Crescent in Sheffield.

The housing is specifically tailored for the needs of adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD influences peoples relationship with the world and they are often sensitive to their surroundings, in particular the building in which they live.

The outlined proposal is for a 2 storey building with 14, 1 bed apartments, a communal lounge and some staff facilities.

The staff facilities are located to provide some passive supervision over the entrance area, though SYHA aim to promote the concept of self-supported accommodation and do not wish the building to appear as a more controlled environment. As a result, staff facilities are located at the first floor, away from the entrance area but are located to ensure that they can provide supervision over the car park and main entrance if required.

There have been concerns about the relationship of the building with the footpath however; the proposed building is set back further than the building that previously stood in the same location.

To provide a suitable level of passive surveillance over the footpath, large windows look directly across the footpath, in the absence of the adjacent bungalows. Alternatively, where the bungalows do look across the footpath, the projecting bay windows provide a view along the footpath and further south to Firshill Crescent and beyond.

For more information or to make a comment on the plans you can visit the planning website by following this link:

http://publicaccess.sheffield.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do ?activeTab=documents& keyVal=N5ZJISNYFY000

(The deadline for making comments on the plans is the 11th July)