Design and themes

The design of the Orchard Farm site has a landscape first approach and will be much greener than other new build developments. By carefully carving out spaces for nature, the existing biodiversity will be retained and enhanced and will provide opportunities for local wildlife habitats to be increased.

The planting will be influenced by the history of the site and locally grown produce. As well as micro allotments, an orchard of native fruit trees will be created with seating and tables for the enjoyment of all the community. This orchard park will also encourage wildlife, as will native, edible hedging, and bat and bird boxes placed in mature trees within the site boundary.

The landscape design also proposes high quality materials and components to create a simple and unifying element throughout the landscape. Materials that use recycled materials will be specified wherever possible.

Detailed planning application

Earlier this year we submitted a detailed planning application to Ashford Borough Council for the first plots, in Phase one, at Orchard Farm.

Planning application

Design Statement

You may prefer to read some of the highlights below, including how four themes informed the design of the landscape. You can also watch a virtual tour of how this landscape around the plots is envisaged.

Landscaping around the plots

Much thought and work has gone into creating the landscape and how the plots will sit in it. Our landscape has already won a Landscape Award. You can read more about it here.

You can see how the landscape around the plots is envisaged for Phase one with examples of a lane, a courtyard and one of the back gardens in this Computer Generated Impression (CGI).

Please note: the houses are impressions by one architect. We're sure more variations will be designed by our future self-builders.

Credits

Urban Design by Honoré van Rijswijk Collective Urban Strategies
Landscape Design by Donald Roberts EDLA
CGI Production - Ben Roake Spacemaker Architects

Credits

Orchard Farm today

The site is surrounded by residential development on three sides and is next to agricultural fields,
some of which will be developed by Redrow to the south east of the site.

Inspired by East Kent

Our plans have been informed and inspired by the landscape, buildings and materials used in East Kent,
including farmyards linked by lanes through orchards and meadows.

Landscapes

We are proposing a range of house types in four distinctive settings inspired by East Kent and the site

A network of courtyards linked by lanes will provide green, social spaces that are interconnected and genuinely child and pedestrian friendly. They will encourage people to use the spaces and connect with one another. The public spaces will be multi-functional to allow for social interaction and play. The site will connect the proposed lanes with the existing local network of roads and proposed walking and cycle routes, whilst bike stations will support cyclists and encourage sustainable travel.