The national standard for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods.
Butts Green
Kingswood, Warrington
Located outside the growing town of Warrington and within 200 yards of junction 8 of the M62 motorway, this interesting scheme with its strong architecture, dominant terracotta colour, formal open spaces and well-detailed construction is dramatically different from everyday suburban developments.
For the last two of its Kingswood sites, formerly part of the historic Burtonwood US Air Force base which closed in 1993, English Partnership's detailed design brief has produced a mediaeval hamlet of terraced cottages, villas, apartments and town houses. Historic building forms, elements and details abound without producing a sense of pastiche.
The main building is a powerful crescent designed with the presence of a manor house or priory. This frames a formal private green space which features an iconic sculpture 'Togetherness' by Paul Margetts, representing a family or community group.
At the south of the site, a crescent of townhouses and apartments addresses a larger public green space not included in the scheme.
Related case studies
Elmington Estate, a 1960s high crime estate in Camberwell, has been replaced with a striking new development which re-establishes the basis of a traditional street network.
Hailed by the judges as a "pioneering development from a socially conscious developer", Abbotts Wharf has brought new life to a drab brownfield site.
