Eco-Retirement Village, Sompting

Client: The Cuckfield Group

Role: Architecture and Environmental Consultancy

The Sompting site presents a unique opportunity for the development of a model Eco Assisted Living Community which has the potential to become an iconic project of national significance.

The design proposals combine a zero carbon development with an assisted living community. These together, present a strong case for an exception to the Local Development Framework in the case of this site, which is unique in the vicinity, as it offers a combination of features by virtue of its location and scale.

The proposed care village could accommodate up to 300 dwellings generating cost benefits of a range of facilities for self sufficiency and economic care delivery. Sompting is adjacent to an area with a very high proportion of older people who could be supported from a care team from within the development and for whom the communal and healthy living facilities within the village could be made available.

The design is based on a busy internal street with clusters of east or west facing apartments, but all with south facing winter rooms. Each cluster opens up to an external court, each with a different feel, with the apartments entered from an internal court that will be used as a winter garden, or meeting area, or café. The street will be alive with activity with lounges, dining rooms, hobby rooms, shops, library, therapy rooms, sports clubs, etc along its length, and at three different levels. There are individual houses to the north of the development to fade into the downs. The natural landscape is brought into the heart of the development, and wraps around the edges, and hopefully over the green roof areas, to minimize the visual impact to the south.