A corner site on Midland Road in Luton's station quarter — within 200 metres of the railway station, adjacent to a seven-storey multi-storey car park, and sitting within a rapidly regenerating area where consented schemes nearby rise to eleven storeys. The existing two-storey commercial building significantly underused both the site and its location.

A previous architect had submitted a pre-application for an extension to the existing building. The council raised concerns about design quality, residential layout, and scale. RIDE reviewed the feedback and recommended a different approach: full demolition and rebuild. This allowed a purpose-designed mixed-use building with coherent structure, improved residential quality, and a stronger townscape response — rather than a scheme constrained by an existing building that couldn't resolve the council's concerns.

The proposed scheme delivers six apartments above a ground-floor commercial unit, in a six-storey form that sits at the lower end of the established height range for Midland Road. The design uses cream stock brick with sage green metalwork and a set-back zinc-clad top storey, responding to the Conservation Area opposite while reading clearly as contemporary architecture.

RIDE led the pre-application submission to Luton Borough Council, addressing each of the council's previously stated concerns directly and building the height justification around consented local precedent.

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