Design, Placemaking and Awards

From build quality to pioneering design solutions, it’s our expertise and industry-leading standards that reflect the care and detail we bring to creating exceptional living spaces.

Our approach will always be to maximise value for our customers, rather than minimising production costs to secure higher profits.  In areas where we work with local authorities on challenging sites, our high-quality designs have helped secure planning, such as in Finchingfield, Essex, where a site with objectors sailed through committee.

We have continued to invest in talented individuals to enhance our in-house design team, hiring several trainees and a senior urban planner with masterplanning expertise to ensure the continued delivery of efficient and innovative design and placemaking outcomes for our developments.

Our in-house design team has continued to show versatility through the successful delivery of contextually challenging sites in both rural and urban locations with contemporary and traditional design responses.

Our award-winning collaborations with leading architectural practices continued with successful planning outcomes for projects such as City Centre South in Coventry, which received consent via the council’s executive powers. 

We have continued our focus on achieving a high quality of design, both in the external appearance and the internal layouts of our buildings by incorporating dual-aspect dwellings with high-levels of natural light and natural ventilation to reduce the requirement for mechanical interventions. This approach has helped create healthy indoor environments to address and mitigate the effects of climate change whilst also providing homeowners with comfortable and sustainable living spaces.

As we continue to evolve and adapt to the demands of industry changes, our commitment to excellence remains unchanged, driven by a dedication to delivering homes of exceptional quality. In 2023, we responded to regulatory challenges and evolving client demands, particularly in relation to tall buildings and advancing fire safety standards. These regulations, aimed at enhancing building safety, presented height restrictions on residential buildings. In response, we committed to a best-practice approach, going above and beyond the anticipated requirements, to ensure our developments not only meet regulations now but also in future.

The design of the external environment is also a priority as we deliver large-scale, inner-city urban regeneration projects to ensure the creation of mixed, vibrant neighbourhoods that enhance and integrate the surrounding established communities and in parallel produce tenure-blind designs. This approach to placemaking often results in the inclusion of amenities such as a community centres, nurseries, gyms, shops, restaurants and workspace provision for the community.

We focus on optimising the amount of green open space through the introduction of courtyards and gardens to give residents high-quality outdoor communal space. This approach opens and connects the sites to the wider community, providing amenities and play space for both new and existing residents.

Maintenance is an important aspect of placekeeping, helping to keep public areas clean, safe, and attractive. We set up management companies to ensure the sound administration of a development and work with specialist partners to ensure ongoing maintenance.

Marleigh’s market square, located near the entrance to the development, has become the centre of the community. Named Jubilee Square to mark the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, this outdoor space has functioned as an ideal setting for community-based events. 

In May, we ran a competition in the Cambridge Independent newspaper for residents and readers to win tickets to an afternoon tea experience on the famous Paddington Bear Bus. The iconic double-decker made its way from London to Marleigh to take part in the event in celebration of His Majesty King Charles III’s coronation.

In June, over 320 members of the local community, including students from 15 schools, joined our special guest, the author and poet, Michael Rosen, to celebrate the completion of Marleigh Primary Academy’s first academic year. During the official opening ceremony, a choir of children from Anglian Learning’s nine primary schools sang songs written by Rosen.

We also hosted a competition at Marleigh Primary Academy. Students were asked to design and build ‘a castle fit for a king’ during their Easter holiday. Using recycled materials such as toilet rolls, cereal boxes, and other cardboard, the children followed an easy step-by-step guide to create and decorate their entries. The castles were subsequently judged by a representative of Hill Marshall LLP, who selected three winning designs.

With its primary school, Monkey Puzzle nursery, community centre, and the opening of Signorelli’s Deli restaurant, Jubilee Square has quickly become the main shopping and leisure destination for residents of the development.

In October, Cambridge-based Pilates business, R3FORM, launched a studio in Jubilee Square. It is one of the company’s largest studios in the UK and offers up to 50 classes a week and over 80 spa treatments.

Later in December, alongside our joint venture partners Marshall, teachers from Marleigh Primary Academy, and representatives from Co-op, we celebrated the opening of Marleigh’s new supermarket, conveniently located at Jubilee Square.

Residents at Knights Park enjoy a vibrant lifestyle surrounded by a wealth of amenities, with shops, cafes, sports facilities, a school and nursery, a bustling market square, a community centre, a dedicated cycle network, and over 50 hectares of beautiful open space to explore.

In September, we participated in Eddington’s ‘Sustainable You’ event, organised by the University of Cambridge as part of the 2023 Open Cambridge Festival to highlight environmental initiatives.

In November, children at the University of Cambridge Primary School marked Remembrance Day by choreographing a poppy display which could be seen from a bird’s eye perspective. Around 400 students took part, each holding up a piece of red or black card to create the impressive visual display. 

Later in November, we partnered with the University of Cambridge to hold a festive market at the nearby Hyatt Centric and Turing Locke Hotel. Attendees enjoyed refreshments and a musical performance from local singing group, Get Gospel.

In November 2023, we were awarded the title of ‘Housebuilder of the Year’ for the third time in our 24-year history. This accomplishment, coupled with gold in the Best Large Housebuilder category, cemented our status as an industry leader in housing design, sustainability, and development. At the annual awards dinner, our success was further bolstered by winning an additional seven awards.

Rubicon, a development of 186 highly sustainable apartments at Knights Park, Eddington, won gold in the Best Development and Best Exterior Design categories, as well as bronze in Best Sustainable Development and Best Apartment Scheme. The Beech at Marleigh, Cambridge, in partnership with Marshall, won silver in the Best House category. Timber Works, delivered in partnership with Cambridge City Council, won silver for the Best Partnership, while Heartwood, Norfolk secured bronze in the Best Development category.

The WhatHouse? judges report stated:

At the Evening Standard New Homes Awards, we won Best Family Home award for The Beech at Marleigh, Cambridge, and Rubicon, Eddington won the Best Design for Four Storeys or More at the Housebuilder Awards.

Our St James Quay development received a commendation at the Norwich and Norfolk Design and Craftsmanship Awards. We were also pleased to win a 2023 Housing Design Award for the Custom House development in London, which we delivered in partnership with Newham Council.

Lastly, we were honoured to receive the Developer Award at the Bristol Property Awards, in recognition of our work in the area, including the McArthur’s Yard development, which we delivered in partnership with The Guinness Partnership.