Land at Hainbury Farm, Ilchester

Award type: Design Award

Award date: 24 April 2024

Location: Ilchester, Somerset

Project type: Residential

Applicant: Patrick Young

BwN Assessor: Stride Treglown

Land at Hainbury Farm is a proposed residential and employment-led mixed use development on the northern boundary of Ilchester in Somerset. It forms part of a hybrid planning application that also involves the creation of a new 24 hectare nature reserve to the north of the proposed development - subject to a separate Building with Nature Full Award.

In bringing forward the proposals the applicant was keen to ensure the development incorporated a significant amount of green infrastructure, which in-turn connects with the proposed nature reserve to the north and GI to the south of the site.

Using Building with Nature, through the appointment of an Approved Assessor and pursuit of accreditation, was established as an early objective by the applicant and helped embed the principles of high quality GI in the project from the outset

A combination of features, including a ‘green lung’ park and three pocket parks, a fully integrated and largely above ground SuDS network of swales, rain gardens and attenuation ponds, and new hedgerows and tree-lined streets, form a ‘green grid’ across the site. This ‘green grid’ delivers a well-connected ecological network within the site and connects strongly with the adjacent new nature reserve.

In combination with the new nature reserve the project presents an approach which uses high quality green infrastructure to deliver benefits for future residents and wildlife.