The site is located on the edge of a rural settlement on the outskirts of Newport, Saffron Walden. It is enclosed on two boundaries by a mixture of established residential dwellings and a large new residential development to the other boundaries.
Clients brief proposes a care village comprising 64 one and two bedroom apartments over 3 floors and 3 different levels, 17 two storey cottages dispersed across the site, a 40 bedroom care home. The project also provides a club house, communal facilities, and ancillary services accessed at ground floor level to serve the village.
The design of the proposals are sympathetic to the needs of the local community and environment with interaction in its landscape and context. The site is sloping with a fall from the North to the South of approximately 6.5m, however a requirement of this scheme was to ensure all residents have full accessibility across the site. To accommodate the topography changes in levels, three plateaus were created across the site with a storey height difference between them.
The form of the buildings and response to the topography creates a variety of distinct eternal spaces for the residents, families and staff to use.
