Guildford Gateway
- Client: Solum
- Contacts: Charles Graham, Euan MacGillivray
Guildford Gateway will deliver a high-quality, sustainable residential-led development that responds sensitively to its context and contributes positively to the evolving character of its surrounding area.
The project will redevelop a site previously occupied by low-rise industrial and warehouse buildings, making way for a vibrant new neighbourhood comprised of 438 residential units with supporting commercial, communal, and landscape amenities.
The development comprises several residential blocks ranging from five to eight storeys, arranged around a central landscaped courtyard. Active frontages along the key routes, combined with carefully considered massing and façade articulation, help integrate the new buildings into the local urban fabric while delivering improved pedestrian permeability and street engagement.
Central to the proposal is a commitment to placemaking and community. The landscaped courtyard serves as a green heart for the scheme, offering opportunities for recreation, social interaction, and biodiversity enhancement. The layout promotes walkability and includes cycle stores to support sustainable transport choices.
Sustainability is embedded in every aspect of the design. The scheme targets high energy efficiency standards and includes features such as green roofs, air source heat pumps, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), and low embodied carbon materials. The architectural language is contemporary yet contextual, drawing on local precedents in its brickwork detailing, material palette, and vertical rhythms.
Currently under construction, the scheme which is taking shape responds to the site’s proximity to public transport and its location within a regeneration area. The new Guildford Station will significantly improve the surroundings and facilities and bring a new residential quarter into the town centre. The new much-needed homes, including affordable housing, will revitalising an underused brownfield site. The design evolved through a collaborative process and consultations with Guildford Borough Council, Network Rail, South Western Railway with and community stakeholders, reflecting feedback to shape a development that is both aspirational and inclusive.
