Manor Farm Development, Dronfield

In 2017, T.A.D. Architects are looking forward to working with our new client Rykneld Homes, and their partners North East Derbyshire District Council, on a prestigious project of new houses and apartments set to be created in the historic heart of Dronfield.

The old Manor Farm site on High Street will be brought back to life and transformed to create six apartments in the existing buildings and four; new family homes on adjacent land.

Last year Rykneld Homes and the Council held an open architectural competition to find an imaginative housing design for the site.  A design by T.A.D., was chosen which will go forward for planning approval with a view to work starting on site later in 2017.

Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, Leader of the Council, said:

“The Manor Farm development is one of the most exciting regeneration schemes the Council and Rykneld Homes have undertaken. The key strategic approach to this project is to create a high quality scheme of housing for open market sale, to provide a significant financial surplus to support the Council and Rykneld’s ongoing investment programme in new and refurbished publicly owned homes. The project will directly support housing for rent in Dronfield.

“Set in the historic heart of Dronfield, this is a gem of a site which deserves an innovative and inventive solution to bring more homes into the area. We think this is a fantastic opportunity to create something special and demonstrate how we can transform part of our past to create something new and relevant to the needs of residents and the town.

“Our concept is for a development that consolidates Dronfield town centre as an attractive and vibrant place to live and work, which protects and enhances its heritage and showcases the very best that can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together.”

The proposed development will be for a mixture of one and two bedroomed apartments within the existing Manor Farm building and a mixture of family homes on the adjacent land.

The scheme will see the refurbishment of the existing building to a high standard. The new homes will have contemporary features such as semi-open dinning, large kitchens, south facing gardens and real open fires.

The Manor Farm scheme is just one of the exciting new build and regeneration projects being undertaken by Rykneld Homes in partnership with both private and other public sector organizations.

Niall Clark – Director of Property Services and Development at Rykneld Homes, said:

“Rykneld Homes is keen to explore all opportunities to build more homes in our district.  As well as providing more social housing, we are also diversifying and this year will start to build homes for shared ownership and for sale in the private sector.

“Our close partnership with North East Derbyshire District Council is key to our success. The partnership seeks to work with other providers to explore new and emerging funding sources and land availability to achieve our goal of additional housing in the district.”

T.A.D.’s Director for Housing, David Rayworth looked forward to the development of the scheme;

“We have been expanding our expertise in the public and private housing sectors over the last 2 years which has been achieved through the delivery of a number of schemes across the Yorkshire and East Midlands region. We are looking forward to using our experience and expertise working together with Rykneld Homes and North East Derbyshire District Council to develop this exciting scheme, bringing these buildings back into use and creating a Place within the heart of Dronfield that the local community can be proud of.”

T.A.D.’s competition entry for the site proposed an elegant restoration of the existing buildings on the site into a number of high quality 1 and 2 bed apartments that maximise the potential of the height of the internal spaces. The rest of the site was developed for family homes that create a courtyard with the existing buildings.

T.A.D. have used their experience of the private for sale market sector to develop the design and specification to meet Rykneld and the Council’s objectives of a high quality development that enhances the existing area, whilst being a catalyst for future investment in publicly owned homes for rent in the local area.