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Location | Client |
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Acomb, York, UK | City of York Council |
Lowfield Green is a new flagship housing scheme for the City of York Council on a former school site in Acomb. The site had remained vacant for more than 10 years following the closure and subsequent demolition of the school. The development of the site offered an opportunity for the council to bring the land back into use, provide much needed affordable housing, while also generating cash receipts through open market sale housing. Having reviewed several development delivery scenarios, the council chose to develop the site themselves, thereby maintaining control over the quality of the final scheme.
The project has therefore become York’s largest council housing development for more than 30 years. BDP’s masterplan for the whole site comprises social, affordable, and private housing alongside an 80 bed care home, mixed-use healthcare facility, plots for self-builders, and a co-housing scheme.
The focus of the masterplan is the new Village Green, a generous public open space with play facilities, community growing spaces, and high quality natural planting. New pedestrian and cycle links integrate the scheme within the wider neighbourhood and vehicular routes have been designed with the aim of reducing traffic speeds and promoting walking and cycling.
Our design accommodates older people and downsizers, including a mix of lift accessed apartments and bungalows with wheelchair access. The bungalows and apartments are interspersed with a range of two to three storey family homes including starter houses designed for young families and larger townhouses fronting onto the village green.
There are a number of plots made available for self-builders and co-housing developments, which are developed separately by Yorspace and Native Architects. Our work on Lowfield Green is part of the wider ambition of developing 550 new homes on council land across five years.
Planning approval for the scheme was awarded in August 2018, and construction of the 140 dwellings listed above commenced on site in Spring 2019.
urban design, architecture, town planning, landscape architecture, acoustics