Horsted Park

Chatham, Medway

Description of Scheme

Horsted Park is a mixed-use, mixed tenure scheme located next to Horsted Way and Fort Horsted (a Nineteenth Century military defense and Scheduled Ancient Monument), Chatham, Medway. Comprising 337 residential units alongside commercial space, the development will create a sustainable environment over 20 acres of land. A proportion of the homes have been designated as Extra Care affordable housing for elderly people.

The Extra Care building provides 63 apartments. The extra care apartments will offer real benefits to older people, providing residents with their own self-contained home, normal tenancy rights and independence, in an environment able to offer as much or as little assistance as needed. The extra care apartments are designed around a south facing central courtyard into which the community facilities look, whilst the majority of the apartments look out onto the open countryside surrounding the site. In the same building, two well-equipped community rooms will be created providing useful event space and a restaurant is also proposed. Both of these facilities will be for use by residents and the local community.

The Extra Care building forms a key pivotal building within the Horsted Park masterplan, providing a 'marker' building within the heart of the development and acting as gateway to the smaller scale family house units within phase 1.

The building is arranged in a 'U' shaped form over 4 storeys. The treatment of the elevations proposes a variety of brick bonding and weatherboard to deliver a modeled appearance to the built form and to give a more individual expression to the dwellings within. A balcony element, achieved with the use of a steel framework, is clad in vertical timber battens to provide a degree of enclosure, topped with a slatted timber hood to articulate the roof profile. The upper floor is articulated with dormer windows within the roof to provide a domestic scale to the accommodation.

The marker component of the building; off-set to the 'U' shaped main block, provides a sturdy brick counterpoint in architectural treatment. It contains a 'stand-alone' dining facility at ground floor that is articulated by a recessed style brick colonnade, highlighted with projecting rhythms of brickwork patterning set against a simple brick facade.

Where Is It?

Horsted Park is located conveniently located between Chatham and Rochester, less than two miles from Chatham station, at a key gateway into the town and only a mile from the M2 junction. The site was previously occupied by Mid Kent College campus.

Proximity

• less than two miles from Chatham station
• at a key gateway into the town
• only a mile from the M2 junction

Facilities

• dining room
• living room
• hairdressing salon
• craft and hobby room
• resident's garden

The dining room and hairdressing salon will be open to both residents and the general public. Ancillary facilities are also included, comprising of offices, laundry and staff rooms.

Address

Horsted Way,
Chatham,
Kent,
ME1 2XY

Scheme Location Map