Competition winning entry for David Wilson Homes to build out the third phase of the Upton exemplar development in Northampton.

Upton is an exemplar development, pioneering the sustainable urban neighbourhood. It is promoted as national best practice and is jointly sponsored by English Partnerships, The Prince’s Trust Foundation and Northamptonshire Borough Council. Working with the Upton Framework Plan, the Upton Design Codes and the Site Development Brief for Site C, David Wilson Homes’ scheme delivers 30 new homes which have been designed by HTA in the context of the overall masterplan and the edge condition of the site. Site C is composed of high quality detached and semi-detached villas which complement the whole of the Upton development (sites A to F). The scheme translates the architectural integrity of traditional building into a contemporary style that builds on the local vernacular.

The landscape treatment and planting within the site is designed to maintain a sense of green continuity from one side to the other - if you live here you should feel you are in a landscape setting to which the wood and park belong; if you are looking at the site you should feel that this is a soft green edge to the Upton development. Devices to aid this include rich and varied garden planting, boundaries created from traditional and ‘earthy’ materials and green roofs that extend the language generated by the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) into the scheme. HTA worked closely from design inception with sustainability advisors Whitbybird and the client to reduce water usage, to make best use of the SUDS that is being installed in the site, and to incorporate both passive design approaches and active renewable energy sources to reduce the energy demand and in turn the carbon emissions of the development, which will achieve an EcoHomes Excellent standard.