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Millenium Community ticks all the boxes
Posted: 03/09/2007
The fifth of English partnership's Millennium Communities at Telford in Shropshire will be ready for its first residents in Autumn 2007. Architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) have worked closely with developer Taylor Woodrow to address many of the challenges associated with creating high quality sustainable housing. They have come up with a variety of innovations, from reductions in the embodied energy of construction, through more efficienct operation to re-establishing wildlife habitats.
The village is built on a classic brownfield site - an undulating nineteenth century colliery spoil tip, covered with natural vegetation and wildlife. This distinctive environment has been significantly reinforced in the masterplan, with green corridors running through the development as well as 'Homezones', which significantly soften the street environment. In order to preserve the area’s ecology, the design for the village has created a public park and ponds that will retain and possibly increase natural habitats.
A considerable range of new housing has been designed for the village - especially suited to local conditions but capable of replication and customisation countrywide. Pitched roofs and local brick, mixed with rendered and timber façades create a picturesque quality that picks up on the local vernacular. The homes permit a greater flexibility in living and encourage alteration and extension by their occupants over time.
Constructed with factory made components (rather than large scale and inflexible modules) they provide a wide choice in specification and fit out for both developer and user.
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ design has reduced the typical embodied energy (energy used to build the houses) of the whole development by half and has minimised the energy needed to maintain the homes- which will consume 20% less water and 50% less waste than average – significantly outperforming the targets set by part L Building Regulations.
Alex Lifschutz, founding director, comments: “Architecture must stand the test of time if it is to be sustainable, creating places that are of continuous value to those who inhabit them now and in the future. While factors such as low energy consumption, environmental sensitivity and recycling are important, people must not lose sight of the principal objective of new housing development – which is to create really successful and enjoyable human environments.
The approach adopted at Telford Millennium Village therefore concentrates on creating an attractive place that meets the Millennium Communities’ environmental targets, rather than being slave to them.”
The Village will eventually create 750 homes at varying densities on a 35-acre site to the north of East Ketley. As with all Millennium schemes, Telford has been designed to be a blueprint for volume house builders.
The design encourages social cohesion by in several ways: there is no design difference between affordable and market housing – ‘blind tenure’. A community partnership group provides stewardship of the estate and a continuous process of community consultation (that was a significant part of the original Millennium Communities masterplanning exercise launched in 1997) has kept local people fully involved.
The masterplan is for a series of character areas making a village with ‘districts’ that respond to the undulating topography – hillside, waterside, civic and ‘suburban’.
The first phase (now on site) is the civic area and will be based around a spacious square that will act as a focal point for the rest of the development, including the adjacent new primary school and community centre.
Green Building Press
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