Proctor and Matthews Architects has won planning for a 336-home mixed-use development in Horsted, Kent.

The project, developed by Countryside Properties, is planned on the former home of Mid Kent College, two miles south of Chatham and Rochester town centres. The proposal includes community and retail facilities, with a proportion of the homes being designated as “extra care” affordable housing for the elderly.

Outline consent has been granted for the project as a whole, with detailed consent granted for a first phase comprising 153 homes.

Proctor and Matthew’s design conceives the homes as a series of “farmsteads” based on the local rural vernacular to produce a series of squares and courtyards with dwellings arranged around them. Traditional materials such as brick, tile and timber, have been used and the plans boast green space on around 30% on the site area.

Director Stephen Proctor said: “We are delighted that our design has been granted planning consent, and it is a privilege to be working with Countryside Properties again. The scheme explores a new direction for the creation of low-rise, medium-density residential neighbourhoods, focused on the formation of housing clusters within a spatial framework of shared surface lanes, courtyards and landscape ’glades’.”

Tony Travers, managing director of Countryside Properties’ New Homes & Communities division said: “Our objective at Horsted is to create a residential quarter for Chatham where residents will genuinely want to live, with its own character and sense of place.”