Figure/Ground Architects are currently working on the creation of a sustainable garden village to the north of Harlow New Town on behalf of Briggens 1 Ltd. The masterplan is for a residential led mixed-use development providing 1,500 new homes on an approximately 120 ha site, as well as flexible workspace, a health centre, a primary school and community facilities.
The design has been developed in response to the distinctive topography of the site, taking into account its plateaus and valleys and introducing the concept of ‘green wedges’.
Following the development of an initial strategic masterplan, in 2014 the client agreed to a collaborative joint venture with the adjacent landowner to produce a co-ordinated masterplan for the delivery of 10,000 homes to accommodate regional housing growth to 2018 and beyond. Working closely with the design team and the other masterplanners, we have refined our design to provide a coordinated approach across the wider site in all aspects including SuDS, infrastructure and accommodation mix.
The result is an exciting proposal for a high-quality, large-scale development, which has been submitted as an Outline Planning Application to East Herts for further consideration as part of the site allocation plan within their District Plan development.