Following an extensive short-listing exercise including 20 international teams we were chosen as part of one of four consortia to submit proposals with bptw for a 34-hectare site on the River Medway. The current planning application for the site includes 2,000 homes, offices, shops, hotels, a school, food and drink venues, a riverside walk, parks and a range of community facilities.

The first phase of development involves the release of seven hectares of land for around 600 homes with open space and other uses at the southern end of the site. Our proposal sought to link Rochester with its riverside development. The new homes are gathered around new public spaces of character. Rochester Crescent, reminicent of the Royal Crescent at Bath provides a theatrical backdrop to a lively arcade of cafes and retail units overlooking the activities on the Medway itself.

Parking, always a key issue on such sites, has been addressed by offering 1.1 spaces for every residential unit through a mix of undercroft, courtyard, off-street and a new multi-storey car park.

It should go without saying that a scheme of this scale should have impressive sustainability credentials achieving as a Code Level 4. The scheme incorporates a combined Heat & Power plant with an Energy Centre to share with residents additional energy saving schemes that will assist both them and the planet in the long run.

The consortium consisted of developer Bellway, registered social landlord London & Quadrant, architects Buschow Henley and bptw, with full engineering support from Scott Wilson and landscape architects Whitelaw Turkington.