Toutley East

Working with Wokingham Borough Council, proposals have been developed with net zero operational potential, for up 130 new homes and a 70-bed dementia care home.

The design celebrates diversity and need, creating a variety of safe spaces to encourage residents to use and come together. The scheme is conceived around various green spaces that form the ‘heart’ of the community and act as functional landscapes, connected to the wider community.

Illustrative proposals have been developed with a tenure blind approach with at least 35% affordable housing provision. Innovative typologies combine to achieve pockets of density, enabling various areas of green and open space throughout the urban grain.

The masterplan has been developed to establish the first principles of passive design. Strategies include optimal orientation of buildings for solar gain, efficient form factors and typologies that harness party wall efficiencies. A fabric first approach promotes a high-performance building fabric achieving U-values and airtightness in line with LETI guidance.

Renewable technologies such as air source heat pumps (ASHP) and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) have been incorporated while the careful orientation of roofs allows for for efficient generation of renewable energy with solar panels (PV). This is combined with green roofs to enhance biodiversity net gain and increased insulation performance. Over provision of open green space contributes to carbon capture within the landscape and amenity for health and wellbeing benefits.