Tag Archives: Housing

Cromwell Road Timber Works

Cromwell Road Timber Works, Cambridge will be more than just a residential development.  It will pay homage to the site’s rich industrial past, whilst helping the local community come together.  Four generations of the Ridgeon family managed the former sawmill, which moved to Cromwell Road back in 1928, and for almost 80 years logs were sawn, cut, and stored on this site.  Now this brownfield site will house 295 dwellings, made up of six five-storey apartment blocks and individual homes, of which 40% are affordable.

Cromwell Road has been on site since last winter and is due to open its show home to the public this month.  It is one of many projects TEP is working on in the Cambridge area, including Mill Road, The Meadows, and Foundation 200’s modular homes

Cromwell Road Timber Works Masterplan

TEP worked alongside architects Pollard Thomas Edwards and engineers Walker Associates at the pre-planning stages, together supporting Cambridge Investment Partnerships to deliver their scheme. There are three main elements to the landscape design: the central park, the nursery garden to the north, and the public square to the south.  Design inspiration stems from the timber yard, combining natural play features such as stepping logs, chunky wood furniture, and a paving palette reflecting the texture of sawn timber.  Additionally, a series of art interventions will be peppered throughout the public areas adding delight for residents, and which are to be commissioned by four UK artists.

Timber Works - Park View - Image courtesy of Hill

The vision for the site was to create a residential development that sits comfortably in its surroundings and fosters a sense of neighbourliness. To achieve this, residents connect to the rest of the community through positive street environments, inter-connecting green spaces, and the accommodation of the Chisholm Trail cycle route.  Linking places to meet with essential travel routes brings communities together, and strengthens the sense of place.

Floodable Landscape

Another part of making great places is cultivating sustainable and environmentally responsible areas. At the Timber Works, the main focus of the landscape design is to maintain a large open space and maximise the use of sustainable drainage solutions (SuDS). The design uses a combination of swales, bio-retention areas, wetland, green roofs, rain gardens, SuDS tree pits and permeable paving.  These features will manage and filter the fluctuation of water run-off from the nearby road and areas of hardstanding, reducing the impact on traditional drainage systems and re-fuelling the natural water-cycle.  By working closely with the architects and engineers throughout the design stages, placement of these features could be kept close to the source of water and incorporated into the overall design.  They create a playful undulating landscape planted with meadow grass and other species tolerant of changing soil conditions; perfect for residents and children to interact with and enjoy. Working with our in-house ecology team, our Landscape designers developed an ecological enhancement strategy. This included bat and bird boxes to support species on the IUCN’s Red List, which have shown a significant decline in numbers over the years, such as black redstarts, starlings, and house sparrows.  And not forgetting strategically placed gaps in garden and boundary fences to allow hedgehogs to roam freely between areas. 

Due to be completed in autumn 2023, the Timber Works will create new homes within a spacious, playful, and sustainable urban environment; closely integrated with the existing local community.

For more news from our landscape designers click here.

CGI’s courtesy of Hill.

Foundation 200 – Tackling Homelessness in Cambridge

TEP has been gifting landscape design services for Foundation 200, Hill’s pledge to provide 200 homes for homeless people over the next five years. Foundation 200 plans to invest £12 million in the development of modular housing. They will be built on small plots of brownfield land across Hill’s area of operation.

Over recent years TEP has supported Hill with innovative residential developments in and around Cambridge. This includes sites north of the city such as Cromwell Road, Mill Road Depot and The Meadows.  We now are proud to be one of several supporting Foundation 200, providing pro-bono landscape and arboricultural advice to help this fantastic charitable initiative.

So far, TEP has contributed to the planning applications for three sites in Cambridge. TEP worked on the integration of attractive amenity spaces and cycle storage with the new modular homes. The modular homes will be built in-factory and transported to site by lorry, reducing implementation times and speeding up their availability. The initial sites are located at Crowland Way, Dundee Close and Barnes Close and account for 17 out of the 200 pledged homes. Each has now been submitted for planning and are awaiting decision.

Proposed front elevation of the new modular homes.

TEP’s landscape vision is to ensure that each development site will be colourful and uplifting, make a positive contribution to residents’ wellbeing, and to the area’s biodiversity. The designs use a simple palette of landscape elements, which will integrate the new homes into their surrounding neighbourhoods. Providing a clear definition between public and private space, planting combines robust, well behaved evergreen shrubs and hedges, fruit trees, multi-stem specimen shrubs and wildflower grasses. This will create an attractive, low maintenance environment for the new residents to enjoy.

Even though Government figures have shown a nine percent fall in rough sleepers across England. Cambridge has shown a 20% increase since 2018, moving against the national trend. Therefore, it is important that initiatives like Foundation 200 are given the support they need, to help tackle the crisis. TEP is committed to supporting Foundation 200 achieve its goal, helping to reduce homelessness in Cambridge, as well as creating beautiful and sustainable places to live.

For more information on the initiative follow this link.

To read more from our Landscape Design team click here.

Hanging Gardens of Homerton

TEP has recently completed landscape proposals comprising a series of tiered gardens and roof terraces for a proposed residential development on Homerton High Street in London. 

TEP was commissioned to prepare the landscape proposals for the regeneration of a 0.6ha site on Homerton High Street, which is set to deliver 264 homes in multi-storey blocks with commercial uses at ground floor.

TEP’s design team worked alongside CZWG Architects and DP9 to create a new landscaped public realm that will complement the commercial offer, as well as facilitate easy movement into and through the site. Our design creates amenity spaces for residents on multi-level podium decks, playful landscapes for younger children, and varied habitats for wildlife. Wide pavements lined with trees allow safe and easy passage for pedestrians with additional spill out space to animate the street scene.

By encompassing the roof spaces into the overall design, it increases the amount of shared amenity space, providing doorstep play features, seating, lawns, ornamental and wildlife friendly planting. The design will also dramatically improve on-site biodiversity to meet the London Plan’s Urban Greening Factor, through a variety of measures including using varied substrate depths to encourage different plants to establish and by introducing small log piles to support a variety of invertebrate species.

The design enhances what is a unique and interesting architectural scheme, which has now been submitted to Hackney Council for planning consideration and is currently awaiting determination.

To read more article from TEP’s Landscape Designers, follow the link below:
https://www.tep.uk.com/category/landscape-design/

Manydown Gets Stamp of Approval

Another fantastic result for TEP, as Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council approved outline planning consent for the 320 ha strategic development site at Manydown yesterday. 

TEP has been working with Tibbalds Campbell Reith to develop a masterplan for 3,500 homes, which will include schools and other local facilities. It is set within and will be supported by strong green infrastructure, such as a 100ha Country Park, wildlife corridors and ancient woodland.  

TEP’s work has included the design of ecological mitigation and multi-functional green spaces, which will work together to provide access to nature, encouraging a sustainable and healthy lifestyle for new residents. Additionally, a new garden community is set to be delivered through a partnership between the local and county councils, as joint landowners, and Urban & Civic, supported by the Wellcome Trust. 

TEP is delighted at the result and looks forward to supporting the project through the reserved matters stages. To learn more about the project click here.

Planning Approval at Trap Road

TEP’s Planning Team is delighted to have secured outline planning permission from South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) for 7 dwellings on behalf of This Land Ltd, at their site in Guilden Morden.

During the pre-application discussions, a planning officer at SCDC identified the site as a ‘gateway’ to the village. Recognising that the site is the first point of contact with Guilden Morden from the south east, This Land designed the site with this in mind. TEP’s town planners managed the application and took the proposals through a community consultation process, hosting a public exhibition, online consultation resources and community leaflet drops.

TEP’s arborists and ecologists also carried out the environmental assessments, which fed into the Illustrative Masterplan. This ensured the existing parkland trees on the site will be protected by a development buffer between proposed properties and the locally valued tree belt.

Prime Transport Planning also supported TEP in the planning process, by providing essential access and transport assessment advice for the scheme.

TEP is pleased to have supported This Land gain planning approval for their scheme. If you would like to learn more about TEP’s planning services or have a scheme you would like to discuss, please get in touch: planning@tep.uk.com 

To read more articles from TEP’s Planning Team, follow the link below:
https://www.tep.uk.com/category/planning/

Landscapes Designed For Communities

After being granted planning approval for the latest phase of the project, South Kilburn Regeneration Programme has now been shortlisted in the 2020 Housing Design Awards.

The 219 unit residential scheme which forms part of the wider Regeneration Programme, will provide 54% affordable housing (by habitable room) and deliver significant enhancements to the wider public realm, townscape and visual amenity.

TEP’s Landscape Design team has worked with architects Pollard Thomas Edwards and engineering practices Price and Myers and Engineering Services Design to realise this ambitious scheme for the London Borough of Brent. The landscape design includes two new courtyard gardens and a paved pedestrian-friendly street with extensive tree planting, informal play opportunities and social spaces. It also will include biodiversity enhancements such as insect hotels and bird boxes. In parallel with the architecture, the landscape proposals have drawn design inspiration from the nearby Victorian streets, with simple well-structured planting and modern interpretations of classic Victorian paving and boundary detailing.

The Environment Partnership_Landscapes Designed For Communities_South Kilburn Regeneration Programme_London

The focus of the landscape design is to provide a quiet place for relaxation and a safe space for people to meet and interact. To ensure the scheme is resilient and lasts for future generations, the Landscape Design team worked closely with TEP’s Landscape Managers to implement appropriate management techniques and provide detailed management recommendations to maintain the communal areas.

The Environment Partnership_Landscapes Designed For Communities_South Kilburn Regeneration Programme_London_

TEP has worked on many residential schemes and believes it is important to develop beautiful places that integrate with their surroundings, but equally they need to be welcomed by local communities and ultimately be where people want to live. TEP works closely with its clients to understand these requirements and is proud to deliver designs which are sustainable for both the residents and the environment.

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