Reconnecting Castle and Community

In order to accommodate and respond to the needs of young couples and starter families, various housing types/sizes are implemented into the scheme, allowing households of different sizes to live within close proximity of each other. Zoning in the landscaping of the site allows for multiple activities to take place on the site at any one time. These zones include natural ponds with benches, peaceful wildflower gardens with benches and shelters, a greenhouse/vegetable patch area (providing provision for homegrown food), and finally an open playing field (for children to utilise without disrupting the more peaceful areas of the site).

To be considerate in terms of its environmental impact, the site incorporates numerous sustainability strategies to reduce this impact. In regard to ecology, the site not only has maintained the same levels of ecology and biodiversity on site but has drastically increased it with the implementation of natural ponds, plants, and trees throughout which were absent from the site beforehand. Passive ventilation and lighting strategies were highly considered in the design and placement of the housing units, greatly reducing the need for mechanical ventilation and electrical lighting to be used internally.

Active travel was considered an important aspect of the scheme, and therefore provisions for bike storage are included and the short walking distances to the school and other local amenities also encourage this idea of active travel. Due to the rural and isolated nature of the village, motorised transport is a must have for residents and car parking provisions have been allocated for each house. In keeping with the active travel approach, each parking space has been designed to accommodate electrical car chargers in order to reduce the developments impact on the environment.