Taking its inspiration from the global slow movement, which originated in Italy, Slo (Simple Living Opportunities) at South Chase, Newhall, Harlow, is the latest phase of a master planned development of architecturally striking homes within a sustainable community located on the Essex and Herts borders. Architects Proctor and Matthews have conceived Slo to be a place to relax and to take time to appreciate the simple aspects of home life.
“A Slo home looks for the antidote to the fast pace of 21st century life,” said Stephen Proctor of architects Proctor and Matthews. “Some of the properties have an attractive ‘L’ shaped ‘courtyard design’ with a covered open terrace which extends the living space – breaking the boundaries between the external and internal environments – and also provides al-fresco lifestyle options not normally found in houses of this price.”
The initiatives undertaken to provide a more considered way of life are extended to environmental concerns too. A range of eco-friendly measures, such as high performance thermal insulation, reduced water wastage and reduced pollution during building, thanks to offsite construction, have been introduced. In a selection of homes, ground source heat-pump and other renewable energy technologies have been incorporated, significantly reducing the heating and hot water costs over an annual cycle to around £250 per year for a typical two-bedroom house.
Additionally clever and extensive use of glass at the homes, which provides passive solar gain and reduces the need for heating and electrical lighting, means Slo homes – which range from two-, three- and four-bedroom terraced, semi-detached and detached houses, priced from £269,000 for a two-bedroom house, £355,000 for a three-bedroom house and £389,000 for a four-bedroom house – can achieve Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) – equivalent to Ecohomes ‘Excellent’.
The ethos to create architecturally striking and eco-friendly homes within a sustainable community has been conceived by developer brothers Jon Moen, 59, and William Moen, 48. Newhall, located three miles from Harlow, Essex, is a master planned community with an overarching remit to create architecturally stimulating homes while protecting the environment and enhancing the well-being of residents.
The brothers’ commitment, which will eventually see Newhall encompass 2,800 homes on the 280-acre site, is borne of a desire to create a lasting legacy and out of respect for the land on which they are building, which was once farmed by their grandfather.
Jon Moen said: “We’ve taken a long-term view at Newhall, looking at how we can develop architecturally stimulating homes, protect the environment and the well-being of our buyers – every property will have a view of greenery and will be no more than 60 metres from green space. We want generations of buyers to enjoy living here.”
The philosophy appears to be working. Several of those who have bought at Newhall have moved within the community rather that outside it. At North Chase, a phase of 127 apartments, townhouses and villas where properties remain for sale priced from £185,000-£435,000, a number of existing homeowners are considering trading up from an apartment to a townhouse.
Newhall’s head of sales & marketing Matthew Byatt, said: “We find that once people find Newhall don’t want to leave. In the last phase sold, 12 of the current residents traded up, and a further 30 previously lived within five minutes of the development. I fully expect several existing homeowners at Newhall to buy at Slo and North Chase, whether as a second or investment property, or for personal use.
Currently, across the whole of Newhall less than 400 residences have been built, a figure that will rise to 700 by 2011. It will be a full generation – 15 years – before the extent of Newhall is reached, John Moen anticipates. The painstaking progress is largely due to the Moen’s great attention to detail and determination that the land and community is developed in a sustainable manner and with a respect for the local environment.
Unlike many landowners, the brothers are selling the land to developers in parcels rather than as an entire estate. Developers must adhere to the strict guidelines of the master plan, created by Roger Evans Associates, a leading urban design architects’, and work unusually closely with project architects. A colour palette, specific brick types and roof tiles have been selected that house builders must use – deviation from the approved materials is not permitted. Otherwise anything goes.
Newhall’s house designs range from traditional Victorian-style houses, without the ornamentation, to European-style contemporary terrace houses that incorporate louvers on the outside of windows to deflect sunlight and provide privacy, to semi’s with a ‘zebra-stripe’ effect on the external walls. The result is an eclectic mix; a bold playfulness at work that many people find is an inspirational vision of what all new homes could be: sustainable communities with architecturally stimulating properties.
