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URBAN DESIGN PRINCIPLES
The urban designer for Cotswold Downs is Erky Wood of GAPP Architects in Johannesburg, one of South Africa's leading architectural firms in this field. Erky's work includes Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, Sandton Square, Durban Point Waterfront and Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre.
The urban design is based on three overall guiding principles:
- Optimising the golf experience
- A series of villages
- Maximising the natural qualities of each site
Optimising the golf experience
- Houses will not infringe on the golf course
- Golf course landing areas will be very generous, well in excess of the norm
- The rolling landscape of the site will provide a feeling of openness
A series of villages
- Characteristic of the Cotswolds in South West England, the estate will be developed as a series of villages
- Each village will have its own character and identity but will share a general identity found in the picturesque Cotswolds
- The emphasis will be on the pace of pedestrians and, occasionally, a cantering horse
- The pace of life will emphasise unhurried rhythm and the relaxed mood of village living
Maximising the natural qualities of each site
- Equestrian and walking trails will criss-cross the landscape
- Forests, streams and wetlands will form an important part of the natural environment
- Village greens, cobbled lanes and hedgerows will create a special ambience
- The golf course has been designed to respond to natural features, both in the careful alignment of each hole and in the walks from green to tee
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