Exeter City Council has set ambitious goals for delivering high‑quality homes across the city. We were delighted to win the limited competition to partner with them on this new sustainable development.
We are working with Exeter City Council to deliver 91 Passivhaus certified social housing apartments, including eight wheelchair accessible homes. The brief has been developed collaboratively with the Council’s Development Team, Housing Revenue Account officers, and Occupational Therapists within Community Services to ensure the scheme meets the needs of a diverse resident community.
As a practice, we recognise the importance of designing not only buildings, but the spaces and relationships between them. This high‑density scheme is arranged around a generous communal landscape, giving every home a view of the central garden and creating opportunities for meaningful interaction between residents while enhancing the surrounding public realm.
The Gardens, Whipton is designed for long-term climate resilience, adopting a fabric‑first approach and delivering all apartments to full Passivhaus certification. The buildings provide exceptional comfort with minimal heating and cooling demand, significantly reducing energy use, lowering bills, and helping to address energy poverty for Exeter City Council’s tenants.
We are working with Classic Builders Ltd. to deliver the scheme on site. Phase 01, comprising 35 apartments and a community room, is now complete, constructed using Modern Methods of Construction with monolithic cellular clay blocks. We are currently progressing Phase 02, which will deliver a further 16 apartments.
