"The Post Office site extends to 0.17 hectares and is situated in Aberystwyth town centre at the eastern end of a block defined by Great Darkgate Street on the north, Chalybeate Street on the east, Queen Street on the south and Bridge Street at the western end.

The site is connected to and including the attractive Edwardian three storey main Post Office building, which addresses Great Darkgate Street. The main area of the site is behind the Post Office and is enclosed by the Victorian buildings that line the surrounding streets. It contains two 1960'/70's adjoining red brick two storey buildings, which are currently used as a sorting and administration office. The remaining portion of the site consists of a vehicle loading and access yard, which has a gateway onto Chalybeate Street.

There is a second vehicular access to the south west corner of the site from Queen Street. The majority of the site is hidden from view by the mix of two and three storey Victorian buildings that are typical of Aberystwyth town centre.

For the purposes of this brief the area considered as the site has been loosely drawn to include three two storey terraced buildings with ground floor retail use on Great Darkgate Street. Whilst the incorporation of these units has yet to be fully explored with the owners and leaseholders of these buildings, their inclusion provides an opportunity for the site to have considerable street frontage on the main street of the town.

Queen Street to the south of the site is primarily residential and has no active retail frontage. The mix in scale of the buildings is generally consistent with that of the rest of the medieval town centre. However, the access requirements of some retail outlets fronting Great Darkgate Street have 'punched' holes in the built edge to the north side of Queen Street.

Aberystwyth is experiencing demand for retail development and has some capacity for growth in this sector to enhance the town's role as a regional centre. A retail needs study has been carried out on behalf of Ceredigion County Council by CACI who are acknowledged experts in retail development.

They have proposed that the capacity for further growth in retail development outside of the town centre is limited and have identified a need to enhance the provision for shopping in the town centre.

They stress the need for this to be done in such a way that the strong independent sector in Aberystwyth is supported and enhanced. The Post office Sorting Office site has been identified as one of the major opportunities to provide a new retail draw within the town centre, thus strengthening the its as a destination for shoppers.

This will balance the new retail development around the station area and emphasise the old town centre as the heart of the town. The entire site lies within the defined Conservation Area and this places a requirement on proposals for the site to conserve, preserve or enhance visual, architectural and historic amenities and the character or appearance of existing buildings.

The aim should be to avoid the dilution of the retail offer that has happened in other towns as larger shops have gravitated to edge-of-town or out-of-town locations.

In the future, the redeveloped Post Office site will play an important role in strengthening the town centre by providing a new 'anchor' development that will attract shoppers locally and within the region. It offers an access and presence on Great Darkgate Street and Chalybeate Street and strengthens them as destinations.

The store would sit behind the existing buildings on Great Darkgate Street and Chalybeate Street essentially retaining the character of the street scene, although some smaller units may be redeveloped to create prime retail frontage for the new store onto Great Darkgate Street.

The new store should achieve a high quality of design and set the standard for any redevelopment or refurbishment of the existing larger retail units. The use of traditional materials on the new department store frontages like stone, steel, timber and glass in a contemporary way should match the best of Aberystwyth's existing architecture.

The secondary frontage on Chalybeate Street should retain existing buildings and comprise a contemporary architectural intervention into the gap between the exisiting Victorian buildings to either side.

The Post Office Site is currently entirely in the ownership of the Royal Mail Group. However, there is an understanding that an option to develop the site is in place subject to the RMG finding a suitable alternative location for the sorting office.

The existing buildings surrounding the Post Office are in private ownership.

Its design will help to announce the heart of the town centre and terminate the end of Cambrian Place, creating a local landmark. The contemporary design of the facades should reflect the light, airy and modern retail environment created within the block.

The marked change from the traditional external space to the modern interior should set a benchmark example of how to provide the modern shopping experience within a traditional streetscape.

From the higher ground around the edge of town however there is an opportunity for the top floor of the department store to be designed to be a landmark to the local area with a roof floating just above the surrounding Victorian buildings.

There is an opportunity to introduce a mix of uses into the upper level, for example through the provision of residential apartments with views over the rooftops of the town. However this would need to be designed to integrate sensitively with the roofscape, colours, textures and 'grain' of the rest of the 'Old Town'.

Compactness

The development of this site shall maximise the space available for the development within the constraints of retained buildings and frontages on the adjacent streets.

For reasons of commercial viability this may result in proposals that are slightly taller than the surrounding buildings. This would be acceptable subject to these proposals not conflicting with the other design objectives for the site specifically or Aberystwyth generally.
Development proposals should consider the incorporation of residential uses to optimise the use of the site and minimise the need for Greenfield development elsewhere.

Access and ease of movement

The main commercial access to the development will be on the prime shopping pitch of Great Darkgate Street.
Secondary access will be provided on Chalybeate Street, although for people entering the town centre by foot from this direction this will be an important entrance to the store.

Vehicular access for deliveries should be via the Queen Street entrance to the building, thereby minimising conflict or congestion at the other entrances.

Legibility

The development will create a significant new retail frontage to Great Darkgate Street reinforcing its identity as the town's primary shopping area.
The design quality of the Chalybeate Street frontage should help to reinforce the sense of arrival in the town centre for people entering the town from this direction. The design quality of this frontage shall add significantly to the character of this street and act as an attractive focal point at the end of views west down Cambrian Place and Cambrian Street.
There is an opportunity to create a landmark building for Aberyswyth that contributes to views from Constitution Hill and pen Dinas Hill.

Continuity and enclosure

The development site shall retain the continuity of street frontage and enclosure provided by the existing built frontage on Chalybeate Street.

The development shall also retain the enclosure of the great Darkgate Street frontage by respecting the existing building line and the scale of the three storey buildings on either side of the frontage.

Resource efficiency

The design of the development will seek to contribute to the achievement of the WAG commitment to achieve 'Zero Carbon' development by 2011.
Buildings shall be designed to maximise passive design i.e. by optimising the benefits of insulation and solar gain.

Materials with low embodied energy (i.e. natural local materials) should be used wherever possible together with construction techniques that make future maintenance and repairs simple and cost effective.
Resource efficiency should be considered through to the micro level, for example through the selection and use of materials and building techniques."

Extracts from the Football Club Brief by LDA on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government's Department of Environment and Transport and Ceredigion County Council