Saturday, 4 February 2012

The Chosen Site

Terraced Houses on Bushell Pl, Preston


These are a row of Victorian Style terraced houses, which were built in the 19th century during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Form and Structure
Strengths: materials used are of good quality and have a very long life-span, it is 60% cheaper to maintain a Victorian house over 30 years that in is to build and maintain newly built houses (as per the 2005 English Heritage report Low Demand Housing and the Historic Environment).
Weaknesses: they are small inside, with very small rooms but high ceilings. The layouts tend to have a lot of corridor divisions which don’t have windows and are very dark. The staircases are very steep and narrow.  They are all the same, or have very slight variations.
Opportunities: it is important to realise that people will continue living in these houses for years to come, so there is a lot of room for creative design to make the living environment suit the modern world we live in and make the most out of the outer shell that has been present and will be present for years.
Problems: improvements are limited as the houses are crowded together in rows and there is no room for expansion. They were built near city centres, often on or near main roads, where people don’t want to live, so they have been converted to shops. 


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