17 June 2015
An innovative custom build cohousing project – set to become a home for families in Cambridge – has begun the search for a preferred developer.
{TEASER}
In conjunction with Cambridge City Council, the chosen developer for the ‘Cambridge K1′ scheme’ at Orchard Park, north Cambridge, will work with the K1 members on the detailed design proposals. The green light was given in March 2014 and – after 18 months of collaborative work, with support from the Homes and Communities Agency, the Council and planners – the K1 members are getting closer to realising their vision by forming a company called Cambridge Cohousing Ltd.
Around 40 new homes are earmarked for the cohousing project – the first of its kind in Cambridge – with an idea to allow the families to design and ‘self finish’ homes to the highest sustainability standards establishing a strong and cohesive community.
The design will incorporate lifetime home standards, so properties can be adapted to grow with them, rather than families growing out of space. Each household will have its own energy efficient home and private space, but the residents will spend time with each other as a community on a regular basis – an important part of the members’ vision is the sharing of resources. They are keen to achieve an environment where neighbours know each other, work together to create social opportunities and lives that are sociable and child friendly, through the inclusion of car free areas, communal gardens and a Common House.
Jan Chadwick, a group member set to move from Cheshire with her family to live in the K1 development, said: “We hope our neighbours will become like a second or extended family, people we can trust and rely on.”
A few places remain for people interested in the chance of customising their own home within the development. An ‘open morning‘ is planned for this Saturday (20 June) at Orchard Park for anyone interested in finding out about the scheme or how to join it.
