Plans for K1, a 42-home cohousing scheme at Orchard Park have been approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Since mid-2015, members of Cambridge Cohousing have been working with TOWNhus, a partnership between UK developer TOWN and Swedish housebuilder Trivselhus, to prepare detailed plans for the scheme. With this application now being approved, the future residents are one step closer to seeing their dreams for the project turning into a reality.

Cambridge Cohousing member Jan Chadwick commented: “We are delighted to have reached this milestone towards achieving our vision of a vibrant and engaging new place to live. We’re looking forward to seeing building work start on site later this year.”

K1 will incorporate 42 homes, from one-bedroom flats to five-bedroom houses. Homes will be privately owned, each with its own private garden or balcony, and will also benefit from a large shared garden and a Common House, where residents will be able to socialise and eat together.

Neil Murphy, of developer TOWN, said, “Cohousing is a new, different, and much-needed way of delivering better homes. We’ve worked closely with our partners at Trivselhus, Mole Architects and Cambridge Cohousing to prepare a scheme that meets the planning requirements of the council and embodies the vision of the people who’ll live there”.

Adam Broadway, of Instinctively Green, professional advisor to Cambridge Cohousing, said: “This is a fantastic result and recognition of a lot of hard work since 2010. Full credit to South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City Councils for supporting this project, which I’m sure will lead to other innovative projects in the region.”

Purchasers at K1 will have the opportunity to customise their homes from a series of options – deciding for themselves how many bedrooms their home should have, whether or not they want a converted attic, and even the brick colour of the house itself.

Meredith Bowles, of Mole Architects, commented: “It’s a unique opportunity to work with such an engaged group of people, and rare to design a community with the people who will live in it. We are thrilled to have achieved planning permission and are looking forward to building one of the largest cohousing schemes in the UK. ”

Development of the site is expected to commence in late 2016 and complete mid-2017.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Cohousing: created and run by their residents, cohousing developments are communities where people not only know their neighbours, but actively manage their neighbourhood alongside them. Small enough that everyone can be familiar with each other, but large enough not to force them to be, cohousing communities are built around a shared desire for a sense of belonging, neighbourliness and mutual support that many people feel is missing from modern life and contemporary housing developments. For more information see:

• http://cohousing.org.uk/
• Cambridge Cohousing Limited (http://www.cambridge-k1.co.uk) is a company formed by future residents of K1. All residents will be members of the cohousing company, which will be the eventual freeholder of the development.

The development is being undertaken by TOWNhus, a partnership between UK developer TOWN (www.wearetown.co.uk) and Swedish developer Trivselhus (www.trivselhus.se). TOWNhus was appointed as preferred development partner by site owner Cambridge City Council in June 2015 for K1.

TOWN’s Custom Build approach will allow purchasers at K1 to configure their own homes, inside and out.

The K1 design team is led by Cambridge architectural practice Mole Architects (www.molearchitects.co.uk)

K1 will contribute two additional affordable homes built to the same high standards as the rest of the development.

The scheme will be built to close to Passivhaus standards, exceeding the requirements of policy and making good on the K1 group’s commitment to sustainable development.

A full planning application (s/3223/15/FL) was approved subject to a Section 106 agreement by South Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Committee on 6th April 2016.

South Cambridgeshire District Council is one of 11 custom build vanguards nationally responsible for developing custom build housing models

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Neil Murphy (for TOWN): 07714 097924

Adam Broadway(for Cambridge Cohousing Limited: 07817 888448)