Frankham Consultancy Group

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Castle Mill graduate housing designed by Frankham Consultancy Group Limited, under construction in January 2013, from the Walton Well Road railway bridge to the north.
Similar view in April 2013.
View from the Castle Mill Stream at the southern end of Port Meadow, across the Cripley Meadow Allotments.

Frankham Consultancy Group Limited is a British company based at Sidcup in southeast Greater London, England, that provides design, engineering, and consultancy services for the built environment. The company also has regional offices on the Wootton Business Park at Wootton near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Haywards Heath in West Sussex, and central London.[3]

The company was incorporated in 2002[4] and the company's Chairman is Steve Frankham.[5] The company's website claims that "The company exists to improve the surroundings in which we all live and work." and continues to say "our projects have one thing in common……they improve peoples’ lives".[6]

Controversy

St Barnabas Church campanile obscured by new Castle Mill graduate accommodation buildings, at the southern end of Port Meadow.[1][2]
Main article: Castle Mill

On 7 November 2011, the company issued a design document[7] to Oxford University for a new student accommodation development at Castle Mill in Oxford, a one-hectare site (400m × 25m), north of the existing accommodation, between the Cripley Meadow Allotments and the railway tracks, close to the southern end of Port Meadow, with a contract value of £21.5 million,[8] being built by Longcross. The development has proved controversial due to the lack of public consultation, since the four to five storey blocks overlook Port Meadow, a historic open area to the north with views of Oxford's skyline.[9] Campaigners have warned of damage to views of Oxford.[10][11] The development has been likened to building a "skyscraper beside Stonehenge".[12]

In March 2013, it was revealed the Oxford City Council was warned about the threat to the views from Port Meadow.[2] The Head of Heritage at the Council reported on "the harmful impact" with a conclusion that "There is no justification for this harm".[13] It was reported that revised plans were submitted, reducing the height of the blocks by 1.2m on 9 February 2012, yet the planning officer's report recommending approval of the revised scheme was dated 3 February 2012.[2] The height change has a negligible effect in practice.[14]

In June 2013, Castle Mill was nominated for the 2013 Carbuncle Cup, an annual award by Building Design for "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months."[15] It is described as "A deeply unimaginative and impoverished design which would lower the spirits whatever its setting, but on the edge of one of central England’s most important and ancient landscapes, it is an outrage."

References

  1. ↑ Little, Reg (14 March 2013). "Meadow flats fight heading for court". The Oxford Times. pp. 1, 3. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Little, Reg (21 March 2013). "Council 'was warned' about meadow threat". The Oxford Times. pp. 1, 5. 
  3. ↑ "Contact". UK: Frankham Consultancy Group. Retrieved 2 May 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Frankham Consultancy Group Limited". UK: Company Check. Retrieved 3 May 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Steve Frankham". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 May 2013. 
  6. ↑ "About us". UK: Frankham Consultancy Group. Retrieved 3 May 2013. 
  7. ↑ Frankham Consultancy Group (7 November 2011). "Design and Access Statement for News Student Accommodation at Castle Mill, Oxford". PortMeadow.org. Retrieved 2 May 2013. 
  8. ↑ "Castle Mill — Student Accommodation". Frankham Consultancy Group. Retrieved 2 May 2013. 
  9. ↑ "City 'has to pay a price' to preserve Green Belt". The Oxford Times. 1 November 2012. pp. 1, 3. 
  10. ↑ Little, Reg (2 November 2012). "Save our famous views for hideous developments". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 4 November 2012. 
  11. ↑ Little, Reg (2 November 2012). "Save our famous views for hideous developments". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 4 November 2012. 
  12. ↑ Little, Reg (7 February 2013). "Historian takes university to task over 'visual disaster' of Port Meadow flats". The Oxford Times. p. 3. 
  13. ↑ Worlledge, Nick (24 January 2012). "Internal heritage advice, made on the 24th January 2012 on the scheme as originally submitted". Oxford City Council, via Oxford Mail. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  14. ↑ Fantato, Damian (25 March 2013). "Spot the difference — images of Castle Mill scheme show variation between unacceptable and acceptable heights". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Carbuncle Cup nomination — Castle Mill housing, Port Meadow, Oxford by Frankham Consultancy Group". UK: bdonline.co.uk. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013. 

External links

Panoramic view south from Port Meadow of new Castle Mill graduate housing designed by the Frankham Consultancy Group.

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