The Icon in Street is the first phase of a larger development of 400 homes on a parcel of land owned by shoe manufacturer Clarks. Designed by UK-based Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ (FCBS), this former factory site has been transformed into a new neighborhood intended to offer a new model for sustainable urban development in a market town.
The jury commented that the housing development is set to become the first real milestone in the evolution of layout, house and car parking since Poundbury that is an urban extension to Dorchester in Dorset famous internationally as a pioneering example of urban development.
Long straight boulevards pass through the scheme from north to south and terraces lead off at right angles to form the ‘grid’ of Georgian townscape. A pedestrian route through these terraces is offset so that people can enjoy visual surprises as they make that journey, once the scheme is complete. Public squares, housing squares, boulevards, streets and mews are laid out in a hierarchy to manage traffic speed. The change in character is supported by a lavish landscape architecture of mature trees, street tables and benches, planters and even topiary giraffes.
Houses face each other in parallel terraces with repetitive elevations mirroring each other like Georgian streets, complete with rectangular windows, to increase day-lighting. The timber cladding of the terraces gives the impression of a continuous frontage. The party walls in the two-bed mews houses are separated by a garage and deck space over with windows to the deck. Only larger units have true party walls. Broader fronted double-garaged four-bed houses feature the deck space and master bedroom over. This scheme accepts people use cars and makes a virtue of the need to keep them in garages. Cars can be parked right outside the front door.
Icon also received the highest score yet awarded by CABE’s Building for Life, with 19 points out of 20 achieving a Gold Standard.
FCB Studios was also awarded a 2010 Housing Design Project Award for Compstall Mills, which is believed to be the first carbon-neutral heritage-led residential development in the UK. The award ceremony was held on July 8, 2010 at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.
