Member Article

Through the keyhole at Kelvedon's newest 237-home development

CALA Homes North Home Counties has announced further details surrounding its 238-home development on the edge of the village of Kelvedon, Essex, as work is underway on the new neighbourhood which will pay a nod to the area’s rich history, dating back thousands of years.

The homes being created by the award-winning housebuilder at Aylett’s Green, consist of a collection of one and two bedroom apartments and two, three, four and five bedroom family homes - have been carefully curated to incorporate architectural regionalism into the properties; the practice of sympathetically reflecting pre-existing characteristics of an area’s architecture into newbuild homes.

Once complete, the detached, semi-detached, terraced homes and apartments, off Coggeshall Road will range in size from 547 – 2,397 sq.ft, and are expected to suit homebuyers across all walks of life, whether that’s first-time buyers, growing families, or downsizers.

CALA Homes has worked closely with Saunders Partnership Architects to design the homes, which respond and reflect architecturally to match the village surroundings, some of which date back to Roman times.

The sympathetic design at Kelvedon has incorporated a range of Georgian styles - such as projecting gables, two-storey bay windows, flat brick arches to tops of windows, cast stone cills and Georgian windows - and more modern elements - such as red stock brick and colourful render to facades.

In addition to supporting the local housing demand within the Parish, thanks to 40 per cent of the homes being built as affordable housing, CALA Homes expects Aylett’s Green will appeal to those now mixing working from home with commutes to the capital, with the train station just half a mile away, offering a commute into London in under an hour and Colchester in just 15 minutes.

Phillip Wright, Head of Planning for CALA Homes North Home Counties, said:

“Kelvedon is an ideal location for people wanting the best of both worlds; a village location boasting swathes of countryside, but one which also benefits from excellent amenities and connections for commuters.

“As the village’s architecture is particularly varied - with many historic buildings and spaces with some dwellings dating back to the 15th Century - we’ve leaned heavily on incorporating various elements from the rich tapestry of Kelvedon’s architecture over the centuries into our build to create something bespoke for the development that is sensitive to its history.

“The village has a mix of grand civic-scale buildings and homes, representing distinct architectural periods, whilst other locations are characterised by more intimate forms and scales, including small cottages, narrow-sided streets and enclosed courtyards.

“We’ve incorporated these elements from the surroundings; which include red brick and rich and bright shades of render, which includes a mix of white, buffs, pinks, oranges, greens and yellows, with roof materials made from clay tiles and slate.

“We wanted to ensure Aylett’s Green incorporates and builds upon the village’s historic context, playing homage to the traditional design characteristics in creating a really unique development.

“In addition to contributing to the town’s local housing supply, the development meets our local and national aspirations for sustainability. As well as incorporating two-hectares of open public green space, we’ll also plant a tree-lined avenue in the approach to the development alongside well-established hedging to punctuate the community with greenery.

“We’ll create a naturalistic play area for the development’s children to enjoy, which will include mounds, undulations and boulders to truly spur their imagination, and we’ll also create a public art installation, serving as a landmark for the community, which we’ll ask local residents for their input on.

“We’re really excited to have started work on the development and can’t wait to show people around, once launched, so they can see the homes for themselves.”

The showhomes are expected to launch in Autumn 2021, as a guide CALA’s selection of homes will start from £249,950 for a one bedroom apartment and guide prices for a three bedroom semi-detached home will be somewhere in the region of £479,950 and around £819,950 for a five bedroom detached property.

Local amenities include a village shop, post office, pharmacy, health centre, fishmonger, butchers, and a range of eateries, with a good selection of nearby primary and secondary schools.

Characteristics of the properties will include:

Primarily detached or semi-detached units with garages set back behind building frontage.

Red stock brickwork will be used within this character area to provide consistent and strong materiality to the street scene. Within its landscaped setting this area will be rich and dominant over other character areas.

Projecting corbelled brick banding detail located between floor levels.

The use of two-storey height bays located to aid legibility and townscape.

Georgian window styles will be adopted within this area closely reflecting the immediate surrounding area.

The majority of houses will feature flat gauged brick arches and cast stone cills. However, Cast stone window heads and cills will be applied to key corner units to provide subtle variation. This aims to reflect the traditional and classic vernacular of Kelvedon.

Frequent use of ground floor bays with pitched roofs.

Use of flat dormers to build-over elements.

Chimneys will be located at strategic locations, on key corner homes, in order to aid legibility and provide subtle details that create visual interest

Predominantly grey slate effect roof tiles. Darker red blends, that reflect a traditional plain tile appearance will be located at key corners.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by CALA Homes .