Policy information sourced from Enfield’s Edmonton Leeside Area Action Plan

EL11 Building Form at Meridian Water

Part A: Building Configuration

Development proposals must:

  • Deliver both high quality design and high density development while ensuring the viability of the major infrastructure required by the development;
  • Ensure buildings conform to a height-to-width ratio appropriate for the street, achieved through design solutions such as upper storey set-backs, accent towers and breaks in blocks, as well as raised podium courtyards used to maximise aspect and access to daylight and sunlight;
  • Provide for the modification and adaptation of buildings and layout, including those of existing retail operators, so that they support comprehensive regeneration;
  • Set out an appropriate mix of uses, which could include commercial and other non-residential uses on ground and lower floor levels, with residential uses on higher floors;
  • Have a direct, positive and productive relationship with the public realm, providing natural surveillance;
  • Maximise unobstructed long views from roof terraces;
  • Protect residential privacy through appropriate measures including horizontal and vertical screens, angled windows or obscured glazing, and planting schemes;
  • Provide, where practical, roof gardens or green/brown roofs;
  • Include green walls where practical to provide visual interest, mitigate climate change and support biodiversity; and
  • For commercial units, where possible, incorporate a minimum of four metres floor to ceiling height to allow for flexibility of use;

Part B: Access to daylight and sunlight

Development proposals must:

  • Minimise the number of single-aspect dwellings; single aspect dwellings that are north-facing, or exposed to noise levels above which significant adverse effects on health and quality of life occur, or which contain three or more bedrooms should be avoided;
  • Ensure blocks maximise east and west facade lengths and minimise north and south façade lengths;
  • Maximise access to direct sunlight for both private and shared outdoor spaces;
  • Ensure the massing and orientation of residential blocks allows direct sunlight penetration into at least 50% of shared open space;
  • Ensure that for perimeter block buildings the layout and massing allows direct sunlight penetration into the internal courtyard; and
  • Ensure communal areas in terraced blocks receive direct sunlight.

Part C: Tall buildings

Justification for buildings taller than ten storeys above normal ground level must be provided by any development proposal. Development proposals for tall buildings at Meridian Water must:

  • Demonstrate the appropriateness of the site for one or more tall buildings, identifying the role and contribution of tall buildings as part of an overall vision for a place, and the wider area (not limited to Meridian Water boundary), and an assessment of the chosen location, against other possible sites appropriate for tall buildings;
  • Set out the relationship to transport infrastructure, the capacity of public transport, the quality of links between transport and the site, and the feasibility of making improvements, where appropriate as part of the wider consideration of tall buildings;
  • Assess the impact on, and contribution to, local communities, when determining the principles of development in relation to uses, context and design;
  • Assess the impact on the setting of heritage assets, including those beyond the Meridian Water and borough boundaries;
  • Where possible, be located on key routes, in particular significant places or junctions;
  • Avoid locating tall buildings on adjacent corners to prevent a ‘fortress like’ visual impact;
  • Avoid creating a ‘wall’ of tall buildings;
  • Ensure that development adjacent to the North Circular Road provides a buffer for buildings deeper within the Meridian Water area, while providing a high-quality frontage to the road;
  • Avoid overshadowing of adjacent buildings, especially towards principal rooms;
  • Avoid compromising the enjoyment of open spaces, including water spaces, through overshadowing;
  • Include measures to mitigate wind and microclimate issues in their surroundings;
  • Ensure appropriate design measures to optimise access to daylight and sunlight;
  • Where relevant, provide an attractive and active frontage to public open space; and
  • Assess the impact of underlying ground conditions and presence of land contamination to determine appropriate foundation depths and building height, and measures to protect groundwater resources.

This policy should be read in conjunction with Core Strategy policies 30, 37 and 38 and DMD policies 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, and 43.

For more information please see the Edmonton Leeside Area Action Plan