London Road, Harston
Eight new homes: three terraced, four semis, and one detached. Cambridge, 2023
This was a neglected plot at the junction of a busy traffic intersection, a gateway site in a rural village setting on the edge of Cambridge. A collection of homes have been designed to cluster together within a layer of sheltering boundary walls, anchored with gables and chimneys which address the village setting whilst creating an enclosed sheltered world for the residents.
The protecting walls establish the privacy and intimacy necessary for the shared space to be animated by outward looking active frontages and shared soft landscaping. Gabled frontages mark the individuality of each house, whilst a stepped colonnade playfully unifies the ground plane giving a rhythm and coherence to the entrance porches and fenestration.
Where the site turns the corner onto the quiet side street the boundary wall stops and a metal railing supports a newly planted hedgerow and trees which will provide a soft edge and green outlook for the homes.
Photos by Richard Fraser
