IBLA entered a competition to design a sheltered housing scheme in Hampshire. We proposed two dwelling types, ‘tree houses’ and ‘courtyard houses’, that combine a private (external) space in the woods with a convivial, across-the-fence relationship to neighbours, convenient parking, and a variety of social spaces: a thoroughly ‘civilised’ retreat. As well as ground level communal facilities, we have, strung across the stacks of treehouses, a ‘high line’ of connected roof gardens providing facilities for a variety of gentle outdoor pursuits such as barbeque pits, boules courts, outdoor chess tables, greenhouses, bee hives and a bird hide, all set against a treetop view encompassing the nearby Bishop’s Waltham Palace ruins.