The overall masterplan concept is to interlock residential uses with employment, and contemporary buildings with heritage. The development opens up this once closed, but very green site to public access, including a new 200m frontage along the Grand Union Canal. At the heart of the project is a new community park, incorporating the historic green spaces of the Factory. We have divided the site into five, well-proportioned urban blocks, that are subdivided to create a street geometry aligned to the old factory layout whilst fitting naturally into the non-parallel geometries of canal and railway. Stretching across all plots is a central spine, linking the historic green spaces of the Factory to the Station, and acting as a primary gathering space and pedestrian route. The plot structure and main movement network creates a series of smaller pocket parks, playgrounds and linear gardens; and the entire site is wrapped by a 1.3km Trim Trail.

The building edges are enlivened by community uses, including a Gym (in the historic Canteen) and a new local museum. Front doors run along all streets, and at-grade parking is concealed behind street level duplex units, with living spaces spilling out onto large communal gardens at podium level. Generous double-height entrance lobbies frame views between the street and gardens. The blocks have a prevailing north-south grain, minimising north-facing units, while the massing is modulated to create a diverse skyline, rising up to the four splayed towers, marking the North edge of the site.