The largest ever housing estate to be built in a UK national park has won planning permission – and it is fantastic. In a breakthrough for British sustainable housing, a new district of 685 super-insulated homes and workspaces on the site of a former ironworks in Lewes, East Sussex, got the green light from the South Downs National Park authority last week.
New homes that can ease Britain’s housing crisis are a good thing, but it’s rare to feel genuinely excited about a large housing development these days. Most projects currently approved in the UK tend to be the usual car-dominated and shoddily constructed identikit new-build suburbs, built by one of a handful of mega-developers that dominate the industry. However, Lewes has a different approach – one that offers an environmentally sound model to rescue Britain’s broken private property sector.
The Phoenix, Lewes’s new 7.9 hectare neighbourhood, is set to be both ecologically and socially ambitious. Designed by a dream team of 12 architecture practices, the estate will include 18 mixed-tenure housing blocks set around courtyard gardens and public squares, interspersed with a canteen, nursery, health centre and workshops.
The property developer, Human Nature, says the homes will be built primarily from wood, and will reduce residents’ heating bills by 80% compared with conventional new-builds. It also promises a fleet of 50 shared vehicles to reduce car ownership, upgraded flood defences along the River Ouse and the refurbishment of existing heritage........