Horsham Enterprise Park

Plans for the redevelopment of the former site of Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Horsham, West Sussex, will repurpose a locally listed heritage asset and provide 206 high quality new homes for the town.

The vision for the 2.72 hectare site is to create a sustainable new community that connects to the surrounding countryside and nearby town centre. The principles of the site masterplan are driven by the historic context and the prioritisation of landscape and public realm to create a walkable new place with health and wellbeing at its heart.

The scheme involves the repurposing of an Art Deco style commercial building to provide 51 apartments and the construction of 155 new apartments and townhouses. 35% of the new homes will be affordable.

The proposed masterplan celebrates and enhances the 1930s Art Deco style heritage building. A tree-lined boulevard runs through the centre of the site, terminating in a landscaped green space in front of the existing building. Building heights step up across the site, from two storey mews houses to five storey apartment blocks flanking the existing building. The central tower remains the tallest element on the site, forming an important element of the new community’s identity.

A series of sensitive upgrades will be made to the existing building to improve thermal performance and building safety. The proposed apartment blocks that flank the heritage asset have been carefully designed to compliment the existing building through massing, materiality & detailing.

Distinct ‘character areas’ are proposed within the site to create smaller neighbourhood zones within the whole. Each area is defined by varying tones of brick, all of which have been chosen to complement the existing building. Metal cladding is used as a unifying secondary material right across the site, being used for the top floor of the existing building and new blocks as well as balconies, windows and infill panels to the gatehouses, mews houses and townhouses.