In addition to incorporating Garden Community principles, the design of the masterplan was all about establishing a sense of place and a strong connection with Maldon’s historic roots and surrounding natural landscape.

The site is situated towards the southern outskirts of Maldon and divided by a disused railway line. Despite its edge of town location, the hill top town centre skyline of church spires can clearly be seen from within the site. Views south of the site look out over a vast open fenland landscape.

Whilst developing the masterplan, we focused on creating a community that retained a strong connection to the natural landscape of the local area, as well as Maldon’s historic roots.

Our masterplan approach involved the retention of the former railway line, as a key community movement corridor and area for ecology and wildlife. New green corridors were designed to align with the distant church spires to ensure that the site felt very much part of Maldon, despite its peripheral location. Views south across the open landscape were also captured through our design, and a gentle transition to open countryside was created by informal and formal recreational spaces on the southern edge.

The community was very much at the heart of our design for the new garden suburb. Through engagement with residents at stakeholder workshops and meetings, we adapted our designs to incorporate a mixed-use local centre, to be enjoyed by new and existing residents in the local area.

The generous swathes of green infrastructure and sustainable movement corridors will help to create a healthy and well connected community.