Edgar Road Mews, Chadwell Heath

A structural assessment of the existing garages concluded that they were structurally unsound and that demolition and reconstruction represented the appropriate way forward. Architecturally they contributed little to the area. The redevelopment therefore created an opportunity to retain the useful function of the garage site while using the airspace above it to provide additional housing. This is the central development idea: the existing use was not simply removed to make way for housing; its function was reorganised and incorporated within the new building.

The previous withdrawn application, 2934/22, had generated a clear list of officer concerns. These included: perceived design quality; non-compliant room proportions; loss of the earlier three-bedroom arrangement; the quality of the residential entrance; and roof design. Cohanim systematically redesigned the scheme around those points rather than starting again without regard to the planning history. Internal layouts were enlarged and rationalised. The entrance sequence was redesigned. Fenestration gained greater depth and consistency. The roof composition was revised. Materials were simplified into a coherent contemporary architectural language. That direct response to the LPA's concerns was central to converting a stalled planning process into a permission.

Edgar Road demonstrates that a planning refusal or withdrawal does not necessarily indicate that the development principle is wrong. Sometimes the architecture simply has not yet resolved the planning problem. Here, the authority had already indicated that residential development could be acceptable. Rather than reopening every strategic question, Cohanim isolated the remaining areas of disagreement and redesigned the scheme specifically around them. The result was a much more focused planning process and, ultimately, a positive decision.

The approved accommodation comprises two two-bedroom self-contained homes above replacement garages. Each dwelling was designed to provide at least approximately 77 sqm of internal accommodation and to comply with applicable national and local space standards. The apartments also incorporated: private external amenity; balconies; cross ventilation; good natural light; ensuite and family bathroom provision; and dedicated residential access separate from the garage circulation. This was important because the previous planning difficulty had included the quality and proportion of the accommodation itself.

The site sits between two very different urban conditions. To one side are established lower-rise residential streets. To the other are more intensive commercial and mixed-use buildings towards the High Road. The architecture responds by controlling the scale closest to existing houses and allowing greater mass towards the less sensitive part of the site. Balconies and windows were also positioned to avoid direct overlooking of neighbouring habitable rooms, with obscure glazing introduced where required. The approach allowed the site to accommodate additional housing without simply treating every boundary as equally capable of accepting development.

The earlier scheme mixed traditional and contemporary elements in a way the subsequent review considered architecturally unresolved. Cohanim rationalised this into a clearer contemporary composition. The design introduced: standing-seam roof elements; deeper window framing; shadow gaps; coordinated coping details; aluminium profiles; a substantially improved entrance; and a more consistent relationship between façade and roof geometry. The intention was not simply to add visual complexity but to create sufficient depth and material quality for a small infill building to feel deliberate rather than residual.

Full planning application 0820/23 was granted by the London Borough of Redbridge on 16 June 2023. The permission authorised: demolition of the existing garages; construction of a three-storey building with replacement garage units at ground floor; and two two-bedroom self-contained residential units above, together with amenity space, cycle storage and refuse provision. The approved drawing package included Cohanim's architectural drawings, Design & Access Statement, Garage Condition Report and parking evidence. This followed the two earlier pre-application exercises and withdrawn full application undertaken before the successful scheme.

The approved design retained on-site parking / garage functionality rather than assuming that the site's established parking role could simply disappear. Access remained from Edgar Road but was rationalised through improved surfacing and signage. The planning work was supported by parking evidence and the retained arrangement was coordinated with the new residential entrance. Cycle parking was also required as part of the permission.

The existing garage court is dominated by hardstanding. The redevelopment incorporated SuDS block paving in place of conventional impermeable concrete, together with additional soft landscaping. This improves surface-water behaviour while also raising the quality of the arrival space around the new homes. Although modest in scale, it is an important part of converting the character of the site from service yard to residential mews.

The dwellings were provided with a dedicated residential entrance separated from garage activity, allowing privacy, access and fire separation to be considered from the outset. The eventual planning permission also imposed explicit fire-safety requirements covering means of escape, fire spread, evacuation, firefighting access and alarm / protection systems. This is particularly relevant to a scheme where residential accommodation is constructed directly above garage functions.

Following the 2023 consent, the project returned to development appraisal. The combination of market conditions and the legal arrangements associated with the garage areas meant that the approved two-unit scheme did not provide the level of viability originally anticipated. The client subsequently acquired No.20 Edgar Road, creating an opportunity to reconsider the relationship between the garage site and adjoining land. Cohanim was therefore asked to test whether the site could support a greater development yield. A further design exercise in 2025 explored a more intensive residential proposition while maintaining national space standards, parking for neighbouring properties, privacy, SuDS and the established access arrangement. That later work remains development optimisation rather than a consented achievement.

The important achieved position is clear: Cohanim inherited a previously stalled planning process and secured a full permission for the redevelopment of the garage block with new housing. That permission establishes both the acceptability of residential use and a successful architectural response to the site's unusual constraints. Since then, the client's landholding and development priorities have changed. Further options are therefore being examined to determine whether the existing permission can form the basis of a more commercially viable use of the wider holding. This is described here as ongoing development optimisation, pending a settled planning position.