The £78m redevelopment of the Doxford Park residential area in Sunderland is now into its third phase as developer Gentoo continues the ambitious transformation of the former 1960s Mill Hill estate.

The seven-phase project will see 750 new homes being created over 15 years. Work began to create the masterplan in 2003 and final completion is planned for 2018. The rolling programme of redevelopment will bring back traditional secure streetscapes, with walkways providing links from the individual houses to education, retail and leisure facilities while simultaneously giving safe pedestrian routes which are overlooked and supervised.
Running through the whole area will be a linear park containing a new village green and a play area to provide open spaces in what is in reality a dense residential area.
The role of award-winning architects Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall Ltd (JDDK) has been central to the project, with the Newcastle-based practice responsible not only for the creation of the masterplan but also the design of new houses and amendments to standard Gentoo designs: in doing so they have created stunning new residential areas which mix rented affordable housing with privately-owned homes.
Helen Fairmaner, JDDK’s project architect, explained how good design had allowed Gentoo to achieve its aims in terms of housing density and quality.
“Schemes like Doxford Park challenge the traditional perceptions of the quality of affordable housing by offering truly mixed-tenure developments to provide sustainable communities,” she said, “increasingly investing in good design to meet the needs and aspirations of residents while still giving a housing density that enables the development to be commercially viable.
“We began work on this project in 2003 by looking at neighbouring areas such as Shincliffe, Ashbrooke, Whitburn and Roker to understand and demonstrate what made their layouts such a good place to live and gave the residents a sense of place and pride in their environment.
“Once Gentoo had agreed on the layout of the urban landscape, we began work on the house designs, most of which are adaptations of standard Gentoo house types to which we’ve added details to create an individual character for the area. Examples such as altering the roof pitches, particularly at gables, adding artstone window surrounds and feature brickwork and alterations to porches and cills have made a huge difference to the external appearance of the homes, while we have also designed completely new house types in places.”
“The differences between affordable housing and private housing are being erased, especially in schemes like this where the same developer is building homes for both rent and sale. Good design doesn’t cost a great deal but does add incredible value to any scheme as increasing numbers of RSLs [registered social landlords] are discovering.”
Colin Wood, Gentoo Homes’ development manager, added: “JDDK have provided Gentoo with a vision that is delivering a spectacular development with the highest level of urban design. Each phase delivers a distinct character while relating to the overall development, and includes quality public space linking the individual phases.”