Background

The Noble Consultancy were appointed by Taylor Wimpey Oxfordshire to design their first and the development’s fourth residential parcel at Kingsgrove, a strategic, mixed-use allocation of 1,500 new homes and other uses at Wantage.

Design Considerations

With the total number of dwellings, mix and tenure set by a Housing Delivery Document, the planning team were tasked with maximising developable area and coverage. The challenge was to utilise Taylor Wimpey’s core house type range, while creating a development that was interesting and attractive. This was achieved through a combination placemaking in the public realm as well as formulating a palette of high-quality materials and detailing to create a distinctive development parcel.

The proposals provide an appropriate response to the approved Parameter Plans and Regulatory Plans contained within the site-wide Design Guidance.

Design Features

A set of bespoke apartment blocks were designed to respond to the parcel’s important location adjacent to the spine road, strategic park, local centre, along with other planning parameters.

100% of the dwellings were designed to achieve Nationally Described Space Standard while many were also designed to achieve Part M4(2) accessibility Building Regulation requirements.

Another key feature and design consideration was the relationship with the adjacent local park. Here, the proposals stepped up in terms of height, mass and detailing and surface materials to create an attractive interface.

The proposals prepared by The Noble Consultancy were submitted to Taylor Wimpey’s internal placemaking awards to represent the region.