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Writer's pictureSafer Highways

Dowen Farmer wins consent to extend National Highways control centre


Dowen Farmer Architects has been granted planning approval to refurbish and extend a National Highways control centre in Surrey


The ‘sustainability-driven’ refurbishment and extension of Godstone HQ, a National Highways regional control centre in the greenbelt village of Godstone will ‘modernise’ the 2005 building and add a box-shaped office extension well as landscaping its surroundings.


The building’s interior spaces will be refreshed and replanned and an 11.3m-wide, two-storey extension added to align it with a ‘modern way of working’, incorporating office space, pods, breakout spaces and dedicated teaching spaces. The total project area includes 2,160m² of refurbished space and a 171m² extension. 


A derelict former police operations building on the site, built in the 1970s, will be demolished as it is ‘unfit for purpose’, according to Dowen Farmer, which says any salvageable materials will be reincorporated into the landscape design as paving.


Tandridge District Council approved the project in October, following a delegated decision by its chief planning officer.


In a report, the officer concluded: ‘The proposal will result in a reduction of built form on the site and will not encroach outside of the curtilages of the existing building or confines of the village.’

They said the extension, while ‘functional in appearance’, would ‘not detract from the architectural character of the host building providing a subservient addition and therefore is considered acceptable in terms of character and appearance’.


Dowen Farmer’s ‘fabric-first’' design approach includes using a semi-permeable façade to reduce the building’s heat load, ‘supplemented by renewables and low-energy appliances’.


Hit-and-miss brickwork for the proposed extension, with a dark water-struck brick, plays an important role in solar-shading the spaces oriented to the south to reduce overheating, according to the architect.


It said the project’s ‘robust’ material palette had been chosen to reflect the operational nature of the building’s function.


‘Self-finished and hard-wearing materials [have been chosen] to reduce maintenance requirements, while creating a timeless architectural character that will age gracefully,’ it added.

Construction is expected to start on site in early 2025.

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