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The Village

Caterham-on-the-Hill

The Village

Evaluation

Character

The Village feels like a successful and busy piece of town with a variety of housing. It is well connected to Caterham-on-the-Hill, with Caterham station, less than two miles away. 

The skilful mix of old and new, particularly in the earlier part of the scheme, and the variety of residential tenures, employment and recreation opportunities are exemplary. 

Opposite a new supermarket on Coulsdon Road, the former Guards' Chapel and a new memorial signal the entrance to the Village and provide an historical link.  Restored under Section 106, the cricket pitch is at the heart of the scheme, a major amenity visible to everyone entering the development. Surrounding roads make the pitch very public and are fronted by both commercial and new residential buildings. Mature trees provide further enclosure to the pitch and have been retained wherever possible.

Long vistas, punctuated by majestic trees are important elements of the landscape. All public green areas, including front gardens, are maintained by a permanent landscape team.

Roads, parking and pedestrianisation

Roads in the Village are well overlooked. Along the western boundary of the scheme, balconies and windows overlook a bridle path and give views over a golf course. Parking in the converted barracks boulevard is well integrated into the street scene but some larger rear parking areas in other parts of the scheme are lifeless.

The development team sought to front onto roads around the perimeter to make the Village a better neighbour, but local opposition feared a loss of tranquillity and prevented this, so the development has only one vehicular entrance. However, there are many openings in the old barracks wall for pedestrians and cyclists. The largest homes, on the northern edge of the Village, face outwards onto an access road, which has pedestrian and cyclist access to a parallel lane bounding the green belt.

The northern part of the development, designed to PPG3, promotes the 'place' over the car. For example, in Harradine Square the road is designed with 'square corners' which can help to slow drivers. Nearby, a crossroads without road markings but with a change in surface is freely crossed by pedestrians. The well connected and legible road layout has a 20mph speed limit along with speed reducing curves, making walking an easy choice.

The colourful children's play space behind the former gymnasium is separated from housing by the (20mph) Village bus route. Road surfaces in the barracks area, the first phase of development, mostly use Marshalls Tegula paving for roads and parking spaces; the main route is tarmac with quality kerbs and paved crossovers, and later parts utilise tarmac, a mix of paviours, dressed tarmac and shared surface treatments.

Design and construction

There are a wide range of specially developed building types and layouts including squares, a boulevard, a crescent with well proportioned terraced houses and a row of fine five bedroom open plan homes with loggias and double height spaces. The costly Barracks conversions have tall ceilings and are airy, and re-modelling will allow other uses in the future. 

Re-used bricks and maximised porous areas contribute to sustainability, and SAP ratings are well above average, the latest homes on the northern boundary achieving 90-92/120. These also have high levels of insulation, condensing boilers and IT and audio wiring. Small offices, facing the cricket pitch, successfully mix traditional materials and a modern image.

Environment and community

Linden Homes funded a 30 minute frequency bus service from the Village to Caterham station. All homes are within 250 metres of this service, which now serves five schools and was taken over by the county and district councils in September 2005. 

Coulsdon Road, the local high street, was once faced by a barracks wall but now has improved vitality. The new supermarket is acceptably well related to the existing local centre, and its 190 space car park accommodates visitors to neighbouring retailers. 

Later parts of the Village have been informed by 'New Urbanism', creating a mixed, walkable community with expensive homes near to Guinness Trust affordable housing, which is generally widely dispersed across the site.