The Design Guide
Prepared by the design team and submitted with the Masterplan. Its primary aim is to ensure that all aspects of the development are designed in a way that is sympathetic to the character of traditional South Cambridgeshire villages.
Randall Thorp were responsible for all landscape sections of the design guide including:
- Village Greens
- Greenways
- Footpaths, cycleways, bridleways & tracks
- Highway verge landscapes
- Site boundaries
- Integration of the development into the landscape
- Enclosure types
- Allotments
- Amenity & Sport land
- School Grounds
- Play areas
Residential Design Guidance
Following detailed studies of the South Cambridgeshire village and rural landscapes Randall Thorp have provided further design guidance, specific to housing developers covering:
- Landscape and character themes for each village
- Typical south Cambridgeshire village landscape images
- Pallets of boundary types and details for each village
- Suggested planting palettes for each village
- Plant specification
Settlement Centre Design Guidance
To ensure a sense of place and maturity was evident from the outset avenues of semi-mature London Plane and Horbeam were planted along the centre roads prior to any development taking place.
Randall Thorp have also prepared a specific materials palette and standard details/ layout for the public realm areas of the settlement centre. In addition a range of ‘Cambourne’ street furniture has been designed to help achieve unity throughout the development and foster the sense of place.
Development Briefing Plans
Prior to any land parcel being developed a detailed briefing plan is prepared by Randall Thorp with input from a range of other consultants and specialists from both the Developers and Local Planning Authority.
These plans cover a range of issues, including:
- Relationship of the development to the highway
- Relationship of the development to adjacent sites
- Density
- Building set back from road
- Location of views, feature and focal buildings
- Height of development
- Character of units; cottage, farmstead, town house, villa, grand house, manor house
- Type of units; terraced, detached
- Grouping of units
- Boundary types; hedges, picket fences, railings, walls etc
- Pedestrian and vehicular linkages
