The Manor

Character

The scheme's strong identity is a marked contrast to the undistinguished housing immediately to the north of the site. The house types feel more like bespoke designs with a style of architecture which is sometimes Arts & Craft, sometimes more classical. Bands of reconstituted cream stonework add variety to the brickwork elevations which use a multi stock. Larger heavier buildings such as apartment blocks use areas of cream render to soften their bulk, while some taller buildings have hanging double-height bays where a balcony to a bedroom sits on top of a hanging window. Wooden balconies are painted white, as the classical porticos to some of the more classical house designs.

Boundary treatments to roads are thoughtfully detailed with low brickwork walls and pillars capped with stone coping, while houses facing onto the park have mature yew hedging. The quality of the parkland separating houses from Lower Earley Way is impressive, and the developer has maximised the number of homes looking on this space with four crescents of four linked townhouses. There are additional detached villas at each end of the crescents.

Roads, parking and pedestrianisation

Layout is a single straight access road, which loops Gabriel's Square and from which two more straight roads run off the south west and south east corners at diagonals. These are direct routes to the 'park' and divide the two crescents of townhouses overlooking the green space. There are a few additional secondary streets but the boldness and simplicity of the principal layout provides clear lines of sight for pedestrian and motorists to their point of travel. (The line of the road around Gabriel's Square follow the area sewer which required the land above it was a no-build zone.)

The main road is blacktop with a drop conservation-type kerb to a pavement in stone separating a line of three-storey houses. The building heights soften the impact of cars parked on brick pavia hardstandings in front. This is less attractive in front of the affordable units which use blacktop and is the only distinction between tenures. Cars are generally parked to the front or side of homes, with some in garages and many of the three storey units have an integral garage.

Pedestrian access to most homes is on paving stone slabs. The scheme impresses with its robust and colourful surface treatments and these are supported with good planting with native and exotic evergreens such as yew and yucca. The fronts of all homes have been planted helping to soften the "rawness" of a new-build scheme.

Design and construction

The scheme is traditional in construction using structural blockwork faced with an outer leaf of facing brick. Detailing is generally simple but generous with large timber balconies to some units. The crescent townhouses with balconies to living rooms at first floor allow occupants to sit out while looking over the park.

Many of the two-storey homes have room in the roof construction with sizeable dormers. The range of property is generally larger than average with one bedroom flats at 550 sq ft and some five-bed houses reaching 1950 sq ft.

Environment and community

The homes are mostly well lit by daylight owing in part to their orientation and to the use of bigger than normal fenestration.

The scheme's principal environmental technology is the use of permeable paving so that water run-off from the scheme's extensive hard landscaping is managed and taken to a wetland area to the south east corner of the development.

The extensive park requires a rigorous management structure and St James has brought in a company to control all the common parts of the scheme.

There is a bus route on the Lower Earley Way connecting to Reading centre and the development is within one mile of the nearest station at Winnersh Triangle. The attractive footpaths leading out of the scheme encourage pedestrian use. The layout suggests that the scheme could connect its roads to the pre-exiting Elderberry Way, but this is currently stopped up, so all cyclists and drivers must head for the Lower Earley Way.

The section 106 agreement include payments to cover the provision of a new junior football pitch off site and contributed towards local transport and school upgrades.