New Affordable Village Housing Development
This masterplan and detailed design project delivered 75 new houses for Clarion Housing Group in Stone Cross, East Sussex.
A key focus was to ensure the development benefits not only the proposed site but also the wider context of Stone Cross, in terms of character/place making and through physically enabling links to the wider residential network
The site forms a transition bridge between the open countryside and the village centre of Stone Cross, just north of Eastbourne, establishing a balance between providing much required housing whilst respecting the urban fringe setting.
The site can be read as two individual elements, the triangular upper field and the rectangular lower field. An important part of the design development was tying these sections together whilst making the most of their unique identities.
The upper field provides the main entrance to the site, affords the large open views out towards the South Downs and is relatively open, whilst the lower field provides a more intimate location, set down in the site, shielded from the views by a mature treed perimeter to all boundaries.A prominent feature of the site is its established green edges and through designing in purposeful landscaping zones integral to the development this proposal beds successfully into the wider context, whilst reducing the dominance of parked cars and encouraging pedestrian and cycle movement within and outside the site.
