A new neighbourhood that embraces the rural landscape of the Sussex countryside

Sat within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to the south of Crawley, the masterplan at Woodgate will create a new neighbourhood featuring 619 residential dwellings, a 48-bed care facility, a primary school and a community building which includes meeting rooms, a café and retail space. Homes will be provided in a mix of one and two bedroom apartments, as well as a variety of houses and bungalows, ranging from two to four bedrooms.

Responding sensitively to the Sussex countryside, Woodgate enhances key landscape features across the site including woodland, fields and ponds. Homes will be thoughtfully integrated into these existing landscape and connected to the array of surrounding wildlife corridors, supporting learning, sports, leisure, relaxation, connectivity and play. Key pedestrian and cycle routes weave through the neighbourhood to establish important linkages between these spaces.

The Village Green is the central heart of the new community offering opportunities for informal meetings or organised community events. The new building for St Catherine’s Hospice will be located there forming an active part of the neighbourhood on one side, but also benefitting from more secluded gardens with beautiful views on the other.

The new homes draw inspiration from buildings in the local area, combining elegant detached, terraced and semi-detached forms with pitched roofs alongside elements of contemporary detailing. The repeated use of simple building forms, well considered details and a limited palette of materials aims to create buildings which are robust, but also visually appealing, creating homes which will form characterful streets and spaces. The material palette features red, cream, and blue bricks, tile hanging and small elements of white timber boarding to create a familiar street scene expressed in a contemporary way.

A special element of Woodgate is the Villas on the Green which utilise an upside-down living arrangement to optimise views from principal living spaces across the Village Green and to the countryside beyond. The homes feature generous roof terraces and flowing, open-plan living/kitchen/dining spaces with vaulted ceilings, which are flooded with light from generous fully glazed gable ends. These provide a distinct rhythm to the elevations, reflecting the character of the hospice and community hub buildings opposite while being reminiscent of the Edwardian villa typologies seen in local towns and villages.