61. Abode Housing

The Abode housing development by Proctor Matthews Architects was built as a gateway neighbourhood to the development in Great Kneighton in South Cambridge. The masterplan (by PRP) was designed for 3,000 homes which included two schools and a country woodland park that would connect to the new established science park.

Abode housing was delivered by housing developer ‘Countryside’ who unlike many house builders had a focus on delivering a consistent approach to detail and craftsmanship across their projects. They delivered Abode with the same architect Proctor Matthews over 10 years.
The new housing development was influenced by housing typologies that were contextual to Cambridge:
-Cambridge low rise city -Cambridge courtyards
-Cambridge mews houses
-Trumpington housing facing landscape and fenlands.
Our tour was kindly given today by the practice’s director Andrew Matthews.

Abode housing uses lots of housing typologies across the masterplan which include; mews terraced houses, courtyard houses, villa houses (no gardens, just roof terraces) and blocks with flats/maisonettes. The use of ‘portals’ through housing blocks made stronger connections between streets and vistas in the masterplan. Some mews houses had back to back distances of 6m modelled on the existing higher density layouts of Cambridge and Dorset. Materials reference local vernacular Cambridge housing, buff brickwork (patterned with cut bricks and exposed frogs) and black barn-like timber cladding.

The landscape flows well between the housing with lots of shared surfaces, Cambridge have chosen to adopt soft landscape areas for planting and upkeep.