Project Information
Category
Residential / Developer
Location
East Sussex
Year
2022
Cost
Confidential
Client
Private
Architect
Ambient Studio
& ACOS
Located within a designated site for residential development within the South Downs National Park in East Sussex, only a stones throw from the south coast, the proposal seeks to create a community-orientated, sustainable development.
The proposal includes 56 new family homes, ranging between two-storey and three-storey, accommodating a range of 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms. The houses are arranged around a central green with integrated pedestrian paths and cycle ways, so to thread the development together with the surrounding townscape to either side. This encourages the development to become part of the wider neighbourhood, as opposed to becoming a stand-alone, satellite development that encourages a drive-in, drive-out culture.
Through careful site planning and focused landscape design criteria, notably through prioritising pedestrian walkways, shared surfaces, cycle paths, and shared open green space, the site encourages social interaction and community well-being. Separate, designated car parking areas limit on-street parking in front of houses, whilst front gardens remove typical fencing, garden walls or boundary lines, fostering a neighbourly environment.
The houses, whilst distinctly contemporary in appearance, are designed with reference to the local tones and textures of the surrounding vernacular. The proposed aesthetic draws inspiration from the use of pitched slate roofs and hung terracotta wall tiling, commonly seen amongst the local housing stock.
Houses are designed to exceptional environmental standards, and are constructed using environmentally friendly, off-site manufacturing processes, as opposed to more energy intensive, traditional on-site construction. Houses are designed with high levels of thermal efficiency and air tightness, and they harvest rainwater, solar energy for heating and electricity, and include mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems. Furthermore, ground source heat pumps, laid within the open green space, serve the entire community with efficient, low-cost heating and cooling.
Facade studies were undertaken to appraise material choices for the purpose of seeking early pre-application planning feedback from the local council.
Facade cladding options explored ceramic, porcelain, stone, terracotta, standing-seam metal, and fibre-cement.
Inspiration was taken from a wide range of local characteristics, be that the white chalk cliffs of the south coast, or the vernacular / aesthetic of traditional local housing.
A terracotta tile was adopted for its appropriateness to the surrounding townscape, whilst a dark metal standing seam roof was adopted for it’s tonal similarity to commonly identified slate tiles, coupled with it’s durable performance.
