Exciting and innovative architecture alone cannot make a successful and truly sustainable urban or suburban development. Homes and neighbourhoods will be occupied for many decades to come, and their long term success will depend on a mixture of thoughtful, adaptable design, the way they are managed and the experiences of the communities that occupy them. Our proposal envisions houses that are built to the highest possible environmental standards, are flexible and adaptable over time, have technology and the future proofing of technological development embedded in their design and have a strong focus on the importance of community in the lives of the individual and family.
We are proposing that the properties within a development are arranged around communal gardens shared by up to around 55 units, which would only be accessible via the units and not via the pubic realm. This would allow smaller developments (ie c. 55 units or less) to have a strong sense of community and identity, whilst larger developments could be split into a series of shared gardens, with a wider communal infrastructure and series of more public spaces linking the semi-private communal gardens.