Post by Sherford on May 15, 2008 14:19:59 GMT
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/02/greenbuilding.ethicalliving
Free bikes, no uPVC - green light for prince's ecotown
A hi-tech, but traditional style community is about to be built in south Devon
Robert Booth
The Guardian, Friday May 2 2008 Article history
Sherford, the Prince of Wales's south Devon ecotown for 12,000 people, which has been granted planning permission
The first homes will come with a free bicycle, and giant wind turbines will power mandatory low-energy light bulbs. Welcome to Sherford, the Prince of Wales's south Devon ecotown for 12,000 people, which has been granted planning permission.
Cars are likely to be banned from some areas and the sun's rays will be harnessed to heat water in what the prince's advisers believe will be the greenest new settlement in Britain.
Sherford has been designed in collaboration with a private development consortium including the Royal Bank of Scotland. Like Poundbury, the new town in Dorset which Charles started building on his Duchy of Cornwall land 10 years ago, the buildings are inspired by historic townscapes.
A Georgian-style high street modelled on the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough will become the backbone of the new community, to be built between now and 2020 on rolling farmland on the edge of Plymouth.
To capture the ambience of a traditional English town, the prince's advisers have instructed that no building will be taller than five storeys and there are plans for a dedicated cricket pitch and a bowling green.
The prince has said he wants to "build again the types of places we all know strike a chord in our, by now, rather bewildered hearts, however 'modern' we are - places that convey an everlasting human story of meaning and belonging".
But while his antipathy to modernity means uPVC windows will banned in Sherford, his advisers are determined to harness the latest renewable energy technologies.
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment and the developer Red Tree intend half of all Sherford's energy to come from renewable sources on site, mostly from 120-metre (390ft) turbines looming over the town's 400 acre park, and local biomass heating and power systems that run on renewable fuels.
It is hoped that two-thirds of the bulky construction materials will be sourced from within a 50-mile radius and that CO2 emissions from the homes and businesses will be 60% lower than demanded by building regulations. Work buildings employing an estimated 7,000 people will have roofs planted with greenery or covered with a thin layer of rubble to encourage insects and birds. Three-quarters of buildings will be fitted with solar power systems and an organic farm for local food production is planned in the park.
Unlike Poundbury, built on Duchy land, Sherford is built on private land owned by Red Tree. The plans follow government estimates that 2.5m new homes are needed in the country in the next 10 years to meet rising demand.
When Sherford was first proposed residents in the neighbouring village of Brixton lodged 3,000 objections. Opposition was dropped after villagers were involved in the design process.
"This is beautiful countryside with a stream running through and it's a d**n shame," said Derek Curtis, a parish councillor. "But we have decided to make the best of it. We have all been to see Poundbury and architecturally it was much better than what local councils and housebuilders have done in the past."
Building Sherford will involve removing more than a mile of hedgerow, and the loss of wildlife habitats. The developers claim they will increase the number of native trees and that farmland birds such as the linnet will be relocated to the park. The wind turbines will also affect the setting of an iron age hill fort, and housing could be built over two possible bronze age burial mounds.
"We try to design places that are timeless and will be as efficient and enduring in 100 years as they are today," said Hank Dittmar, chief executive of the Prince's Foundation.
"Building something of our time can often mean we look back in 10 years and think, 'Oh my God, what were we thinking of?'. We have tried to study the past and its techniques and improve it for today."
Free bikes, no uPVC - green light for prince's ecotown
A hi-tech, but traditional style community is about to be built in south Devon
Robert Booth
The Guardian, Friday May 2 2008 Article history
Sherford, the Prince of Wales's south Devon ecotown for 12,000 people, which has been granted planning permission
The first homes will come with a free bicycle, and giant wind turbines will power mandatory low-energy light bulbs. Welcome to Sherford, the Prince of Wales's south Devon ecotown for 12,000 people, which has been granted planning permission.
Cars are likely to be banned from some areas and the sun's rays will be harnessed to heat water in what the prince's advisers believe will be the greenest new settlement in Britain.
Sherford has been designed in collaboration with a private development consortium including the Royal Bank of Scotland. Like Poundbury, the new town in Dorset which Charles started building on his Duchy of Cornwall land 10 years ago, the buildings are inspired by historic townscapes.
A Georgian-style high street modelled on the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough will become the backbone of the new community, to be built between now and 2020 on rolling farmland on the edge of Plymouth.
To capture the ambience of a traditional English town, the prince's advisers have instructed that no building will be taller than five storeys and there are plans for a dedicated cricket pitch and a bowling green.
The prince has said he wants to "build again the types of places we all know strike a chord in our, by now, rather bewildered hearts, however 'modern' we are - places that convey an everlasting human story of meaning and belonging".
But while his antipathy to modernity means uPVC windows will banned in Sherford, his advisers are determined to harness the latest renewable energy technologies.
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment and the developer Red Tree intend half of all Sherford's energy to come from renewable sources on site, mostly from 120-metre (390ft) turbines looming over the town's 400 acre park, and local biomass heating and power systems that run on renewable fuels.
It is hoped that two-thirds of the bulky construction materials will be sourced from within a 50-mile radius and that CO2 emissions from the homes and businesses will be 60% lower than demanded by building regulations. Work buildings employing an estimated 7,000 people will have roofs planted with greenery or covered with a thin layer of rubble to encourage insects and birds. Three-quarters of buildings will be fitted with solar power systems and an organic farm for local food production is planned in the park.
Unlike Poundbury, built on Duchy land, Sherford is built on private land owned by Red Tree. The plans follow government estimates that 2.5m new homes are needed in the country in the next 10 years to meet rising demand.
When Sherford was first proposed residents in the neighbouring village of Brixton lodged 3,000 objections. Opposition was dropped after villagers were involved in the design process.
"This is beautiful countryside with a stream running through and it's a d**n shame," said Derek Curtis, a parish councillor. "But we have decided to make the best of it. We have all been to see Poundbury and architecturally it was much better than what local councils and housebuilders have done in the past."
Building Sherford will involve removing more than a mile of hedgerow, and the loss of wildlife habitats. The developers claim they will increase the number of native trees and that farmland birds such as the linnet will be relocated to the park. The wind turbines will also affect the setting of an iron age hill fort, and housing could be built over two possible bronze age burial mounds.
"We try to design places that are timeless and will be as efficient and enduring in 100 years as they are today," said Hank Dittmar, chief executive of the Prince's Foundation.
"Building something of our time can often mean we look back in 10 years and think, 'Oh my God, what were we thinking of?'. We have tried to study the past and its techniques and improve it for today."