Description

The new village extends the historic town of Dorchester to the west within the ring road. Phase One (completed 2002) backs onto the Cambridge Road council estate, and has narrow winding streets, carefully designed around well detailed buildings that are built on a human scale. Colours are muted and soft, and local stone, brick and render are used throughout. Public buildings are distinguished from private ones by scale, materials and strategic location, and unusually, affordable housing has been scattered almost unnoticeably among privately owned properties.

The high density settlement's layout of twisting lanes reduces vehicle speed and forecloses long street views, and buildings are often placed hard up against the pavement on relatively narrow streets, which are clean and uncluttered. With terrestrial and satellite television cabled underground to housing, and different chimney types designed by individual builders for their buildings, based on local examples, a unique skyline has been created.

The village is zoned for higher density at the centre, with paths linking to a proposed park north of Bridport Road and open space to the south-west. The development includes B1 employment (34% on long leasehold from the Duchy) and community, education, recreation, and residential uses, and benefits from adjacent facilities such as the secondary school, and Dorchester's amenities nearby. Some parking is provided on-street but is mainly in rear courtyards, with 2.3 parking spaces per dwelling.