Re-imagining the Garden City by C.F. Møller Architects

Location: Letchworth Garden City, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://aasarchitecture.com/category/country/england" target="_blank">UK
Architect: C.F. Møller Architects
Client consultant: RIBA Competitions
Client: Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation
Size: 45 ha, 900 Dwellings
Year: 2019
Images: Courtesy of C.F. Møller Architects

Ideas competition for a 45ha large masterplan, based on a re-imagination of the principles behind the Garden City Movement, emphasising a sustainable and caring community. “Re-imagining the Garden City” has won the Award of Excellence for the Concept-Analysis and Planning category in the 2020 WLA Awards.

Letchworth Garden City is the original Garden City based on the principles developed by Ebenezer Howard and given form by the architects Berry Parker & Raymond Unwin. In the spirit of the original Garden City the proposal hopes to plant the seed for the social interaction that creates a healthy and socially sustainable community where people care for one another and for the landscape.

Landscape as strategic pivot point
The masterplan is focused on a modern interpretation of the ‘Hamlet’ and is developed from the inside out; from the smallest residential scale to the larger hamlet scale. Landscape is a key catalyst for the masterplan and has informed all strategic design decisions and the framework of the new masterplan is built around links and synergies between productive, performance and amenity landscapes.

A wild landscape surrounds the masterplan, providing shelter from noise and wind whilst enhancing the sense of enclosure and biodiversity. The new parkway takes advantage of the existing hedgerows and connects the site to Letchworth Garden City, providing different activities along the way.

Socially and sustainable community
In the spirit of the original Garden City the proposal hopes to plant the seed for the social interaction that creates a healthy and socially sustainable community where people care for one another and for the landscape.The masterplan is focused on a modern interpretation of the ‘Hamlet’ and is developed from the inside out, from the smallest residential scale to the larger hamlet scale.