Alconbury Weald

New Communities Commercial Operations Strategic Scale Growth Master Planning

Embracing Heritage, Creating Homes, Growing a Community

Overview

Alconbury Weald is an award-winning, sustainable mixed-use development on a former RAF/USAF airfield. We have played a key role in developing and implementing the planning strategy for the site, which will deliver 6,500 homes and 8,000 new jobs. Throughout the process, we have ensured that the development respects, reflects and utilises the site’s heritage while meeting the contemporary needs of its growing new community.

Project Highlights

Outline Detailed & Reserved Matters Applications Detailed Implementation Strategic Planning Masterplanning Site Promotion & Advocacy Development Frameworks and Parameter Plans Design Coding Stakeholder & Public Engagement Town Planning Urban Design

Clients

Urban&Civic

Date

2010-Present

Scale

5,000 homes, to be expanded to 6,500, and 290,000sqm of employment

A great example of a master developed approach, producing a great long-term placemaking strategy.

Judges Comments, Planning Awards 2019

An overgrown field, featuring tall grass and bushes, and a "no entry" sign. In the background, there is an old, semi-cylindrical yellowish-brown hangar facility, partly obscured by the vegetation and in the foreground a green, elevated guard tower, the area was once used for military or industrial purposes. The setting is rural under clear skies.

A park, with greenery and shrubs, a set of ramps for skateboarding or skating and wooden tower in the background with a slide.

A modern sleek black building displaying "Make|Grow" on its exterior. There is extensive use of glass, providing a transparent view of the interior. A distinctive black spiral staircase is attached to the side of the building. The surroundings are well-maintained with a clear path, neatly trimmed plants, a few trees and a clear blue sky.

A residential neighborhood with well-maintained sandstone houses. The homes have a traditional design with pitched roofs, chimneys and small front gardens, with neatly trimmed plants and bushes. The street is clean and spacious, with a few young trees planted along the sidewalk.

A field with a heritage asset metal aircraft hanger.

A gravel path, lined with grass, two wooden benches and and houses facing the public footpath.

The Project

Alconbury Weald is one of the most significant ‘exemplar’ strategic regional projects currently under construction in the UK. The site was designated Enterprise Zone status in 2011, and a major mixed-use outline planning permission was secured in 2014. In 2019, following promotion by David Lock Associates, the site was formally allocated as a Strategic Expansion Location in the Huntingdonshire Local Plan. Additional growth is being planned for at Grange Farm on the southern part of the site, to increase the number of dwellings from 5,000 to 6,500 homes. The development of the site is ongoing, with over 850 homes and 100,000m² of employment space already delivered, notably including the new headquarters for Cambridgeshire County Council.

The Process

We have had a long-term strategic role in the development and implementation of the site, having been originally appointed back in 2010 to prepare a mixed-use vision and master plan for the former RAF/USAF airfield. Over time our role evolved, to ensure the effective implementation of the outline planning permission in a flexible and responsive manner, facilitating delivery. Our work has ranged from overseeing a consistent ‘Alconbury Weald specific’ approach for each Key Phase of development by using bespoke Design Codes, to obtaining detailed approval for the repair and restoration of the historic Grade II listed Watch Office.

Utilising and respecting the site’s unique history formed and integral part of the planning and design process. By maintaining the legacy of the former airfields use, through sustainably repurposing and reusing heritage assets, it has ensured that future generations can experience and engage with the elements that make Alconbury Weald significant. As one of the most ambitious developments in the country, Alconbury Weald stands as an example of delivering long-term, strategic placemaking at scale, notably providing the backdrop for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as they launched the 2024 National Planning Policy Framework.