Going Dutch

Kingston University will benefit from new student accommodation adjacent to its main site on Penrhyn Road. Planning consent was granted for the development, which comprises 89 ensuite rooms, communal lounges and kitchen areas. Approximately 400 square metres of retail space fronting the main road will be occupied by a convenience supermarket. The proposals will help meet the identified shortfall of 2,500 student rooms required in Kingston.

Kingston is one of three London boroughs to be awarded multi-million pound funding from Transport for London to implement a ‘mini Holland’ scheme. The initiative aims to make the locality as cycle-friendly as Dutch towns, encouraging people to cycle more often. The programme specifically targets people who make short car journeys. As a result, six new cycle routes will be introduced and a major cycle hub is to be created.

Alex Creevy, Development Director at CKC Properties Limited, development managers for the site, says, “Motion is our retained transport and highway consultant and has provided advice for a number of our student accommodation developments around the country. He continues, “The transport requirements were complicated by the fact that one of the routes for the proposed ‘mini Holland’ scheme will run adjacent to the site”.

A Motion Associate Director comments, “We had to ensure that access, servicing and deliveries could be accommodated in future, when the scheme becomes operational. The constant flow of cyclists along the new route means that the on-street layout needs to be reconfigured by changing residential and pay-and-display parking.”

An abridged version of this article first appeared in the Autumn 2015 issue of Insight.

Image copyright: 5plus Architects