A Successful Place : Homes
Homes In Perfect Harmony With Their Setting.
With 2,800 homes to be built, housing will be the largest development feature at Calderwood. Building it out properly is critical to its success.
All too often large scale housing developments disappoint and fail to deliver. Computer generated identikit housing, using cheap materials, that look dated and dilapidated after a very short period, have not served our communities well. In addition public realm spaces have all too often been the left over bits of land from housing and become derelict spaces, unloved and unused.
The development requires a large variety of house types, large, small, executive, affordable, traditional, contemporary, eco friendly etc, so we intend to use a variety of house builders to avoid repetitive designs. There is also a place for self build houses, where people can have a certain design latitude to create their own dream home. However, it is very important that the various house types have an overall harmony that contributes positively to the identity of the development.
We need house builders who share our aspirations to ensure Calderwood is a wonderful place to live.
What makes a good house? Whether it’s large or small the overriding characteristic is that it’s loved by its residents. These homes are generally personalised and customised, sometimes with very simple things like flowers, plants and other features that make it a unique special place for its occupants. We want to ensure all the houses have this ability.
Local vernacular features like recessed rendered windows, crows feet gable ends, wynds and pends and elements of colour and local materials will all be referenced sufficiently in order to establish a Lothian /Scottish identity. The use of colour can be very uplifting, especially in what can be a very grey Scottish climate.
There are some excellent house builders who have pioneered environmentally friendly house building. We would like Calderwood to be defined as an environmentally friendly development. Houses overlooking public spaces are attractive places to live and also provide safety and security.
A variety of affordable house types will be established including social rent, shared equity, key worker, shelter housing and low cost, will all be interspersed seamlessly throughout the development.
The Raw Holdings area offers a wonderful opportunity for traditional and contemporary design interpretations of very low density rural houses. The small holdings barns provide a good design reference, simple, natural structures made of local materials in perfect harmony with their setting. The use of natural and local materials such as wood not only helps the built environment to blend in better within the landscape but it also has the added advantage of being more sustainable.
