Cala Domus

The masterplan for Newhall was designed by Roger Evans Associates, who began the process by superimposing street plans of Florence, Bath and other historic towns onto a plan of the New Hall site to show graphically the high densities and complex street layouts that could be achieved.

The completed masterplan included strict guidelines stating that pastiche and fake architectural devices were to be avoided. A pallet of materials and colours was incorporated to reflect natural local materials and built form around the site.

The planning process, involving numerous public consultations, took most of the 1990s. The highways agencies initially resisted the ideas of single surface roads and pavements, narrow street widths and trees set in the middle of roads to slow down traffic, but were eventually persuaded. Roger Evans Associates and Newhall Projects worked closely with Harlow District Council and Essex County Council officers who had produced the Essex Design Guide.

PCKO, among other practices, were invited in 2000 to enter an architectural competition run by Roger Evans Associates to design the third phase. PCKO's winning design was then tendered to developers to build. Cala Homes were very interested in building the scheme but were reluctant to take on all the risk of buying the whole site. So Cala Domus was formed as a joint venture between Cala Homes and Newhall Projects Ltd. Work started on site in 2002 and was completed in August 2005.