WhatHouse? Award 2021 for new housing at Alderley Park, Cheshire

November 19, 2021

We are delighted that the new housing at Alderley Park in Cheshire by developer PH Property Holdings has been awarded the WhatHouse? Bronze award in the category Best Luxury Development. The award was for The Serpentine area at Alderley Park.

The judges comments:

"The Serpentine is the largest and most exclusive enclave of the Alderley Park development by PH Property Holdings, with 33 properties in total built to no fewer than 21 different designs, ranging from three-bedroom family homes to six-bedroom villas, set in 400 acres of historic parkland on the banks of an ornamental lake and stream that gives the development its name.

With its setting of beautiful overhanging trees and arboretum to the west and ancient woodland to the north, The Serpentine is in stark contrast to the Docklands setting of the two other award-winning schemes, as is its suburban two- and three-storey architecture with the 68- and 62-storey Canary Wharf high-rises. However, the contrast is probably most strikingly between the modernist architecture of the towers and the classical vocabulary that distinguishes these houses.

Indeed, it is the appointment by PH Homes of leading classical architect Robert Adam¹, who has raised this development above the level of mere suburbia to give it a unique sense of place. Adam has given every house an individual elevational treatment, but also has designed a layout closer to the informal juxtapositions of traditional villages than the conformity of standard suburbia.

There are two sides to The Serpentine, each with its own distinct appeal. Homes at the entrance are arranged to create a centralised village character, while those nearer the lake are set back in their grounds, giving them a more rural feel. The transition between the two – where three roads converge – has been designated Serpentine Square, with a monument at its centre. This has created a unique sense of place."

(¹ Robert Adam was a previous director of ADAM Architecture and is now an independent consultant.)

Click here to see more about Alderley Park

View all winners of the WhatHouse? Awards 2021