A designer has defended the rise of modernist architecture in historic surroundings.

A string of new developments in Lewes has angered traditionalists who believe the properties are not in keeping with the historical character of the area.

But award-winning Duncan Baker-Brown, director of Lewesbased BBM Sustainable Design, thinks some modern properties fit in with their locality and bring the area into the 21st Century.

He won last year's Ibstock Downland Prize for best new build for his environmentally friendly house in Windover Crescent, Lewes, where he lives with wife Kate and 18-month-old daughter Molly.

He said: "I agree that some new houses can look out of place and not in keeping with the area.

"But we have to allow some 21st Century architecture to keep the town alive. Otherwise it would be like living in a museum.

"Lewes High Street is in architectural books for its 500 years of history but if you walk down it there are buildings from different eras."

Residents have made countless complaints to Lewes District Council over The Villas property development on Grange Road, which they say is a monstrosity. Nicholas Roe, a journalist who lives two doors away, wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "The houses remind me of a vast Atlantic liner, dwarfing and bullying the neighbourhood. Passers-by stop and gawp. The houses have an utter lack of sympathy with the place."

Owlet Cottage in St Martin's Lane has been refurbished in a modern style which has infuriated actor Michael York, whose parents used to own it.

Three modern town houses are being built in Albion Street. In Castle Ditch Lane two town houses have been refurbished and two newly built.

But Lewes District Council planners say they are attractive and "respond well to their local context". It is likely more will be built.

Mr Baker-Brown's home, Sparrow House, is the result of 15 years of planning applications. It won council approval after he promised to cut the house into the slope of the land and keep the roof line low.

The house is a sustainable property with thick lambswool insulation, a solar panel for heating and an energy-efficient backup boiler.

The family's average quarterly gas bill is about £10. Mr Baker-Brown, 40, said: "Our house is on a Twenties-to-Fifties housing estate so we are not in a conservation area and have a different set of criteria.

"Previous proposals had been bungalows that were too wide and would be overbearing for the neighbours so we designed a skinny house it's only 6m by 17m. Most of the neighbours are happy with the house."

May 16, 2005