Rural housing, Cassington, Oxfordshire

A landscape driven housing scheme that follows the VeloCity principles, prioritising people over cars and building compact, light-footed homes in the middle of a village to keep it walkable and to protect the countryside.

The new housing is on a rural exception site owned by Blenheim and in the middle of one of the villages surrounding Blenheim Palace. The design strategy pushes cars to the edges and opens up an old right of way to create a central car-free walking and cycling route that serves both the new homes as well as providing a safer route between the village school and playing fields.

Rural housing

“The housing design takes its cue from what is already there – workers terraced cottages and agricultural buildings – to ensure the village character is retained.“

The terraced houses are arranged in to farmyard type clusters of 8-10 homes each located around shared courtyard gardens.

The 30 – 40 new homes are low energy, affordable housing built to Passivhaus standards. They are more compact and light-footed with less space given to the car and private gardens and more to shared spaces comprising the courtyard gardens, allotments, a work hub and community orchards.

Back To Projects