Clifton Hill

We have been working with Exeter City Living on a number of proposed residential schemes across the city over the last few months. The first of these to reach the planning application stage is a development of 42 new homes at Clifton Hill we have been designing with Clifton Emery design. The proposal is for 31 houses and a further 11 flats all built to Passivhaus standards on the brownfield site of the former Sports Centre. 

We prepared a Transport Statement and Flood Risk Assessment to support the detailed planning application that was submitted in June 2020. Alex led our team working on this project and attended a virtual public consultation. 

The site benefits from being located within a short walking distance of a wide range of local facilities and public transport options. Whilst car parking is provided, vehicle access and parking spaces have been positioned to minimise the impact of cars on the streets and spaces. Parking for the development will be provided on-site at a ratio of one for each house and three for the flats. These lower levels of parking are considered suitable for the city centre location, an approach which was agreed by DCC.

The central landscape feature of the Green Street is a rain garden which runs the full length of the street. A rain garden is designed to capture rainwater run-off from surrounding hard surfaces such as roofs, streets and footpaths. The rain garden will perform a number of beneficial environmental roles, including: enhanced biodiversity and promotion of wildlife in the city, sustainable drainage, improved amenity in the street a better basis for health and well-being and creation of a greener cleaner more attractive place. It will also help reduce the flood risk to low-lying properties in the downstream urban catchment. 

Emma Osmundsen, Managing Director of Exeter City Living said: “These are the first city centre family homes to be created in Exeter since Gras Lawn and are much needed. We build exclusively Passivhaus as part of our aim for Exeter to lead the way in quality, sustainable housing development. There are currently around 1,000 Passivhaus homes in the UK so these really are special. Exeter City Living homes are not only sustainable by design - being owned by Exeter City Council means that all of our profits can be ploughed back into the city, creating a business model which supports public services.” 

Exeter City Council granted planning permission in December 2020 and we are currently working on the detailed infrastructure design.

We were delighted to see the development was recently awarded the Design Award by Building with Nature.

Images reproduced courtesy of Exeter City Living and Clifton Emery Design