'Grand Designs' style home planned for former Derbyshire pump house
Plans would see the building extended and fitted with solar panels
Last updated 4th Nov 2021
Plans to turn an historic former Derbyshire pump house close to a reservoir into a four-bed Grand Designs-style home are set for approval.
The former water storage and pump house off Bog Lane between Melbourne and Ticknall, close to Staunton Harold Reservoir, was built in the late 1940s.
It was sold in 2016 by Severn Trent Water and there are now plans to convert and extend the disused buildings and turn them into a four-bedroom house with a modern design built into the hillside.
South Derbyshire District Council planning officers, recommending approval, said the development would “result in the long term retention of an undesignated heritage asset and would achieve a high level of design”.
A final decision will be made by councillors on Tuesday, November 9.
The developer, D and H Challen & Fitzgerald, says the existing buildings would be retained.
It would be extended and the extensions would be clad with timber, built out of red brick and a zinc roof, which would also have solar panels attached to it.
Artistic impressions of the proposed building has the appearance as if it is climbing up the hill from the pump house, including a two-storey extension. Brick stairs would lead down the embankment, inset into the hillside.
A terrace area would sit outside a large glazed extension. The pump house would gain a large glazed wall which opens out onto the rear of the property. This is one of few proposed changes to the outside of the pump house.
The former water tank on site would be converted into a garage space.
A document from architect HarmerFitzDouglas says that the aim was to keep the current buildings intact but blend it in with the existing surrounding environment.
It says: “The approach implemented here is predicated on the premise of keeping the pump house intact (i.e. not lifting the roof) and giving it space to breathe so that it can be read as an entity in its own right, with the new intervention clearly defined. This results in a design concept that is legible in it’s evolution.
“The proposed scheme reduces the overall built footprint by bringing the garage structure into the tank. This reduces the areas of hardstanding, minimising water run off and maximising opportunities for soft planting and increased bio -diversity.”
The buildings on site existed before Staunton Harold Reservoir was constructed in 1964.
Council planners write:
“The works for the current application involve less intervention into the existing pump house building, avoiding the lifting of the roof.”
The council’s conservation officer has said that timber cladding would not be suitable.
One letter has been submitted by a resident supporting the conversion and extension of the buildings but raising concerns about drainage from the site and room for vehicles to park and make deliveries.
Council officers wrote:
“All conversions should result in the enhancement of the building’s immediate setting. Whilst the existing pumping hall building and underground storage tank are not listed buildings or located within a conservation area, it is likely they were built in the inter-war period and the proposed application presents an opportunity to retain a disused building and retain it as a non-designated heritage asset.
“The pumping hall is of a brick type construction and both the pumping hall and underground water tank would be of substantial construction to facilitate conversion without excessive structural elements being incorporated.
“Overall, the proposed development would secure good design which would respond positively to the industrial heritage of the site. The sunken garage would also assist in reducing the ‘suburban’ appearance of the site and this could be further worked on through landscaping details which reflect the site’s location within the National Forest.”