5th Studio completed a masterplan for 200 houses on land owned by the City Council within the Clay Farm urban extension. The City aspired to an exemplar sustainable community, and the masterplan established the parameters for a local energy network linking housing, a major new community-focussed mixed-use building, and a new secondary school.
The study included detailed plot typologies, and involved extensive testing of alternative strategies for density, parking provision, and their impact on environmental quality and the future character of the neighbourhood.
The proposal suggested an innovative approach to the siting of a new road at the edge of the site that engages with the existing housing to the west, creating additional development opportunities for neighbouring properties, a number of which were council-owned. The development included not only 40% affordable housing, but also a wider mix of tenures, including sites for assisted self-build and co-housing.
