CITY PARK WEST

City Park West is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Chelmsford of more than 600 homes featuring cafés, restaurants, workplaces, community facilities and public art. Located by the railway station, it includes five new residential buildings, including a 14-storey tower, four new public squares, and three refurbished buildings, one of which is listed.

The brief from Notting Hill Genesis called for a high-density development with a range of house types from one-bedroom extra-care flats to three-bedroom mews homes with rooftop terraces. Of the 645 dwellings, 60 per cent are for market rent, 20 per cent are shared ownership, 10 per cent is social housing with the rest providing affordable extra-care. Built to high environmental standards, each home has access to a garden, terrace, or balcony. Pedestrian routes and public spaces, enhanced by fountains and artworks - an interactive video display and text carved into paving, benches, and steps - define six distinct neighbourhood areas. Open to everyone, these spaces also act as amenity for residents and define City Park West as much as the buildings do.

Three refurbished buildings further enrich the sense of place. The Grade II listed Anne Knight Building, a former Quaker meeting house is now a restaurant

with two other local gems now offering office space and penthouse apartments. This mix of new and old, public realm and public art in this car-free neighbourhood reinforce the feeling that City Park West is designed with people in mind, of a great place to live and to visit too.