A development in Welwyn has picked up a top gong at the Evening Standard’s New Homes Awards.
The Best First-Time Buy accolade went to architect, Stockwool, and developer, Developing London, for the Clock House Gardens development.
This is the latest plaudit for the development, which is built on the site of the former Clock Hotel; it won bronze in the What House? Awards’ Best Development category last year and has also been shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) and Housing Design Awards
This was the first large scale development for Developing London and its founder, Clayton Lyon, said: “We were very pleased to acquire such an iconic and locally recognisable site. We specialise in high end family homes and this formed the ethos of the development, to bring top end finish and design to more realistically priced homes.”
He continued: “The welcoming brick and timber clad internal communal areas were complimented with stunning landscaped gardens giving a feeling of luxurious value for money.
“The site‘s design welcomes the residents home and warm Siberian Larch reflects the silvers when the sun passes across giving a decidedly Scandinavian feel. The transition from historic village to complimentary sereneness of the contemporary gardens is a fusion that works well.”
The Evening Standard gushed over the development, saying: “Herts is trumps for commuters, and with prices from £140,000 to £270,000, this scheme of 50 affordable homes has proved a hit with design-conscious first-time buyers.
“Low-rise cube-shaped blocks clad in brick and timber and with sedum roofs border dense woodland on one side and the roaring A1M on the other, but noise and pollution are minimised by the architecture and clever landscaping, which exploit the natural contours of the site.”
Developing London bought the site through local estate agents, Putterills, who then sold the apartments once they were under construction.
Putterills’ New Homes managing director Mark Shearing said: “This was a fantastic and different project to have been involved with.
“Rarely have I worked with a developer like Clayton who has such passion for what he does, he truly deserves the recognition and awards his first large scale development is achieving.”
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