The site is located in the heart of an affluent market town. Despite its location it has remained derelict for 14 years. Prior to our proposals there have been 6 planning applications for the site in this period and securing planning permission for a viable development has not been possible. The unlocking of the site required a more positive and extrovert approach made possible with good design and working with the community. The proposals are for an extra-care facility which shares many of its communal facilities with the wider public. To be viable this requires a minimum number of apartments and a high density solution. Harpenden sits within the Greenbelt and is struggling to provide sufficient housing, particularly for the older generations. Low density developments on the periphery of the town are being considered in the SLP and the solution for this sustainable brownfield site offers a more appropriate alternative where residents can live interdependently and contribute to the vitality of their town. Whilst the majority of the public were supportive of the planning application, unfortunately the District Council’s planning department refused the application and the proposals were taken to the Planning Inspectorate and heard at a public inquiry. Planning permission was granted in January 2016. The scheme consists of 38 generous apartments at a density of 84 dwellings per hectare which represents a density increase of 170% compared to the previously consented proposals for the site. Achieving such high density relied on the introduction of a villa typology. The villa typically consists of four dual aspect apartments around a communal atria. This allows the villas to be located relatively close to one another but staggered to define a diverse range of external spaces with clear thresholds between. Being broken down into villas allows us to reduce frontage widths and accommodate high levels of visual permeability by maintaining gaps between them. The form of the villas borrows heavily from the rich Arts & Crafts heritage of the town. Gables are a prominent feature and are twisted to create playful eaves lines and to reduce height on the corners. The palette of materials is traditional with plain clay tile roofs and white painted brick. We have explored the use of ‘hard’ waterstruck and ‘soft’ tumbled bricks to introduce a ‘frame pattern’ on the façade with splayed and corbelled window reveals respectively to accentuate the material qualities. A landscape feature in the form of a heavily planted plinth or colonnade connects the three villas at ground level and introduces a more civic quality celebrating the more public areas of the scheme. A range of communal facilities such as wellbeing areas, communal dining, lounges and function rooms are provided overlooking the park and around a communal courtyard in the centre of the scheme. These form the base of the atria and incorporate circulation to encourage incidental social interaction. The generous atria introduce natural light and ventilation into the heart of the villas and allow for more intimate communal spaces for residents on the upper floors. Apartments are fire engineered to be as flexible as possible and are free of corridors. Essentially the apartments consist of a single space broken up by freestanding storage elements and pocket doors which enable long views and further emphasise the generosity of space. The arrangement of the corner living rooms with double bedrooms either side allows bedrooms to be adapted for other uses to suit the changing needs of residents.