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Coed Darcy Village, Wales : Llandarcy Building

South Wales Community Development – design by Robert Adam Architects

Coed Darcy Urban Village Llandarcy

PLANS UNVEILED FOR NEW HOMES IN THE FIRST URBAN VILLAGE IN WALES

The first designs by Robert Adam Architects for homes in the initial phase of the proposed new Coed Darcy Urban Village at Llandarcy in South Wales were revealed this week.

Situated on a 400 hectare (1,000 acre) brownfield site, formerly occupied by Britain’s first oil refinery, the urban village will be based on centuries old principles which have successfully fostered thriving communities in the past.

A specialist team, including Robert Adam Architects, together with Edward Ware Homes (South Wales) Ltd and its Cardiff-based joint venture partner Atlantic Property Developments Plc, have been selected to initiate work on the scheme by the landowners, BP, and the Welsh Assembly Government, as well as Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Almost 150 homes and 58 apartments will be built on 4.2 hectares (10.4 acres) of the site.

Robert Adam of Robert Adam Architects said “Coed Darcy will be an exemplar of traditional urban design and the new houses will pay homage to the history and vernacular architecture of the area as well as being thoroughly modern in conception.”

The urban village will be compact and easily navigable for the pedestrian, through a carefully designed network of interconnecting streets. Workplaces, shops and housing will all be within easy walking distance of one another, a key feature of Coed Darcy’s commitment to sustainability.

Robert Adam has skilfully incorporated the distinctive features and use of materials that characterise the local architecture into his own designs for Coed Darcy. Consequently the new homes are of a style, which, he says “you would immediately recognise as local to this part of Wales.”

Round corner towers and single rounded bays, gleaned from the castellated main house that once stood on the local Gnoll house, characterise parts of the townscape, most noticeably in the three – storey structure marking the entrance to the development. Other features echo those seen in the surviving buildings on the estate, likewise the usage of traditional materials such as brick beneath slate roofs, timber and clay tiles.

The ‘garden suburb’ homes in the adjoining Llandarcy village, originally designed to accommodate oil workers, were used as a template for further housing in Coed Darcy.

Properties situated on the perimeter of the development complement the character of the main residential area, reminiscent of the visual character of some of the thirteenth century castles and fortresses in South Wales, notably Castell Coch in Cardiff and Hen Domen Castle in Powys.

Coed Darcy Urban Village Llandarcy – Building Information

Developer: Edward Ware Homes & Atlantic Property Developments Plc
Architect: Robert Adam Architects
Environmental Planners: Environmental Resource Management
Consulting Engineers: Environmental Resource Management
Landscape Architects: Camlin Lonsdale
Sustainability Consultants: Welsh School of Architecture
Engineers: Galvanyze Consulting Engineers

Coed Darcy Urban Village Llandarcy Architecture Information from Stratton & Reekie 270606

Robert Adam Architects

Masterplan Designs

Location: Llandarcy, Wales

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