This project for 14 new-build Passive Houses in rural Kent presented real challenges, particularly its location next to the busy Thanet Way. It was also one of the most exciting projects we have worked on.  

Stephen was heavily involved in the Masterplanning team, putting forward a strategy for a different kind of rural development. The idea is that these houses, while fully serviced and accessible, would somehow feel like houses in the landscape, not a typical car-dominated development.   Planning constraints demanded such an approach, but it was also the right thing to do.   There are no ring roads or formal pavements.   In fact, there are barely any roads at all - just spaces that cars are permitted to drive on.   This places the pedestrian first, and slows down the pace of the whole site.   These are houses in the woodland.

The site, an awkward triangular site, provided the opportunity to create a real community for these residents.   The houses are roughly distributed along the perimeter of the site.   Between the houses and the boundaries sit a number of private gardens, but at the centre of the site a communal woodland was created, a space for all to enjoy and congregate, a safe place for the kids to play with casual overlooking from the whole community.

This project is hoping to showcase the potential to achieve big things on seemingly impossible sites.