TOWN.

Codesign sessions are underway for Northstowe and Suvana Cohousing - the two cohousing communities that TOWN is bringing forward at Northstowe Town with Homes England.   The first workshop with Mole Architects focused on the location and layout of the Common House and the design of the play street. This workshop was first of many that will take place over the next few months to help us shape a place designed for long-term resilience, where residents feel a strong sense of ownership.

Hartree has been shortlisted for The Developer and Festival of Place Future Place award! 🍍   Hartree is a vision for a new part of Cambridge that will create genuine social and environmental value by providing over 20 hectares of open space, thousands of carbon neutral homes, and a significant net gain in biodiversity.    The recognition celebrates the excellent work of our team including partners at LandsecU+I, masterplanners Kjellander Sjöberg, LOLA Landscape Architects, Useful Projects, Pell Frischmann, Carter Jonas, ECF

Meet our development partners for three housing demonstration projects that seek to find solutions to some of the UK’s #housing challenges. 🏡 🏗GS8 will deliver 50 net zero carbon homes in Wootton, Bedfordshire. Known for its award-winning, planet-positive developments, gs8 will pioneer regenerative development principles, including a market leading approach to carbon reduction and de-constructable homes for future reuse. 🏗TOWN. will oversee 80 homes at Westwick Row in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, adjacent to The Crown Estate's East Hemel site. The project will explore innovative community engagement methods and alternative housing models, including collaborative housing and intergenerational living. 🏗 igloo Regeneration will lead the development of 60 homes in Knutsford, Cheshire, exploring low-carbon infrastructure delivery and adopting a community-first approach to design and construction. The housing demonstration projects aim to address challenges such as the affordability crisis and how to implement #innovation in housing design, before passing on our learnings to the wider industry. By working with SMEs, we can explore new commercial models and building capacity for smaller developers to deliver sustainable housing at scale across the country, while exploring new building materials, construction methods and technologies.   Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eev-FX4w #TheCrownEstate #Sustainability Image credits: Renderloft and GS8

We’re pleased to share that TOWN is partnering with The Crown Estate to deliver a community-focused, sustainable neighbourhood at Westwick Row in Hemel Hempstead.   This project is part of The Crown Estate’s bold programme to rethink how we approach housing in the UK— focusing on the quality of new homes, improving energy security for those living in them, and exploring how to deliver them at scale across the UK.   More here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eev-FX4w

We’re pleased to share that TOWN’s Child-Friendly Design Strategy, developed with Tim Gill for Hartree, our project with LandsecU+I, received a Commendation at the TET (ThorntonEducationTrust) Awards last night.   This strategy, informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and shaped through three years of engagement with children and young people, introduces measurable KPIs to embed child-friendly design principles across the 48ha development at Hartree.   It focuses on creating spaces that support five themes of play, safety, inclusivity, active mobility, and access to nature, ensuring that children’s needs are considered at every stage of planning and design through to plot delivery.   The recognition underscores the value of designing with children as key stakeholders to create places that are more accessible and enjoyable for all users. Congratulations to all the organisations and projects represented at the awards! #ifgawards2024

Next Tuesday 21st January, TOWN's Jonny Anstead and Mike Bodkin will be exploring solutions to delivering density in housing developments in a Design South East webinar. Tickets below ⬇️

This afternoon, TOWN's Delivery Lead, Richard Pender, will be joining ASBP and Good Homes Alliance for an online event exploring collaborative approaches to insurance and risk sharing, including discussion on Integrated Project Insurance as a procurement model. Tickets here: https://lnkd.in/eSkJ9YxB

Last week the TOWN team celebrated our 10th anniversary! It was a chance to reflect on a decade of key moments and milestones that have shaped our journey. Here’s a selection of highlights from the past ten years...

We're delighted to share that TOWN is working with Homes England to create a new cohousing community in Northstowe!   We are now in the process of building a group of future residents, who, through a codesign process with Mole Architects, will help to shape the new cohousing community. The scheme will include 40% affordable housing, together with a range of communal spaces and facilities.   Read more and register your interest in Northstowe Cohousing here: https://lnkd.in/eiMGVbEz

In 2019, TOWN completed its first built project, Marmalade Lane in Cambridge, working in partnership with Swedish housebuilder Trivselhus UK, landowner Cambridge City Council, Mole Architects and Cambridge Cohousing, a group of people who would go on to become the residents of this new development. Five years on, Marmalade Lane has carved out a prominent place in the dialogue around alternative housing models. It has been covered extensively in the press, featured in government policy and guidance, and has won over ten national awards. Over 400 households have signed up to its waiting list in the hope of living there in the future.   Over the last year, TOWN, working with social value experts at Greengage Environmental Ltd have produced a post-occupancy report - Insights from Marmalade Lane. In this report, we gain an insight into life at Marmalade Lane - exploring how the 100 adults and children who live there today make use of the shared spaces, resources and facilities. We reflect on how the design encourages sustainable living and fosters connections with neighbours, examining how the unique closeness of a cohousing community adds to resident's quality of life.   On Tuesday 9th July, we welcomed representatives from across development, investment, national and local government and the charity sector, to celebrate the launch of the report and tour the community with its residents.    The full Insights from Marmalade Lane report is available to read via the link below! https://lnkd.in/eWXUvu8d