Melfield Gardens will provide 30 affordable homes for residents aged 55 and above as well as two four-bedroom homes for eight postgraduate students from a local university. In return for being ‘good neighbours’, the students will be charged a lower rent. Each student will also spend a number of hours assisting older residents by offering company or participating in the cultural and recreational activities that take place in the communal spaces. In addition to learning from this innovative social pilot, the client is keen to achieve a fully certified Passivhaus building as a first step towards a Zero Carbon future.
The Category 2 and 3 homes have adopted a dual aspect and flexible ‘one-bedroom-plus’ model that incorporates an additional ‘study/hobby room’ complete with pocket door, allowing it the flexibility to either become part of the main living space or remain separate. In line with HAPPI principles, this provides residents with greater flexibility to tailor homes to their own requirements as they age in place.
The two subtly cranked buildings partially enclose a pedestrian-prioritised central green, which retains public routes through the site to Beckenham Hill Station. A shared south-facing ‘garden room’ wraps around into the protected garden for residents and their visitors.
An intergenerational development for older people and students, with generous communal spaces, designed to a Passivhaus standard.