Poundbury, Dorset

Poundbury is a mixed-use urban extension to the town of Dorchester on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The development was masterplanned by the late Leon Krier and has become internationally recognised as a pioneering example of new traditional urbanism.

Since 2008, George Saumarez Smith of ADAM has been involved as one of the two leading architectural designers, alongside Ben Pentreath. Together they have each designed roughly half of the buildings constructed in Phase 3 over the last 15 years. During this time the Duchy of Cornwall has been committed to setting new standards for the delivery of quality speculative housing with a high level of architectural detail.

A coherent architectural language was developed in which building style, material and typology create a series of street scenes which feel logical and intentional, establishing a hierarchy with formal, classical buildings at one end of the spectrum, and informal, vernacular buildings at the other. Affordable homes make up a third of the housing stock and are woven seamlessly throughout to create a cohesive townscape.

Today, many of the radical principles employed in Poundbury’s design – walkability, integrating affordable housing and mixed-use development – have become models of best practice for contemporary urbanism.

Phase 3 of Poundbury was awarded the prestigious Diaphoros Prize by the Georgian Group in 2025.