Retirement Homes, Letchworth Garden City
36 retirement homes on a sensitive site in Letchworth Garden City.
Location
Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6
Status
Completed
Use
Retirement Homes
Client
The Ralph Swingler Place development for Beechcroft Developments is comprised of 36 retirement properties (including eight affordable).
This sensitive site within the Letchworth Garden City Conservation Area, a former tennis club and courts, required extremely careful planning and design by the practice to remain in keeping with the surrounding residential properties, all of which were designed by Parker and Unwin of the garden city movement.
Sensitive, contextual design
The scheme has been highly praised by local residents, the planning authority and The Letchworth Heritage Trust. It consists of a landscaped courtyard enclosed by two-storey rendered terraced properties with asymetrical gable features, capped by overhanging fascias to large plain tiled roofs.
Extended balconies, cottage style fenestration and chimney stacks also echo local design details. At the focal point a three storey apartment block punctuates the design and gives a sense of arrival.