Following success in winning a limited design competition, we were appointed by Countryside to design one of the first character areas at their new development in Cambridge. Aura delivers 229 homes over 5.2ha and forms part of the masterplan to develop 2,300 new homes at Great Kneighton. Situated between Trumpington and Addenbrooke's Hospital, this new community will knit into the surrounding countryside and existing residential areas, and form strong links with the city. The aspiration is to create a new sustainable garden suburb located within Cambridge’s southern fringe. In response to its location, the design is organised within a legible urban framework of streets and landscaped squares. Large contemporary homes exploit the leafiest environment along the existing plantation with smaller intermediate townhouses and courtyards creating a buffer between the apartment streets and larger Arcadian closes that nestle between the existing hedgerows and mature trees.