M2dude----- you might be correct in saying that the side strut was for space saving considerations. However in the design office old habits die hard and you will find that the support stay on the Bristol Britannia was very similar to Concordes main gear side strut, with locking fingers etc.and even looked similar
In fact quite a bit was transferred from previous aircraft designs to Concorde , such as the 4 fwd cabin door are very similar to that of the VC-10 as is the oxygen system.