How we did it ... Newhall masterplanner parcels up design codes

Ben Willis, Planning, 27 June 2008

Background: Harlow new town was conceived as a number of interlinking neighbourhoods of up to 10,000 people separated by green areas and connected to the town centre through public transport and cycle routes. The Newhall community fits into this structure.

Who is behind it? Landowners Jon and William Moen, urban designers Roger Evans Associates, Essex County Council, Harlow District Council and a number of developers.

Project aims: To create a sustainable, well-designed neighbourhood with convenient community facilities and pedestrian-friendly streets.

Skills involved: Architecture, urban design, design coding, transport planning, sustainable design and construction, partnership working.

When landowners Jon and William Moen began formulating plans for a new community on the edge of Harlow in Essex, they were inspired by the vision of architect-planner Sir Frederick Gibberd, who in 1947 produced the design for the new town.

"Gibberd designed the town as a series of neighbourhoods, each with a district centre and separated by green wedges running in from the surrounding countryside," says Jon Moen. "We have set out to preserve that tradition."

The Moens, whose grandfather once farmed the land now earmarked for the development, drafted in Roger Evans Associates to produce a masterplan for the scheme. Central to the brief was the overarching aim of retaining as much of the 110ha site as possible for green space.

"We have gone for densities promoted by current planning policies - 40 to 50 dwellings per hectare - but kept 40 per cent of the land open, so no house is more than 60m from green space," Moen explains.

Another central goal of the masterplan has been to create an environment geared towards pedestrians. According to practice principal Roger Evans, this required extensive negotiation with Essex County Council before approval because it involved the use of non-standard traffic layouts and road junction designs.

"Junctions are the most popular place for crossing the road, but in many developments they are also the most dangerous," Evans explains. "So we've created small squares or courts at junctions with trees in the middle, where people are encouraged to linger. All of that has meant agreeing specific geometries and details with the highway authority."

To accompany the masterplan, Evans's team also produced a detailed set of design codes to ensure consistency throughout the development. This is because the Moens have divided the site into small parcels, each with its own developer and design team.

The design codes govern a number of aspects of the masterplan - the massing and height of buildings, the use of colour, materials and energy efficiency standards. "We did not want the overall scheme to fall apart because of the variety of architectural styles," says Moen.

Evans says sustainability standards have been a particular priority. "We have set higher standards than current building regulations," he explains. "They are enforced through the design codes that the developer will have to show that they have met. It means the project can be marketed as a low-energy development and people can be sure they are buying well- performing houses."

To maintain the overall coherence of the scheme, the landowners and masterplanners have retained the right to sign off the design of individual schemes as they come forward for planning approval. "But having engaged good architects, the philosophy is that they still have considerable freedom of expression providing they work within the masterplan and code," Moen says.

The first phase of 500 homes has now been largely completed. The second, much bigger phase of 2,300 is due to get under way shortly, Moen says, pending resolution of the section 106 negotiations.