The site is located within the Crawley town centre. The property occupies a prominent corner position at the junction of The Broadway and the pedestrianised Queen’s Square. The Broadway hosts a main bus route for the town centre and as a result the property benefits from strong pedestrian flow.

The existing building is three storeys high, comprising retail accommodation on the ground floor and office and ancillary accommodation at first and second floor level. The property benefits from rear access via a shared service yard which is accessed via The Boulevard. The existing building is dilapidated and in need of maintenance. There has been water damage from the roof in some of the units, the existing windows are not energy efficient and are in need of upgrading. Many of the existing spaces are underutilised and used for storage.

The proposal retains the retail on the ground floor and replaces ancillary retail space and office area on the first and second floors with 25 residential units. The scheme manages to provide this through the reconfiguration of the existing building and the provision of an additional storey. The ground floor retail units will be retained and enhanced.

The new scheme was dictated by the form and scale of the adjoining buildings to the site which form part of a continuous façade with the style and aesthetic also being echoed in other buildings in the area.