Tornagrain

Tornagrain is a new town being developed by Moray Estates to the east of Inverness. Part of a broad strategy to meet new housing demand in the Highlands, Tornagrain has been planned for almost a decade. The major master plan was developed by Andres Duany and DPZ, and this was granted outline approval in the summer of 2012.

Ben Pentreath & Associates won a limited competition to take forward the scheme to detailed planning in 2011. Since then we have been working closely with the landowner and with DPZ to bring forward a more detailed master plan for these first 200 dwellings, which include retail and commercial space, recreation grounds and tennis courts, and a school; we are now working on the next phases to the north, east and west, including early designs for the main high street of Tornagrain, planned around a large new town square.

The design of the houses draws closely on the appearance of local towns and Darnaway Estate buildings, combined with more contemporary elements in rear courtyards and mews. The town as a whole allows for a huge variety of architectural scale and language, with the most recent phases becoming more formal in character.

The town founding ceremony was held in the summer of 2015 – the start of a lifetime’s project, bringing an extraordinary new town for the Highlands to fruition.

Truro

The Duchy of Cornwall asked us to develop proposals for the Truro Eastern District Centre in 2009. A highly significant and sensitive site, on the eastern edge of Truro, the designs were brought forward at the request of Cornwall Council who needed to complete their major Park & Ride scheme for Truro. The scheme also comprises a Cornish Food Centre and a new housing in the form of a Crescent and Square.

We worked up the master plan for the proposal over a series of workshops, many held in collaboration with The Prince’s Foundation. The site is prominent and complex.

The application was approved in 2012 and work commenced two years later. The site was completed in 2020 and has become a major new architectural feature on the eastern edge of this historic and ancient city.

Welborne

Welborne is a major new settlement being planned in Hampshire using the design philosophy of the Garden City Movement. We have been working alongside the visionary landowner, Buckland, for some five years now, taking forward the schematic masterplan into reality.  Construction work commences in 2023 which will see ground breaking on this long-term, legacy project.

We have worked through the process – developing the street network and movement patterns, working with the landscape architect Kim Wilkie to create a powerful landscape-led framework to the town, and designing and writing the architectural and materials code for the entire settlement. The plans will create a place of significant architectural variety, but still with a strongly developed overall sense of place and harmony.  There is a huge concentration on proper delivery of commercial and mixed use development, and affordable housing.

In 2022, we moved towards the first phase detailed application, working alongside CG Fry, Pye Homes (and Adam Urbanism) and Thakeham Homes to bring forward a co-ordinated application for some 750 homes.